Whatever we're thinking is what we're going to manifest, and we're going to go find those things because our minds have confirmation bias built in and we're going to seek out things. So our assumptions are correct and our thoughts are correct. This podcast, boosting your Financial IQ, is about business, financial literacy, strategies for profitability and the principles taught at byfiqcom. My hope is that you'll apply the lessons learned and that we can work together soon in my mastery program. Enjoy the show and don't forget to subscribe. Hey, today's going to be a short episode because here in a few minutes, I'm going to be heading out to go to an all day conference where I get the unique opportunity to speak to about 200 employees of one of my clients, and this is going to be the message that I'm delivering today, and it's something that's heavy on my heart and something I'm really passionate about. So I thought I'd share it with you because, as a friend in the Boosting your Financial IQ community, not all topics have to be finance related, and this one is definitely not finance related, even though there's probably a tie to it somewhere. What I've been thinking about lately is this Perception envision the bigger picture, all these things combined into one. The other day I was talking to a friend and he was telling me how he went to his optometrist appointment to get his eyes checked. And during that appointment the optometrist was talking to him about a serious problem that is developing among people, especially young adults, and that problem is nearsightedness. Because we have our phones and we hold our phones so close to our faces so we can see the tiny text as we're scrolling. Our eye muscles are actually strengthening to make us more nearsighted. The problem is is when we put down the phone and we look out into the distance, it may be hard to see the bigger picture, what's out ahead of us. And I think this metaphor can be applied to all of our lives, especially mine, because I've found myself on both sides of the equation, both nearsighted and farsighted. So what we think is what we see and think about that. Whatever we think is what we see. So if we're thinking sad thoughts, guess what? We're going to go out there and we're going to find sad things in this world. Or if we're angry, we're going to go find angry, violent things in this world. So whatever we're thinking is what we're going to manifest, and we're going to go find those things because our minds have confirmation bias built in and we're going to seek out things, so our assumptions are correct and our thoughts are correct. So it's the same kind of thing with a car. Right Before I bought my Volvo XC90, this is back in the day I didn't even know that they existed. I knew Volvo obviously was a brand, but I wasn't aware of their SUV and I never saw one out on the road. And then, years ago, I bought one and then all of a sudden, I saw them all over the place. So the same kind of thing is true in our lives.

Whatever we're thinking about is we're going to see out there in the world, but sometimes something is blocking our ability to see. That could be pain, that could be trauma, that could be depression, that could be some type of substance whether it's drugs or alcohol that may be blocking our vision for the future. We may be so into our phones and Snapchat and social media that we don't even lift our heads to see what's around us. I mean, there are a variety of things that block our vision and, trust me, I've been guilty of some of these things along the way too. But whatever it may be, chances are there's something in your life right now. That is causing you to be nearsighted or farsighted or just blocking your vision altogether. So sometimes we are nearsighted and we can't see the future right. We're so in the day to day that we can't look out and have a bigger vision of life. And that's what I'm doing today in my talk is I have this activity called Zoom, or the bigger picture, and I hand everybody a picture from this book that zooms out.

So there's about 40 pictures and one picture is zoomed out where you can see the earth, and every picture in order goes more zoomed in, so it's the earth, and then it zooms more into the earth, closer to the earth, to a pilot flying over the earth you know to, and it goes down the line all the way to a magazine cover where people are on the magazine cover. So it zooms in and out. And the idea of this activity is that everybody gets a picture from this book and all these pictures fit together to make a bigger picture because, remember, it's zooming out. But they have to figure out the pattern. And the same thing is true in life. We have these pictures in our heads or maybe we just have one picture and we feel stuck and we don't know how that picture fits in with the bigger, grander vision for our lives.

So being nearsighted is when we can't see the future. All we can see is right before us and therefore, if we're nearsighted, oftentimes we'll make decisions that are short term in nature. So if you're running a business and you're worried about cashflow or profitability, you may make a knee jerk decision because you're fearful of your current state. You don't have a strategy in place and therefore, by laying off people, your company has shrunk. You haven't fixed the overall problem because you just cut people, you didn't change the operating model, and then, when business comes back, you don't have the staff and you find yourself in big trouble. I've seen this happen over and over again. Or you may make some decisions in the short term to make a sale, but then customers figure out that your product isn't what you stated it to be and therefore they never use you again, and then it causes other problems. We could also do things outside of business that are short-sighted with our relationships, with our health, whatever it may be, and that is definitely going to have future implications. So we have to be careful about being nearsighted, especially when things are blocking our vision and we can't see what's before us On the opposite side of the coin is being farsighted.

This is when you can see the future, but you can't see how your choices that you're making today are impacting what you may want. In other words, you're missing what's in front of you. So think about it like this I know people that are farsighted and they come to me and they say, steve, I want to be an entrepreneur, I want to run my own business one day. I don't want to work for somebody else. And I say that's great.

But look, you're staying up till two in the morning playing video games, you're sleeping in until 11 in the morning, and when are you working on this vision, on your business? You know it takes time, it takes grit, you have to make sacrifices. So your patterns have to match your goals, and I think it's great to be farsighted and to be able to see the future in the grand vision. But then you have to get tactical and understand what actions to take to drive that vision forward. Otherwise, you're just a big dreamer, a big thinker and, ultimately, a big talker that's not bringing anything to pass. So that's what I want to leave you with today. Is perception right?

So think about your life as I'm thinking about my life, because oftentimes, when I prepare these talks, they're on topics that I struggle with, and that's why I wanted to share this with you today is because there have been times in my life where I can't see the bigger picture.

Something is blocking me, and sometimes I have to change my circumstances. Sometimes I have to do something radical. Okay, I'm a bald guy, so I can't shave my head and cut all my hair off. But I can do other radical things, such as change my morning routine, start working out, cut out sugar for a little bit, or whatever it may be. Those are just some physical things. At work, I may say look, I'm going to clear my schedule on Mondays and spend more time with my employees, whatever it may be. But we have to figure out how to remove the things that are blocking the bigger vision for our lives, because when we're nearsighted or when we're farsighted, we could get in a lot of trouble or we do things that hurt our full potential. All right, that's what I have for you today. I hope you have a great week and, until next episode, take care of yourself. Cheers.