Things accumulate. Attention doesn't.

Kenny owns two Hot Wheels cars. One of them is broken. He still plays with them for hours.

One day, Rachel Naomi Remen and her practice team give him a whole box with every Hot Wheels car available at the time.

A few days later, Kenny stops playing.

When she asks why, he answers: “I don't know how to love that many cars, Rachel.”

I came across this story in Rachel Naomi Remen's book Kitchen Table Wisdom.

With two cars, Kenny could give each one his attention. With a whole box, he no longer could.

Anyone who builds a company over decades takes on responsibility. For employees, customers, business partners, and decisions. Over the years, holdings, properties, honorary positions, networks, and new responsibilities accumulate — the visible traces of a successful career.

Success multiplies possessions and responsibility. Attention doesn't multiply.

At some point, the things themselves aren't the problem — it's the fact that we can no longer give all of it the same attention.

Perhaps that's the real gain of the next chapter: attention becomes a conscious choice again, not a reaction to whatever seems most urgent in the moment.

“I don't know how to love that many cars, Rachel.”

I think that's one of the great differences between a successful career and its next chapter. Success often opens up new possibilities. The next chapter gives us the freedom to consciously choose whom and what we give our attention to.