Lens Of Luck 1: The Invisible Masterpiece – Why We Stop Seeing the Gold

Lens Of Luck 1: The Invisible Masterpiece – Why We Stop Seeing the Gold

By Jason Shelfer: Host of The Living Lucky® Podcast

Do you remember the day you got the keys?

Maybe it was the keys to that house you’re sitting in right now. Maybe it was the keys to the office with your name on the door, or the day you said "I do" to the person sleeping in the other room.

In that moment, everything was in High Definition.  The air felt electric.  You were standing in the center of a miracle you had prayed for, worked for, and sacrificed for.  You felt like the luckiest person on the planet.

But then, the Law of Habituation kicked in.

In psychology, habituation is the process where your brain stops responding to a stimulus after repeated exposure.  It’s an efficiency hack.  Your brain thinks, "I’ve seen this sunset/spouse/success 400 times.  It’s not a threat and it’s not a new resource, so I’m going to mute the signal to save energy."

This is why you can walk past a masterpiece in your life every day and eventually only see a "dusty frame."

For the high-performer, this is a dangerous trap.  We spend our lives "Engineering the Impossible," but once the impossible becomes our "Normal," we stop seeing the gold.  We don't notice the miracle anymore; we only notice the maintenance.

Jana and I see this in elite circles all the time. AND, we see it happen in our own lives as well.  We’re not immune to it.

• You prayed for the Big House, but now you’re just annoyed by the Lawn Maintenance.

• You worked for the Promotion, but now you’re just buried by the Email Volume.

• You searched for the Soulmate, but now you’re just frustrated by the Laundry Pile and Dishes.

You aren't actually "unhappy." You’re just asleep to your own success. You’ve habituated to the gold until it started looking like gray pavement.  You’ve turned your "Vortex" into a "Switchboard."

In our Living Lucky® framework, we believe that boredom or "the grind" isn't a sign that you need a new life.  It’s a sign that you need a new Lens.

When you feel that mid-life "Is this it?" itch, your brain is telling you it has run out of things to notice.  But the wonder hasn't left the room.  Your awareness has just stopped working.

Boredom is simply Unused Awareness.  It is the "Check Engine" light of the soul, telling you that your Lens has become blurred by the familiar, the “Sameness”.  You are standing in the middle of an invisible masterpiece, and the only person who can't see it is you.

Today, Jana and I invite you to try a radical reset.  We call it the Tourist Lens or The Lens of a Rookie.

Identify one thing in your life that has become "invisible" because of the Law of Habituation.  Maybe it’s your partner’s smile, the view from your patio, or the fact that you actually have the freedom to choose your own schedule.

For the next 24 hours, pretend you are a guest in your own life.  Look at your "Normal" as if you were seeing it for the first time.

• If you were a stranger, would you be impressed by what you’ve built?

• If you lost it all yesterday and got it back today, would you call it "laundry" or would you call it "luxury"?

Success without awareness is the ultimate failure.  The miracle of the Quantum Leap only matters if you stay awake long enough to inhabit it.

Until then, consider: Are you actually bored, or have you just become blind to the gold you’re standing on?

The masterpiece is still there.  It’s time to clean the lens.

Start Living Lucky® by noticing the "Invisible Gold" today.