1/4 of the world’s population are now celebrating “Chinese New Year,” which is better known as "the Spring Festival” (春节 chūnjié /chwnn-jyeah). Plotted on a lunar calendar, its start date changes each year but always begins 16 days before the full moon. The holiday culminates in the Lantern Festival with fireworks, religious devotions, and familial celebrations. During the holiday, over 1 billion red envelopes filled with money will be exchanged between family and friends, and even bosses and employees. The amount of money in each envelope is the subject of rigorous thought so that you show the proper respect to the recipient.
“Ego is about who’s right. Truth is about what’s right.”
— Mike Maples
David Phelps runs one of the best investing masterminds I’ve ever seen. 200 of his members focus relentlessly on finding freedom from wage slavery by making intelligent cash-flow investments. We had a great chat on his podcast and I’m keynoting his annual conference this weekend in Dallas.
I hope you enjoy the chat and you can grab a copy of his newest book, Own Your Freedom: Sustainable Wealth for a Volatile World, which is a roadmap to how to build a life of freedom and wealth.
We always think we are way better at the basics of life than we really are. For example, if I took a video of a room and showed it to you and then very slowly changed some of the elements in the room over time, you’d catch some of the changes, for sure. If I asked you to rate how well you’d do on the challenge, you’d assume that you would nail 85% or more of the changes. In reality, you’d perceive less than 20%. You aren’t as good at the basics as you think you are.
Don’t believe me? Check out this video and just know you already know that things are going to change, so you should do really well at it, right?
If this room was something you observed every day, you’d do even worse. Why? Because your brain uses shorthand placeholders to be more efficient. If something looks the same 2-3 days in a row, your brain assumes it will stay the same and won’t devote much energy to it. Only when something really really obvious changes do we pay attention.
Now apply that to your business. Right now you have a team member, a client, or a partner showing subtle variations of change. You aren’t perceiving it because you aren’t looking for the changes, you’re looking to make sure everything stays the same. The seed of that change could be catastrophic for you, better take another look!
“Pursue the dream that is planted in you already.”
— Joel McHale