Perception is Everything

Got the summer doldrums?

Kids or grandkids driving you crazy?

Worried about the ‘news’?

Need a change?

My answer might not be what you think!

“All our opportunities, as well as our problems, are in our perception of situations and our perception is controlled by paradigms.” I love this packed quote from the late Bob Proctor!

A paradigm simply put is your belief system about something. It’s your programming that includes your self-image, your outlook on life, even your routine which is habitual. Your paradigm dictates your perceptions. If you have a negative outlook, you’ll see situations differently than if you have a positive outlook.

If you are in a summer 'funk' or at wit's end with children under foot, maybe it's how you're looking at the situation. As the late Dr. Wayne Dyer would say:  "Change the way you see things and the things you see will change."

Your paradigm is filtering what you see, allowing you to 'see' only what lines up with your paradigm. It 'colors' or 'flavors' your perception to match your programmed beliefs.

Think computers. If you have a program that is set to operate a certain way, that’s how it will operate every time unless over-ridden with a new command.

With researchers telling us that about 95% of our thoughts, feelings, activities are habitual, then we are going through our day on ‘automatic pilot’! Veering off routine is possible but not for long-term without a change to your paradigm. That's because your paradigm, like the thermostat in your house, will ‘kick in’ to bring you back to the status quo of what you believe about yourself or the situation.

A salesman may be in a temporary slump but by year’s end he’ll make about what he always makes in commissions. Conversely, he might have a great month but automatically relax a little the next month only to find at end of year, that he’s made about the same as he always does. A $50K a year salesman cannot make $250K without changing his underlying paradigm or belief that he is worth $50,000.

That’s one reason why lottery winners tend to lose it all within a few years. They got ‘lucky’ but didn’t do the underlying work to change their self-image so their ‘internal thermostat’ brought them back to their comfort zone.

Most people aren’t really that comfortable in their ‘comfort zone’ just listen to them! But they are in their ‘familiar zone.’

So back to Bob Proctor’s quote: “All our opportunities, as well as our problems, are in our perception of situations and our perception is controlled by paradigms.”

The law of polarity states that ‘opposites’ always occupy the same space and you cannot have one without the other. If you have an apparent problem, then by definition there must be a solution. The question becomes, can you see it?

It won’t be standing up waiving its arms at you. It will be hidden from easy view, often in the problem itself.

You’ll only be able to perceive it if you are open to perceiving it, which means 'not being locked on the problem!

Think of it this way. You're driving outside. The glare from your windshield can make it hard to see everything clearly. Everything is there whether you see it or not. You could put on polarizing sunglasses to help remove the glare (negativity). These sunglasses don’t actually remove the negativity or glare, just cuts down your perception of it so you can see the other things.

Problems are like that. The ‘glare’ of a problem often binds us to the problem to the point we think it’s overwhelming. It is not. We just haven’t positioned our perspective to reduce the ‘negative’ so we can see the positive better. Both exist in the same space, by universal law.

By the way, I invite you to grab your free downloaded copy of my Mentor 4 Breakthrough’s Ultimate Guide to Unleashing Your Inner Genius, available through my website, ShelleyAudetteSettles.com, that will help you get distance from your problems so that you’ll be able to ‘see’ potential solutions.

Develop this skill, and you’ll be on the path to enhanced creativity in every area of your life.