The treasures hidden in what we avoid

In the daily rush , we often find ourselves moving from one task to another, focused on achieving our goals, solving problems, and navigating the known. But amidst our relentless pursuit of progress, something curious happens: we start to overlook what lies just outside our focus.

This "something" is not a mere distraction, it’s a potential goldmine. There are treasures hidden in what we avoid, waiting to be uncovered by those with the willingness to pause, reflect, and shift their attention to what remains unseen so far.

The void, after all, lies within the word ‘avoid.’ In plain sight, yet never truly seen.

The nature of the hole in our sight

Our vision, limited by nature to a tiny spectrum of electromagnetic waves, offers us only a sliver of reality. And yet, we perceive far more than what we physically see. Our brains, efficient and energy-conscious, constantly shape, project, and complement what we take in, offering us a quite personal and distorted version of reality.

This mental artwork, this cognitive map of the world, is efficient but biased. It shows us what serves our immediate needs and desires.

What we care for, what impacts our 'survival' or success, remains front and center in our minds. But this focus comes at a cost. The things we deem less important, the gaps, the voids, slip past our radar.

They are there, just outside our vision, present yet ignored, waiting for our attention. This is where the treasures hide, in the gaps, the spaces we actively or passively avoid to even see.

The void and its illusions

A hole, in the most basic sense, is defined by what surrounds it. We describe the absence, the void, by its borders, by the things we do see and understand. In our minds, this void becomes synonymous with insignificance or emptiness.

But what if this is an illusion? What if the void is not devoid of value but brimming with unrealized potential? It could just be outside of our understanding.

In business, as in life, the void doesn’t appear as easily as a physical hole might. Instead, it is veiled by our projections, our assumptions and beliefs, our expectations, and our biases. These mental constructs are the artwork we create when we imagine what comes next.

The more vivid this mental painting, the harder it is to see the voids within it. The holes, the gaps in our thinking, are hidden beneath the many layers of suggestive and subjective details of our projections. It feels so real and complete though, as we see it with our own eyes.

To spot these voids, we must become aware of our illusions. We must recognize that our expectations, while useful, are also reality-forming entities. They shape what we see and, more importantly, what we don’t see. By mastering our expectations, by learning to manage and control them, we can begin to actively search for what lies beyond the obvious.

The void in 'avoid'

The irony is that we overlook the very spaces where untapped potential exists. The void in ‘avoid’ is a perfect metaphor for this phenomenon. We are often so focused on what we know and what we are trying to achieve that we instinctively shy away from the unknown, the uncertain and we forget the possibility of not seeing it all.

And yet, these are precisely the spaces that hold the most promise.

In the unknown, there is opportunity. What we avoid often represents the path less traveled, the risks not yet taken, and the questions not yet asked. The void is where new ideas, untested strategies, and hidden possibilities reside. It is where we might find the missing piece that can transform our business, our approach, or our understanding of the world.

But the void doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t present itself with a neon sign, declaring, “Here lies opportunity!” Instead, it waits, hidden behind the curtain of our perceptions, shrouded by the very expectations and mental constructs we cling to. We must actively choose to seek it, to explore it, and to uncover what lies within.

Mastering our expectations

To see the void for what it is, a realm of potential rather than absence, we must master our expectations that have a way of narrowing our vision, projecting certainty where there is none, giving us the comfort of perceived control and blinding us to what lies beyond.

When we expect things to unfold in a specific way, we limit our ability to notice the unexpected. We shape our tools and wonder that they do not measure anything different.

But what if we reshaped our expectations? What if, instead of expecting a specific outcome, we expected to be surprised? To learn? To discover? This shift, from certainty to curiosity, transforms the way we interact with the unknown. It allows us to approach the void with interest, to see it not as something to avoid but as something to embrace.

When we master our expectations, we also master our defensive reactions. Often, the unknown triggers fear, resistance, or anxiety because it represents a break from what we know. But by managing our expectations, by becoming open to the possibility that the void holds value, we can approach it calmly and confidently.

We see it for what it is: a blank space where new realities can be created. The foundation of resilience.

Shaping perception to reveal the void

Once we master our expectations, setting the importance of what we care for, we begin to actively shape our perception. This is where the true power lies. By controlling the lens through which we shape the world, we can direct our focus to the void, to the spaces we once overlooked. And in doing so, we can uncover the treasures hidden within.

We become void hunters, eager to learn and aware of our misunderstandings.

In business, this means becoming attuned to what isn’t obvious, not being said, to the gaps in the market, and to the opportunities that lie just outside the conventional. It means questioning assumptions all together, seeking out diverse perspectives, and being open to ideas that challenge the status quo.

It means recognizing that what we avoid often points us to the greatest potential for growth.

The opportunity in the void

Ultimately, the void is not something to be feared or ignored. It is where the future is invented not by following the change, but by being the architect.

The void represents the unknown, the unexamined, the yet-to-be-discovered. When we avoid the void, we avoid the chance to evolve, to innovate, and to grow. But when we actively seek it out, allowing ourselves to accept and explore what we don’t know, we unlock the potential for true transformation.

The treasures hidden in what we avoid are not obvious. They are not lying in plain sight, waiting to be picked up. They require curiosity, openness, and a willingness to move beyond the familiar, refraining from judegement and defensive reaction.

Once we learn to see the void, mastering our expectations to shape our perception, these treasures become accessible. The void, far from being empty, is full of possibility. Not tapping into it, is to remain within the limited possibilities of our knowledge and past experiences.