FBC – 389 – There’s always more to learn, if you look harder.

There's always more to learn, if you look harder.

Today, we took part in some sort of experiment that was very revealing and helped me learn more about how we perceive the world.

At the same time, that same experiment reminded me of horrific stories of my past that you really need to hear. Crazy stuff man!

Tune in to today's episode to learn what the experience was and also to hear about the horror stories of my past.

Let me know in the content if you can relate to my interpretation of the experiment and if you are just like me

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I'm going to talk to you about something that can seem trivial if you don't actually look a little bit deeper into it.

Maybe my brain is wired this way where I'm trying to learn from everything, you know, everything that happens in my life. As trivial as it is, I will always try to learn something. And here in this case, I actually did.

So, you know, we're kind of stuck at home. And so my girlfriend sent me this riddle. You know these things with numbers? It's pretty funny. And we had a lot of fun with it because since we're all stuck at home, we started sending this kind of riddle to everybody and everybody was chipping in, trying to get the answer, you know, so it keeps people busy and occupied and stuff.

So I woke up and I saw this riddle and I was still half asleep. So I just looked at it very, very fast and answered it in like ten seconds, bang. And I was like, man, I'm the smartest guy on the planet. Pretty sure it's accurate. OK, so I didn't think about it anymore.

So after a few hours, because she's in Europe and I'm in Bali right now, we have six hours difference. So she wakes up and she sends me something. My answer is wrong!!

I really thought I nailed it and then I started looking into it and she was like, Yeah, but you need to pay more attention, right?

So I looked at the line and then I realized a detail, but I looked very carefully, right. Very carefully. And I was like, oh, gee, I missed this detail here. How did I miss that? OK, so here's the answer. And I was like, yeah, that's it. I've done it.

So she comes back, she said, no. What do you mean no? She said, well, pay attention to the details. So I looked again. So the same thing that I was looking at right before. And I see something else that I didn't see before and was like, oh, Jesus Christ, OK.

And it went on and on. So many details that I had missed.

There's always more to learn, if you look harder.

So there are a few things that I've learned is in this case, you know, I was looking at something and there were like four details that I missed. OK, so the first time I didn't see any of them. OK, so when I was told there's something, I looked for something. And as soon as I found it, then I thought it was it because, you know, I thought, well that's it. I didn't see the rest.

But when someone tells you there is something, you will find it. And it's fascinating that I looked at this picture carefully like five times, and I found for every time I was finding something that was there before. But just because my brain wasn't conditioned to see that there is something there, I completely missed it.

OK, so you can make the analogy as well that once you acquire some knowledge about something, it doesn’t stop there.  So, for example, what I've been doing for years now, if I go somewhere in business or something, I'll be able to see stuff that most people don't see. Whereas in other fields, I have no idea.

I mean, it could be right in front of my face. I wouldn't see it, but you will see it because you know it's there, you know what I mean?

So your like your perception of the world is very is very subjective, right?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main lesson of looking harder to learn?

There is almost always something valuable to take from even the most trivial moment if you choose to look deeper. Martin trains his brain to learn from everything that happens in his life. A simple riddle shared during lockdown became a genuine lesson about how differently people perceive the same thing.

How can a simple riddle teach you something important?

A riddle forces people to interpret the same information in different ways, which reveals how perception shapes our conclusions. Martin found that watching friends and family reach different answers showed him how individual minds work. The exercise reminded him that disagreement often comes from perspective, not from anyone being simply wrong.

Why does Martin try to learn from every experience?

He believes his mind is wired to extract lessons from ordinary events, and that habit compounds over time into real wisdom. Treating each situation as a teacher, no matter how small, keeps him growing. He encourages listeners to look harder at daily life rather than letting useful insights quietly pass by unnoticed.

What does perception have to do with learning?

How you perceive a situation determines what lesson you draw from it. Two people can face the same event and walk away with opposite conclusions. By becoming aware of your own perception, Martin says, you can question your assumptions, learn far more accurately, and understand other people much better than you did before.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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