Self Awareness and the Hidden Potential in You!!
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Self Awareness and the Hidden Potential in You!!
Answering The Personal Philosophy Paradox
Article by Dr. Pratik P. SURANA
Chief Mentor and Founder
Quantum Group
“Most of the things you think you know may not be so.” ~Ralph W. Emerson
From the beginning days of Philosophy and Psychology to the billions of sources of information we have today trying to answer this question, it may be time to pause and reflect upon the answer we think we know for sure. My nagging question is this: Have we really made any remarkable progress in finding an answer to this question? Or put in other terms, how much success is enjoyed by the majority of people, in carrying out the main purpose in life—learning, growing and improving in reducing the gap between their real and ideal selves?
After studying, reading and applying all I have learned to try and make progress at this gap reduction process with myself and others, I am somewhat sad to admit the progress has only been mediocre. And I think I am dead in the middle under the big part of the Bell-curve with many others on this one. My only consolation is that I might at least know why this is so and that may just be a very good starting point in helping myself and others close the ever-widening gap between just surviving in the desperation no-where zone and thriving in the dreamland of good and plenty.
In the beginning of psychology, clinicians, researchers and practitioners over-focused their time and energy in studying the dark side of people and their pathologies. The goal was to explain why and how unconscious processes created such bizarre behaviour, so that the people plagued with such problems could be cured and the world would become a better place with such hope. But sooner or later people become bored with studying pathological problems, diseases and failures and they want a change.
After those efforts, came the positive psychology movement, which began to look at the positive side of life and the common denominators behind success and happiness. Unfortunately it was the elite success shadow-makers who were the subjects of all this study, and that left the middle part of the Bell-curve, or the vast majority of the rest of us, shooting for lofty goals way beyond our reach.
What I suspect is about to happen is a major paradigm shift from the current success addiction to one somewhere in the middle of failure and success. That would stand to reason because it is just following the great creative process that drives the whole universe. What is most likely to become the focus is finding out and understanding what keeps us from closing the gap between our real and ideal selves which will take us from the end of just surviving to the beginning of thriving, maybe just before the point of no return comes and goes for some.
As a life coach, I think the best way to change our personal philosophy, is to make it a goal. Take anything you want to improve on in your life – that you may not be producing desired results in. You already know what does not work. I would suggest that you no longer follow that pattern. What does work? That’s what we have to find out. If we are in trouble financially, we may be overspending. If we are overweight, we may be overeating. If our relationships are suffering, chances are that we are not giving them enough care. You see, by pondering what does not work, we can make some great distinctions and then work on getting some answers on what can work. What’s next? A change in your philosophy to include taking disciplined action, daily, to improve each area of your life, one by one. This shift in your philosophy can make all the difference!
Focusing on What We Want
Focusing on what we want is important in developing an effective personal philosophy. Why? Imagine wanting to achieve a promotion at your job, but never focusing on adding value to the business. In most cases, this type of philosophy will cause you to never achieve the promotion. Imagine wanting to achieve financial freedom, but constantly spending your time in front of a television watching programs that do not help you achieve that goal in any way. Imagine wanting to look thin for a party, but overeating consistently and not exercising at all. We need to focus on what we want. Our personal philosophy will ultimately shape our destiny, so we want to create an effective personal philosophy by beginning to focus in on what we want and not the opposite.
Making a Change to Your Personal Philosophy
How can we change our personal philosophy? An effective way to change your personal philosophy is slowly. Do one discipline at a time. You want to avoid overwhelming yourself. Remember the current personal philosophy you are operating under. Your decision and actions under you current philosophy are done effortlessly. It’s already a habit. It did not happen overnight, but was embedded over the last few years, day by day. There is only one way to turn that around. If you are in financial trouble, you need to study your finances. You need to find the cause of the problem. Keep what you have to gain in your focus and make the changes. It’s just as easy to follow a principle of success, as it is of failure – the choice is always ours.
So how can the majority of people wanting to know and be who they really are—not letting their ability get in the way of their capability—be more successful? Here are some good suggestions to help you close the gap between your real and ideal selves:
1. Consider the likelihood that genuine success and happiness, learning who you really are, and closing the gap between your real and ideal selves is much more of a lifelong journey than an overnight destination. Yard by yard life is hard, but inch by inch, it’s a synch.
2. Develop a genuine desire to learn what you don’t know, especially how you may be sabotaging your own successes by being overconfident in your under-prepared abilities. Start reading some difficult and intelligent books that don’t have simple and easy solutions to difficult and complex problems to find out how to really fix things the right and lasting way.
3.. Shift your focus intentionally from success to failure and then see what likely failures you can manger better with a different approach to prevent them from happening. The natural result is that you get more successes from the better management. You are changing your perspective and that alone will change your results for the better. Just noticing what you have failed to notice before is a very big gain to feel good about.
4. Pause frequently to make sure you have the right perspective on trying to do what you are trying to do, remember your main purpose, and feel good about inch-by-inch progress, which may be far better than what you feel free to admit from years of past efforts at this challenging journey.
5.Travel and go close to the nature. You must hang out with people who support and encourage you and avoid the people who tend to drain you of your hope and positive attitude or who don’t recognize or support your progress.
Remember, you have to re discover yourself and unlock the hidden potential in you!! As a coach, I am committed to help!!