I also talked, in a previous episode, about a sentence that I liked from Darren Hardy, who is an American speaker, and who said: "Don't want what you don't want." And in fact, what he meant by that is that often, deep down, there are things that we don't want, but as we see everyone around us wanting it, well we end up wanting it ourselves. Whereas, ultimately, we didn't want it at the beginning.
but it's actually saying to yourself... I'll give you examples, but I don't want something, but I see everyone else wanting it, so I want it myself. And when I have it, I say to myself: "Actually, I didn't want it."
And there are plenty of examples. I have personal examples of the shiny object, including an organizational system that we had in place at Français Authentique. We use the suite… So, I'm not here to advertise or anything. I'm not an influencer, and I invite you all to think and act for yourselves in complete autonomy. But we use Google Drive, because it's very easy. At Français Authentique, we share Google Sheets, Google Docs, so, written documents, documents in table form. And we use that because it's very easy. We've been using it since 2011. It's easy to share. So, at the beginning, I used it by myself. And, gradually, we added team members. And it's worked for… forever, since 2011.
And at one point, I saw a tool and I fell into the trap of the shiny object. I also fell into the trap of an influencer, of a person whose videos I watched and who I liked. And in fact, I started testing this other tool called Notion. And it's a very beautiful tool in fact. This Notion, it's a very very beautiful tool. There's nothing to complain about, it's something very well done, etc. but…
So I look, because where I'm walking, there's a sign, it says: "Hunting caution". But there, they're not hunting today. No, it's fine. OK, there, I can keep walking. There are no hunters.
And so I said to myself: "Well, let's use Notion." And in fact, no. It always seems better to change, to take a newer, more modern tool, but what we had worked very, very well. And we always underestimate the cost of change.
So, we started using Notion a little bit in the team. And actually, everyone I asked for honest, honest feedback said, "Well, it was better before." And it really was better before. So, we went back to our old system. I had succumbed to the shiny object, unfortunately.
I recently came across a video. I was watching videos about investing at one time. And I'm not someone who wants to invest in real estate, to spend time trying to find deals. That's not something that inspires me. What inspires me is creating, adding value, learning, and spending time with my family. And of course, I'm not going to be a hypocrite. I think about the well-being of my family and our financial security. It makes sense, it's obvious, and the freedom that we have is also linked to our financial freedom, but it's not something that I'm constantly obsessed with like some investors.
And I came across a YouTube channel that I had seen at one time. And right away, I look at the channel, and I see them, and I say to myself: "Ah, that's really good what they do". The shiny object. So, fortunately, I'm more mature than before. And when I see that, I say: "No, no, but no, Johan, you haven't been on this channel for years, there are reasons. It's not your thing. Focus on what you're already doing".
It's the same with conferences. Conferences, I... it's not something I like to do, to attend conferences. I like to be on stage, to share my ideas with people I like, but going to events to network, etc., as an introvert, it's not something I like. However, recently, I had a friend who said to me: "Hey, I'm going to this conference, do you want to come with me?" And I almost said yes. Well, I ended up saying no, but I almost wanted what I didn't want, which was this shiny object that would have made me go to a place where I wouldn't necessarily have enjoyed myself.
And it's the same thing for objects. You see, I bought a Kindle at one point because I thought that, since I read a lot, it would be simpler, more optimized. In fact, no, no, I prefer books. So, I read a little on Kindle sometimes, but via the iPad, but I resold the Kindle that I had bought. I almost bought recently what is called... the brand is reMarkable. So, it's a tablet, but it's only made for writing. It's a kind of virtual notebook. But I don't want that, and I almost bought it because it's the shiny object syndrome.
So, you see, in fact, I don't think it's necessary to go further into these personal examples, but you really have to be careful because you end up complicating your life by doing things you don't want to do or by wanting things you don't want.
And it goes further. Sometimes, it's even strategic. Everything I've shared with you so far has been something quite, let's say, general, global and anecdotal. It was details, but it can go iran whatsapp number data further. We were talking, three weeks ago, about Authentic French and the Authentic French strategy for 2025 in terms of making content available to the entire audience. Well, I told you that here it is, I've been here since 2011. And, on the one hand, I want to innovate, but on the other hand, we have to remain persistent and not try to copy others or try to do what others do. So, the shiny object can also exist in our big decisions.
So, you have to know how to remain yourself. And the best test is the test of time. And here, I come to a concept, to finish, that I read in a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, I think it's in Antifragile , in which he actually said that the best criterion for judging ideas or authors or men or women is time. Because if, today, in 2024, almost 2025, we still read or talk about Emerson, for example, well it's because his ideas, which are more than 200 years old, have lived. All the ideas that came in the 1800s and weren't worth it, they've been forgotten. So, all the ideas... it doesn't mean that all the old ideas are good, but it does mean that time is still a very good criterion for judging something or someone. And if we talk about Emerson today, if we talk about Blaise Pascal, whom I talked about last week, today, well it's because these people had ideas that really deserve our attention, that deserve our interest.