Recently, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes — not pre-diabetes, but the full-blown package deal. It came as a complete shock. I gave up soda two years ago. Last year I started making homemade bread every week because I thought it was healthier, and I’m not overweight. I also recently learned that over half of my mother’s siblings have it, as did my younger brother, who is now deceased.
This post isn’t really about diabetes. It’s about blind perception — the quiet architect of the belief systems we build and defend with everything we’ve got. Blind perception is how we absorb assumptions without ever questioning where they came from. Over time, those unexamined impressions harden into personal “truths,” shaping how we judge risk, money, health, and opportunity. Once a belief feels earned, we cling to it fiercely, often refusing to see anything that contradicts it or take action outside the story we’ve created in our own heads. The danger isn’t believing strongly — it’s mistaking familiarity for fact and certainty for accuracy.
My belief was simple: I was healthy. I didn’t weigh enough to have diabetes. Sure, I liked sweets, but I wasn’t eating candy bars all day. That belief protected me from asking harder questions — and it cost me.
After years of working with business owners, I’ve watched the exact same pattern play out in the professional world. Different topic, same blinders.
“I have my logo on my car, so it’s totally deductible because I’m advertising — it’s a business vehicle.”
Until you get audited. Mileage is one of the most scrutinized deductions there is.
Real rules: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-26-10.pdf
“I have a home office, so my business pays half my mortgage.”
Until you learn how the home-office deduction actually works.
Real rules: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc509
“It’s cheaper to hire my worker as a 1099.”
Until that “contractor” is acting like an employee, gets hurt, or files for unemployment — and the Bureau of Labor shows up.
Real rules: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee
“I don’t need help every day, so I just pay a few buddies cash.”
Sounds fine — until a CCB inspector walks in and fines everyone for working without a license.
Real rules: https://www.oregon.gov/ccb/pages/ccb%20license.aspx
“I make more in cash, so I don’t want to be on payroll.”
Until you try to buy something on credit with no verifiable income — or get a surprise 1099 and a tax bill you didn’t plan for.
“I don’t need a business license because I don’t live in town.”
Not true in many Oregon cities, including Lincoln City, where you need a license to photograph a client on the beach or replace a roof within city limits.
Read here: https://www.lincolncity.org/residents/business-in-lincoln-city
These are just a few of the perception blinders I see every year. Being open to the idea that you might be wrong is uncomfortable — and when you finally remove your own blinders and try to warn others, you often crash head-on into theirs.
Don’t be surprised when the response sounds like, “I’ll just stop eating candy before my next blood test.”
Even when the blinders crack, real vision doesn’t come back all at once.
Thanks for Reading!
Even if you’re not a subscriber (yet), I truly hope today’s post gave you something useful to think about or apply in your business.
I’m building my own business too, and I’m currently taking on new clients—so if you know someone who could use support with [insert your main service, e.g., website development, business coaching], I’d be grateful for the referral.
Want more posts like this sent straight to your inbox every Tuesday? Subscribe here.
And if you have thoughts, questions, or feedback—I’d love to hear from you. Just drop me a note at misty@webfootmarketing.net
Let’s keep building,