Not that who you are now is terrible. No doubt, you are a fine specimen of humanity!
But how active are you? Not just physically, but mentally? How curious are you about solving the problems around your? Or do you feel a bit overwhelmed — even if you won’t admit it?
The reality is that most of us fall into that last category. We would like all things to work out for the best, but reality has a way of getting in the way.
The weird thing is that we could do better. I could do better. And we can do better with a simple adjustment. No need for drugs (except of course, for recreational drugs) or trips t the gym or the psychiatrist. We can all do better by seeing reality in a slightly different light.
What does that mean? Isn’t reality just … well … reality? The answer is no! Research tells us that what we see as reality is our filtered view of it. As humans, we are not capable to seeing it in a totally objective way. We have to filter it, and we do in order to survive.
The key point is that we can adjust our filters. In fact, we do adjust our filters every day. For example, when we watch TV or go to the movies . We allow ourselves to get absorbed in something that is not real. We pretend for a short time that it is. We pretend that we can interact with the story being delivered. We suspend our disbelief long enough to have an emotional reaction. In other words, we gladly accept as real, things that are obviously not for the purpose of altering our attitudes.
So we can adjust our filters. And we therefore can adjust how we see ourselves as well. Athletes do this all the time. They see themselves as almost as good as the player they aspire to be. The gap becomes an obsession that drives them to practice. To work. And that work is fun – not tedious. And seeing the gap, when they play, their sports, they pay close attention to metrics that show whether they are making progress. Not whether they have made it, but whether they are on the path.
So why don’t we all do this? We don’t we all open our eyes to the more perfect person we would like to be? Why not gamify our activities to get there?
Good question. I have no idea why folks don’t do that!
Want an example? Ask yourself this question — why is Michael Jordan so rich? In case you are wondering, he is worth more than $1 billion. The answer is NOT from his basketball salary. It is from his endorsements. And he is still earning over $100 m from endorsements per year now!!!! So why is his name and image so valuable? There were and are lots of other great players. For example Steve Nash showed up Jordan more than once when they played against each other. So too did Larry Bird. Jordan was relieved when Bird finally retired.
The answer is that Jordan conveyed an intense competitive attitude that we all admire. We all want to “be like Mike”. And what does that mean? See above for the answer.
