Life Changing Distinction
Thu, 17 June, 2010
1 Learn. WOW!!! What a day I had today. I learnt a distinction that has changed my life. The Power of Scarcity. Basically the less you have of something you want, then the more your desire for it and if you have a large supply of that item then you will less likely want it anymore. For example: If I had 500 chocolate bars sitting in the cupboard and I tell you to help yourself, you might eat a lot of them day one, a few less the next day and by the third day you may not want any at all. So I still have a huge supply of bars but nobody really wanting to eat them. I decide to throw them all out because I'm on an anti-chocolate crusade to improve my health. A few days later, there's a few people around to watch the NBA finals and you ask everybody if they want some chocolate, assuming all the bars are still there. You open the cupboard to find one single bar. The one I missed. You take that into that lounge and share your predicament with the group.
1 Learn. WOW!!! What a day I had today. I learnt a distinction that has changed my life. The Power of Scarcity. Basically the less you have of something you want, then the more your desire for it and if you have a large supply of that item then you will less likely want it anymore. For example: If I had 500 chocolate bars sitting in the cupboard and I tell you to help yourself, you might eat a lot of them day one, a few less the next day and by the third day you may not want any at all. So I still have a huge supply of bars but nobody really wanting to eat them. I decide to throw them all out because I'm on an anti-chocolate crusade to improve my health. A few days later, there's a few people around to watch the NBA finals and you ask everybody if they want some chocolate, assuming all the bars are still there. You open the cupboard to find one single bar. The one I missed. You take that into that lounge and share your predicament with the group.
On a scale of -10 to +10 what would the desire for that chocolate be for most of the people in the room? I would say +5.
What if I gave everybody a taste? Maybe +7 when they finish.
What if they saw me eat the very last piece? Probably close to +10.
The more scarce it is, the greater the desire. Now armed with that knowledge and a scale to measure, I tried to apply that distinction to life in general. I had to identify my most valuable asset. That was easy to come up with. My time. Most of all my spare time.
On that scale, what was my desire for having some spare time at this moment? Around +4. I now needed to ask myself some questions to raise that level.
What would I have to feel in order to get it to +7? I would have to feel that the most relaxing time during my day is at home and not at work.
And last of all, what would I have to believe in order to get it to +10? I would have to believe that these moments were the last moments of my life, and I would rather be at home with my family than working in a truck...
2 Improve. From then on everything seemed to click. I spent every moment making sure I used all my energy toward effort and action. If I was going out now, I was gonna go out punching. My last moment will define who I was. My effort improved, my mood improved. It seemed every area of my life was instantly improved. Its funny, you hear the old cliche "live every day as if it's your last". Until you can relate to that saying it doesn't mean anything to you.
3 Contribute. When I got home I dedicated my time towards giving my family the most love I have given them in ages. I had more passion and excitement for our relationship than I have had in a very long time. It felt good for me and I bet it felt good for my partner. I'm not sure my daughter felt much different, she gets a lot of attention all the time. She's also a bit young to realise.
4 Enjoy. Today I enjoyed every single moment.
5 Action. I took a number of actions today in every area of my life that needed more development.I had a ton of momentum that drove me to take actions mainly toward my trading education. I also found that there was no moment during the day where I procrastinated. This new tool is and will be useful and I understand that it will be a keystone in my future successes.
Sharing is caring. Share this article now!
Posts
0 comments: