Here’s something disturbing I’ve learned about myself.

I obsess about the things I understand. I do it even when the things I understand are insignificant.

I ignore the things I don’t understand. I do it even when the things I don’t understand are really important.

Here are my examples.

What I Understand: Cell Phone Service

I’m totally obsessed with how much I pay for cell phone service. I know the ins and outs of the various options available from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. I can tell you all about how much data I use and why my current plan is so much better than the alternatives. I can even explain the international options and know the details for a bunch of countries.

What I Don’t Get: Commercial Leases

At the other extreme, I can’t tell you much of anything about the terms of a commercial real estate lease. I’ve signed bunches of them over the years. I’ve read them repeatedly and really have no idea what they’re all about. I know there are lots of provisions that can be included in our leases and aren’t, and I know there are lots of issues that can be addressed. Bottom line: we do what our real estate agent tells us to do, and we usually don’t know what we did or why we did it.

Do I Just Like Trivial Pursuit(s)?

What’s at stake when we commit to a new cell phone plan? Oh, maybe two thousand dollars over the course of two years—less than a hundred dollars a month.

What’s at stake when we commit to a new real estate lease? At a minimum, we’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars over the lease term. More typically, we’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars covered by the contract.

So why do I get so focused on the cell phone plan?

The only explanation I can offer is that I’m far more interested in what I understand. I just don’t get commercial real estate: it puts me to sleep. When I’m not interested, I can’t get engaged.

That’s really, really stupid of me. I’m making a huge mistake when I focus on trivia and ignore the big money decisions.

To tell you the truth, I’m right in the middle of one of those boring, difficult decisions right now. I’m dealing with employee benefits. I hate it, and I’m not focusing like I should.

But, oh boy, ask me about my unlimited data plan on Verizon, and we can chat for hours.

I remember when I was in college and forced to take an art history class. Oddly, after a few weeks of listening to lectures and looking at slides on the screen, I got interested.

Learning just a little got me engaged. I thought I didn’t like art. What I realized was that I didn’t know enough to like art.

I guess it’s time to learn a bit about health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance. The next thing you know, I’ll be chatting with you about deductibles and co-pays. I wonder whether it’ll be as interesting as text plans and night and weekend minutes.