Wish you were better/smarter/stronger/faster?
We all form our own realities, and those realities aren’t perfect.
Here’s how to recalibrate your reality.
This week, we thought it was time to do some mental house cleaning.
You second-guessed yourself after that, and ultimately your work or personal life suffered.
The idea behind recalibrating your reality is pretty simple.
Recalibrating that view can help you solve problems, win arguments, and even be happier.
But how do we actually do it?
You only perceive what you really need for survive.
David Eagleman explains:
We open our eyes and we think we’re seeing the whole world out there.
So we call that visible light.
But everything else passing through our bodies is completely invisible to us.
Our construction of reality shapes and alters our view of the physical world.
It also limits our cognitive ability because we weigh our views more importantly than others.
Mr. Wilson explains:
A lot of this happens unconsciously.
We don’t know how much we’re interpreting.
There’s a psychologist name Lee Brosan who calls this naive realism.
Recognizing this limited view is the first step.
David Eagleman describes this as theumwelt: the assumption that our reality is the only reality out there.
He suggests the first thing we have to do is recognize our umwelt.
The key is when you appreciate the umwelt it gives you intellectual humility.
The usefulness is recognizing this humility when making a hypothesis.
This is easier said than done.
Let’s look at ways you might actually implement it in your day.
I asked him what he meant by that?
“Five minutes” represented “think”, not react.
He was totally right.
I came into the discussion looking to prove something, not learn something.
It can also be used as a form of stress relief for daily annoyances.
His suggestion is pretty simple.
Putting yourself in that mindset can change your view of a situation.
I think I take a stab at do this sometimes.
I remind myself that my interpretation of something is just thatan interpretation.
It’s not the only way.
Sometimes it’s good to to look at a situation the opposite way as an exercise.
Let’s see how it’s possible for you to do it.Photo byvtsr.
More difficult is editing your self-perception so that change how you view the world.
Like any story, these narratives can be edited with a technique he calls story-editing.
One way Mr. Wilson suggests doing this is using thePennebaker Writing Exercise.
The process is pretty simple.
Find a quiet, private place to write.
Commit to writing about a problem for fifteen minutes a day for three consecutive days.
It’s the same premise as five minute idea mentioned above.
The writing exercise creates a self-assessment of your view and helps you consider other sides of a problem.
The research doesn’t prove anything yet.
Instead, it suggests that our clothes have an impact on how we view ourselves.
Does wearing a tie make you feel like more of an adult?
Does a uniform change the way you view work?
When your self-perception is changed, so is your view of reality.
It’s also surprisingly easy to do.
Mr. Wilson offers his experience:
The idea of trying on a new self can be a fun exercise.
And that’s something you might change if you practice it.
So sometimes I’ll just say, I’m going to be an extrovert.
I tried this idea myself.
It also gave me an idea of the difference in perception between an extrovert and an introvert.
It’s easy to do and can have a surprising effect.
You don’t have to completely redo your living room or go out and buy anything.
It is as simple as taking down the art on your walls and rearranging them in new places.
You could even consider flipping a room to offer a different perspective.
