Tag Archives: perception

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Enjoyment

Leave a comment

Taking pleasure in things leads to enjoyment.  On of my own personal goals is to be in a constant state of enjoyment.  From a practical perspective pleasure can be subjective to a degree (although for the majority there is general consistency about what leads to enjoyment).

This does not mean opportunities for enjoyment are constantly available to everyone, it just might vary.

The Bottom Line

The practice of enjoyment, taking pleasure in things, is a choice.  Simply put, you can control whether you are in a state of enjoyment. It is afterall about perspective and if you perceive life occurrences in a particular way, arguably every thing could have a pleasurable aspect.

Life is a series of pleasurable events, if you want it to be.  Why not?  The fact that stress and distress can worm its way  into our daily routines is always puzzling to me.

Maximizing Pleasure

That is not to say every life event provides the same level of pleasure and working towards a goal of maximizing your personal pleasure (not at the expense of others, of course) is both an admirable and obtainable goal.

To some extent it requires conscious control of your emotional well being.  The positive or pleasurable aspects of a thing sometimes require some effort to achieve, but I would argue, regardless of what you are up against, some form of enjoyment opportunity exists.

You just need to both recognize and embrace it.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Defining Yourself

Leave a comment

Things become what you perceive them to be.  While one person might believe a golden bracelet to be a thing of great value and beauty, another might find it uninteresting.

To a large degree perceived function and value can define reality.  For example the Nintendo SNES retro game console is currently in huge demand and sold out everywhere.

The function of this toy is just entertainment (nothing life sustaining) and the cost outrageous, for something completely outdated and that you probably bought for half the price 20 years ago.

Yet, the console is in high demand because it is percieved to be something good. People believe in it.

Who are you

In a similar way we are all defined by how others view us.  You can believe you are polite, intelligent, capable and so on, but if others do not share this perspective, than in reality it is not true.

Recognizing that we are defined by what others think about us is a key underpinning to self awareness.  In brief, this is simply being aware of what you want to be and crafting your behaviour to make it so.

Of course being successful at both being what you want to be and ensuring others view you that way is dependent on your sensitivity  to how others perceive you and using that knowledge to craft their perceptions to the image you desire.

The first step toward being seen the way you wish to be seen is understanding and accepting that what others believe about you is reality.  From that point crafting that reality is just about shaping the environment to support your desired image.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The key to respect

Leave a comment

Whether interacting with others in a home, workplace or social environment your behaviour is a key foundation to the respect you are granted.

We all percieve the things others do in the context of our own filters.  This perception underlies our reaction and the shape of our interaction with others.

What is respect?

A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements. (with a nod to Melania Trump, I copied this from a google search, giving credit makes it a copy not plagiarism.)

How can you ensure a high level of respect?

The question really becomes; is there a way I can behave so that others will consistently perceive ( regardless of their unique filter) high ability, strong values  all underpinned by achievement?

I believe the answer is yes.  There is a key foundational behaviour that can be leveraged  to ensure what ever you do , however you behave,  it will cause you to respected by others.

The practice of self awarness, is the key here.  That is understanding what others need to craft their perception in a specific way.  Then behaving that way, and voila you are respected. Consistently.

Of course the concept is simple, like so many things,  the practice requires hours of study and practical experience to master.  The value of working on this skill is evident, the benefits far outweigh the effort to learn and practice it.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Looking Good!

Leave a comment

One of my favorite authors, Frederick Forsyth published his first action suspense thriller in 1971 (Day of the Jackal).  I just finished reading his autobiography and found out he lost his entire savings (from the numerous best selling novels and associated revenue streams following his first) to fraud in the early 1990’s.  His investment manager was running a classic Ponzi scheme.

When is good not good?

This got me thinking about a quote from Bill Gates, “If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.”

In the classic Ponzi scheme you gain your investor’s trust by making it look like you are a skilled and clever money manager who can earn them a large return.   That is, might not be good, but looks good.

How is it done?

Using the basic psychological principal that underlies gambling addiction, Ponzi schemers provide actual intermittent rewards that seem fabulous.

Basically using money from new investors they actually pay the old investors real cash at an inflated rate (e.g., 25% or more).  Ultimately though they stop paying most investors except through supposed reinvestment of earnings supported through forged records make it look the strong returns continue (after they have gained their trust).  On and off when an investor needs money paid out, free cash from new investors is used.

These investment managers are not really good at investing but they make it look good.

Looking Good!

Today’s post is just a reminder that “looking good” is just that, a perceived conclusion not supported by facts beyond your visual input.  Remember that old adage, “what you see is not always what you get”.

Of course, there is a caution here.  Living your life being suspicious of everything bridges on paranoia (fear of things that are not real) and is to be avoided.

There is a happy balance between checking and trusting and each of us must find the place that works best personally.  In the case of Mr. Forsyth (based on the description in his autobiography) he just accepted the fraud (managing money was not his thing) and moved on writing more best selling novels and earning even more money.  Good attitude (at least I perceive it to be so).