a monthly newsletter from Traci Duez & Break Free Consulting
because Success happens Head First!
Optical Delusions
Often, you hear statements that you perceive are
unbelievable. You may even respond by saying, "Are you
kidding me?!?" Today, I'd like you to focus on a
similar question...
"Are you kidding YOU?!?"
Your perception is your
reality. But, what if your perception doesn't accurately
reflect the current moment? In order to bring intrinsic
value to any moment, project, relationship, etc., you
need to be aligned with the present reality.
What are
optical delusions?
Well,
I think you know what an optical illusion is, right?
It's something that appears one way, but is actually
another. Like the image to the right... it looks like
the bottom line is longer than the top, yet if you measure
them, they are exactly the same length.
In the picture to the left, how
many triangles do you see? Most people will say 2 or 6 or 8.
How many are there? ZERO!
Your brain, however, has been trained to recognize patterns
so it 'helps' you and somehow interprets the notches in the
circles and the "V" shapes as triangles.
The word 'optical' refers to
sight or vision. The word 'illusion' means something
that deceives; a false impression or idea. However, the word
'delusion' refers to a persistent false
belief.
You should recognize in the
picture to the left that there are no triangles present.
Even if you once believed the illusions that there were
triangles, you should now be able to take a closer look and
see that there are none. If you still held on to your
belief, this would indicate a 'delusion'.
Examples of Optical Delusions
Many times your own mind creates
optical delusions that you persistently believe even when
evidence may appear that demonstrates reality isn't in
agreement with your delusion.
As many of you know, in my
business I assess the way people think and make decisions.
Using an axiological assessment, I can measure the pattern of
decision-making which the person uses when processing
information about the world and themselves. Using the
Hartman Value Profile, I do not ask the respondents to
describe themselves. Doing this would not yield accurate results
if they were 'suffering' from optical delusions because they
would 'delude' the assessment. The Hartman Value Profile (HVP)
places its emphasis upon thinking, not behaving. It
allows me to determine the root thinking style that lies at
the base of a person's decision-making.
So, I ask my client to go
through the process of ranking two sets of eighteen items.
From this I will get six graphs that indicate how the person
typically thinks... the thoughts and internal dialogue that
exist within their mind. I am sometimes amazed by what
some of my clients think and say about their measurements.
Now, as you can imagine, rarely
is it possible that every one of your thought processes are
perfectly able to see reality as it is. So, you will
have a few measurements that are out-of-balance. I have had
a couple of clients who didn't or wouldn't recognize this imbalance.
One, for instance, called me
after he ranked his 2 sets of 18 items and asked, "Do we
still have to meet to discuss my results? I'm pretty sure I
put them all in the right order." Below is what his
assessment report looked like:
In these graphs, the yellow and
red represent areas of thinking that are out of balance and
may cause this person to misrepresent reality in his mind. As you can see, my client's view of
reality may be a little askew, yet he believes that it is
completely and perfectly balanced. This is a "optical" delusion.
Recently, I also had another
client who is in sales. As we talked through her assessment
report, she kept telling me, "One thing for sure is that I
know sales." "I can sell anything." "I am great at selling."
When asked how successful she had been lately, as she had
started a new position within the last year, she confessed
that she hadn't sold anything yet. The reason for this was
not her fault, however. She wasn't handed the 'good' accounts.
She
didn't have the support that she needed. YET, to
her
credit, she was going through this assessment to find her
'blind spots.' In the end, though, her mind was much
more comfortable holding on to her delusions. These
optical delusions will keep her from 'seeing' her blind
spots... even though they were clearly laid out in front of
her in black, white, yellow and red. I wish I could
better help her to step back and see that the only thing
getting in the way of her success is the delusions that her
mind has created.
Your Optical Delusions / Blind Spots
What are the causes of
these optical delusions? For the answer to that,
let's look at how your brain works.
Neuroscience has taught
us about the electro-bio-chemical dynamics of
how neuropathways (the brain’s highway system of
thinking) develop, grow, and mature. As you go
through life, your brain 'sees' billions and
billions of things each and every day. Many times
your brain
ignores or filters the things that it sees and other
times you choose to focus on them.
As
your brain goes with you throughout your daily life,
you are constantly filtering and focusing. Your
brain will create neuropathways based upon your
focus. Sometimes this produces good, balanced
thinking habits... your brain will take in all the
information that it can about an observation and
then process that information. Your brain has an uninhibited field of vision. You do not
have any blind spots in this area of thought.
Now,
in other situations, you have trained your brain
(either consciously or unconsciously) to filter your
observations. These filters can come from something
as innocuous as your parents saying "Don't talk to
strangers." Your brain may have thought about that
(focused on it) over-and-over again creating a
hardwired neuropathway which now manifests itself as
you being distrusting of people you don't know well.
Your field of vision has been constricted and you
have a blind spot.
Your
blind spot can exist in varying degrees. Instead of
just missing a small part of reality in your
picture, your brain may actually filter out a large
part of the data. At one time, this filtering habit
may have been very supportive of your efforts. However, today, it may be the very thing that is
keeping you from reaching your goals and having the
balance and success in your life that you desire.
Consider These Things....
Close your left eye and fixate your right eye on the cross in the diagram. If your eye is about 12 inches (30 cm) away from the monitor, you should notice that the
red X disappears. (This distance may vary according to the screen resolution you have set.)
Why does this phenomenon
happen? Each of your eyes contains an area that has
no photoreceptors because it is occupied by the
optic nerve. The brain simply "fills in" the most
probable stimulus (in this case, a uniform black
line) where there is none.
How often does this
happen to you when it comes to a situation? Does
your brain automatically recognize a pattern and
ASSUME to know that fills in the unknown areas?
Many times this does
happen and YOU miss out on opportunities...
opportunities to bring INTRINSIC value to a
situation. When you don't take the time to see the
'big picture', you are letting the habits of your
mind run your life. You have the ability to
not only 'see' your blind spots - as clearly as you
see the red X above - but also to correct them
through the breakthroughs in neuro-axiology.
Steps to Reveal and Correct Your Optical Delusions
You can only
bring intrinsic value to your world when you see it
clearly.
At the risk
of superfluous self-promotion, here are some
helpful suggestions:
Review
your Results. After taking the assessment,
you'll receive an email link to your
confidential results. (I don't see them!)
In a FREE multi-media introduction, you will be
presented with the results pertaining to 2 of
your 6 advisors - your best advisor (your
greatest strength) and your "worst" advisor
(your greatest challenge). You will, however,
get to see pictures of all 6 of your graphs.
Schedule a FREE 30 minute consultation with me.
Use the Book Now button on my home page or in
this newsletter. You will need to relay your
results to me as I do not have a copy. Rest
assured, our conversation is held in strictest confidence. You'll come away
from this coaching session with some detailed
ideas that will enable you to immediately impact
specific areas of your life (i.e. business,
relationships, finances, etc).
Use YOUR Strengths. Neuroscientifically,
it has been proven that 'fixing' your weaknesses
is extremely difficult if not impossible. You
must learn to focus on your strengths... focus
on your uniqueness. These are indicated by the
green bars in your assessment. It is your
strengths that will help you overcome and
eventually eliminate your delusions.
I want to help you reach your goals and your
success. Many of the people that I speak with talk
about balance. When your thought life is balanced
(absent of delusions), your life will be balanced.
You can't balance your life without balancing the
underlying thoughts that create it.
Take the first step today by trying the free
assessment. You have nothing to lose (except for
maybe a couple optical delusions.)
Need a dynamic speaker?
I know many of you who
have worked with me in the past might not believe
this, but I love speaking to groups and
organizations. Yes, it used to make me want to
run to the bathroom, but now it is a true passion of
mine.
If you, your company, or
organization are looking for a speaker, please give
me a call. You can also
visit my website to see a list of my current
speaking topics as well as testimonials and
recommendations.
November 6, 2008
PMI Columbus, GA Main Library
3000 Macon Rd Columbus, GA 31906
(706)243-2669
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Speaking of Delusion
"The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here
and you are out there."
- Yasutani Roshi
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to
persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
- Dr. Carl Sagan
"Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a
truth."
- Ludwig Borne
"t takes a lot to
wound a man without illusions”"
-
Ellis Peters
"Attachment is the
great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by
someone who is detached."
-
Simone Weil
"You can continue to hold on to your optical delusions hoping that
one day they will bring you joy. Or, you can consciously
choose to let go of them and live in the reality of the present
moment... the only place where true joy resides."
The secret is in reaching out to other people. What
distinguishes highly successful people from everyone
else is the way they use the power of relationships—so
that everyone wins.
Well,
I think you know what an optical illusion is, right?
It's something that appears one way, but is actually
another. Like the image to the right... it looks like
the bottom line is longer than the top, yet if you measure
them, they are exactly the same length.
As
your brain goes with you throughout your daily life,
you are constantly filtering and focusing. Your
brain will create neuropathways based upon your
focus. Sometimes this produces good, balanced
thinking habits... your brain will take in all the
information that it can about an observation and
then process that information. Your brain has an
uninhibited field of vision. You do not
have any blind spots in this area of thought.
Now,
in other situations, you have trained your brain
(either consciously or unconsciously) to filter your
observations. These filters can come from something
as innocuous as your parents saying "Don't talk to
strangers." Your brain may have thought about that
(focused on it) over-and-over again creating a
hardwired neuropathway which now manifests itself as
you being distrusting of people you don't know well.
Your field of vision has been constricted and you
have a blind spot.
Your
blind spot can exist in varying degrees. Instead of
just missing a small part of reality in your
picture, your brain may actually filter out a large
part of the data. At one time, this filtering habit
may have been very supportive of your efforts. However, today, it may be the very thing that is
keeping you from reaching your goals and having the
balance and success in your life that you desire.
