Perception Projection
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 22, 2022
- 5 min read
Written by: Paul Corke, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
No one gives us a guide for our minds. We go to the gym for a physical workout, but how many of us have a mental workout? And do the same for our minds by mentally working out regularly? If we do work out our minds, what amazing result could be possible? Could we have the best possible mindset to set us up for success every day?
"Perception precedes reality." – Andy Warhol
Undoubtedly the practice of setting your mind each day at the start of the day or at any point in the day can only be an effective use of your time if you want to get the best results in your life.
But what tends to stop us in life from achieving the things we really want to do?
Well, the barrier, if there is one, tends to be our mind and the way we think, and the fears we have.
Fear of what could happen, fear of making a fool of ourselves, fears from past experience and our childhood.
Our fears are about our beliefs and perception of ourselves and the world.
Our perception then basically becomes a projection of how we see the world and what we believe to be true at any given time.
We are caught by the inertia of life, conditioned by every experience, by work, the news, the government, and so on.
But we are now at an inflection point in this pandemic era where we are questioning who we are and how we survive in the world, and we are now even more deeply questioning our very existence.
When you think about it, with so much change and disruption, it is so important, we focus on mindset for success so we can navigate the ambiguity and volatility that life now presents us with.
But when you think about it, how quickly do we tend to make decisions, and how can this impact the life we live?
Take a look at the picture below and answer the following questions:
What is his name? Where is he? What is he doing? Where does he live? Does he own a car? Is he rich? Does he have a family? What are his interests and hobbies? Where has he been in life?
How quickly have you made your decisions about the old man?
You see, we very quickly make judgements about what we see based on our past experience and programming, and we look for the right answer. Here is an example of how your brain will look for the right answer:
Complete the following sentence…
“The rain in ________ falls mainly on the _________”
I’m guessing you have an answer and the right answer in your mind.
Before I explain, let’s make a quick decision about the following brands you prefer.
Make a choice about which one is your favourite:
Adidas or Nike
Mercedes or Skoda
Armani or Primark
And before you say neither, you have to pick one.
The way you answer is based on your beliefs and perception of the brands, which is entwined with the way you see the world and your values.
What we then do is we then project our beliefs and perception out into the world ‘I think Adidas is cooler than Nike’ or because we think it is the right answer, ‘Armani is more expensive, so more sophisticated than Primark.’
So now, if I said the answer to the above was ‘The rain in Botswana falls mainly on the mountains.’ And it is the correct answer; what are you now thinking?
No, it is not; the right saying is ‘The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.’
A kneejerk reaction because your brain searches for the right answer, and when presented with the illogical or what seems to be incorrect, your mind rejects the idea, but in this case, the answer is correct it is Botswana and not Spain. It is the mountains, not the plains.
We automatically search for the right answer, and what we think is right we will project into the world…it is called perception projection, but we need to be careful of what we project because, at times, it might be wrong or it might be based on false assumptions, it might be based on stereotyping others, or biases we have.
What is certain is when it comes to fear, we project our fears not only upon ourselves but upon others.
If you don’t like spiders, we may jump in front of our kids, and then they become scared of spiders too. We may hate flying, so we project this on take-off which makes the people around us nervous too, and so on.
So how do we take control of our perception projection?
Notice how you project your fears and thoughts in general, and write this down.
Think about what it is you want to project and how you should behave.
Think about how you can control your perception projection and keep an objective mind.
Have a mental workout to help you focus on your perception projection, i.e., meditate, take time out, go for a walk, sit quietly, and contemplate your thoughts, write them down.
Think about the impacts you want to make on others by the way you project.
When your project positively about the world and the people in your life watch the results, you then get. In simplest terms, see the best in people, let them know, and see what world you create.
Take control of your mind and be the best version of yourself and create the right impacts on the people and world around you.
It is in your power to have an intentional day and create the life you want to live.
“It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.” – Carl Gustav Jung
Paul Corke, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Paul Corke is an author, a keynote speaker, and considered to be a leading expert on mindset, innovation, and leadership. He is currently recognized as the No. 1 Health and Wellness Thought Leader & Influencer with @Thinkers360 and is also the Managing Director of Leadership Innovators an innovative leadership consultancy. He previously spent 25 years in the corporate world with award-winning results specializing in organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, talent management, and leadership development with experience in the UK, Ireland, Europe, the US, and the Middle East.
Paul is the author of Reframe Your Mindset: Redefine Your Success, has a podcast series to support the book and has created The Mindset Journal all based on what he calls ‘The Mindset Equation for Success.’ Paul uses his research into the mindset and positive psychology along with the thinking from his books to provide thought leadership, leadership model design, leadership assessment, and solutions to help organizations build their leadership capability.
Paul has successfully built a leadership development strategy and provided solutions in the industries of Financial Services, Retail, Automobile, Charity, Information Technology, Education, and Local Government. His mission is to develop leaders the world now wants to see whilst also making a difference through B1G1working towards the UN Global Goals to help those in need across the world.
