Creatures of Emotions
Mark Vincent Besa, MD, FPAFP, MBA
Master of Business Administration - MBA at Haroun Education Ventures MBA Degree Program
It was a rainy Saturday and the heavy clouds above are sending all they have to pour on a heavy rain enough to flood the streets. The thick dark clouds covering the sun adds up to the gloomy weather.?
It's eleven in the morning and I am sitting at my desk in my apartment feeling not so motivated for today. Feeling blah is the last thing I would want to have on a Saturday. So I decided to go out and take my car for a spin.?
My mind was thinking for a drink that would jolt me back to my senses and get me working productively amid the weather. ?
At a glance, I wanted to feel good while sipping a delicious cup of coffee. "That sounds and feels good", I thought.?I remembered that there is a new “hip” and posh coffee shop nearby. As I was driving, I could imagine the smell of roasting coffee beans, the ambiance, and everything that could make you feel good for the day. ?
So I parked my sedan about less than a block away and walked cheerfully towards the coffee shop with the clear idea in my imagination coming to reality.?
As I was walking halfway to my destination, it suddenly rained down hard. I can feel the big rain droplets splashing in my shirt as I ran for cover. I forgot to bring an umbrella. Silly me.?
I could see the coffee shop from a distance with customers inside happily sipping their moods to an enjoyable afternoon whilst raining. ?
Ten minutes have gone by and it is still raining cats and dogs and I found myself standing in front of McDonald’s. I have to decide now whether to wait for the rain to stop and make my way to the coffee shop or just go inside McDonald's and buy a cup of coffee.?
It seemed that I only have one choice, and so I decided to go for the fast-food coffee. I went inside and ordered a brewed coffee. Also, I looked around and found that there were no customers other than me. Feeling like a loser, I tried to take a sit by the window and watch the rain pour while I try to mix the creamer and sugar into my coffee.?
I sipped my coffee little by little as I think of what to do to be more productive for the day.?
A few moments later, the caffeine started to have its effects on me and I am pondering whether I am still a loser for drinking coffee here in this rather nice place. On the second thought, maybe I am a winner after all.?
Well here are my thoughts and why.?
First. The Cost.?
The coffee I bought here was eight times cheaper than the new coffee shop. It might not be that much but still, it's a winner for the price considering its only 60 cents vs 4.50 dollars. Plus the taste does not differ much after all it is still coffee, smells, and tastes like any other coffee. ?
“Human beings are not creatures of logic; we are creatures of emotion. And we do not care what’s true. We care how it feels.” - Will Smith
Secondly, there are no customers at that time of the day. At first, it might not sound good but if you would put the pandemic in the equation, then it sounds a lot better to be in a place with no or fewer people around you. I might be fully vaccinated but I'm still trying to take precautions all the time.?
Third, the coffee shop on the other side of the street might be new and posh, but I should remember that I am sitting on a multi-billion dollar real estate company founded by Ray Kroc with I the only customer for the time being. In fact, as of mid-2021, McDonald's has an estimated net worth of 170 billion dollars. Think about that!! I could confidently guarantee that this simple fast food joint is eons more in net worth as compared to the other.?
Lastly, because of those thoughts, I was able to come up with this article!!. Have I been to the other coffee shop, I would have never thought of this. And of course, negative events such as heavy rain can bring out an unlikely optimistic outcome. So thanks to the rain too!!?
So after all, in the end, I was indeed a winner. It was a win-win situation. You get a much cheaper coffee, more socially distanced surrounding, the feel of being in successful real estate property, and an opportunity to make an article out of it. Great!!
So I decided to backtrack a little what made me feel like going to the posh coffee shop in the first place. And then I remembered my MBA class a year ago when my professor, Chris Haroun, repeatedly mentioned a quote by Will Smith that “humans are creatures of emotions”. And yes we are all creatures of emotions, with I included a while ago.?
In reality, I was persuaded by my “emotional imagination” without much rational thought because it feels good. Only then when I started thinking rationally that I was somehow “played” by my emotions which I regard as amazingly deceptive. I believe that I am not alone in this kind of thing. It suddenly became aware to me that we are the creatures of emotions day-to-day. Cravings such as, “oh I wanted those new sneakers so bad”, “that new phone I’m drooling to buy” or “that new sports car that came out of the reviews a day ago”, are testaments that we tend to be creatures of emotions.?
When I became aware of that fact, I began to realize that there is a rather invisible “force” that drives us this way. And that is how many successful businesses are being built nowadays. A good marketing team. An excellent marketing team, no matter how less useful or useless a product is, will play to the emotions to get the product again and again.?
After all, we are all creatures of emotions. ?
….And the only way to escape that, my friend, is to become a creature of logic.?
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