Quick, without looking, how many Magnum, P.I. episodes were there?

You probably have no clue.

Now, think of a range of numbers that you believe will include the right answer. You probably came up with something like 50 to 100 or 25 to 75.

Why? If you didn’t know the answer, why did you think you could guess a range? Turns out this is a brain function. Our brain does not like to accept the fact that it doesn’t know something, so it works hard to put a framework on things. If it doesn’t know, it creates filler knowledge to avoid conflict. You’ve seen the robots who cannot compute and fizzle out – our brain prevents this by guessing.

http://youtu.be/ieuBkWHfCuc&w=320&h=240&rel=0

The problem is, it closes our mind to the real answer. You would go on the rest of your life thinking there were 50 to 100 Magnum episodes if I didn’t tell you there were 158.

To grow ourselves (and our business), we need to be exposed to new information, fresh ideas. But if we don’t allow ourselves to see that there may be something we don’t know, we’ll never have the chance for that growth.

As a business coach, much of what I do is help business owners explore their self-imposed boundaries…help them see there’s more out there than they think. Just because you haven’t discovered something in 30 0r 50 years doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

I’d love to help you look over the fence. I’ll buy the coffee if you bring the topic.