Ever take one of those tests in which you are asked to look at an image and share what you see? Perhaps it looks like two ninjas giving each other a high-five, or maybe it’s a bird, or a guitar with feathers! Depending on your answer, it may be psychologically insightful or revealing. One of the fascinating elements of this type of assessment is how two people can look at exactly the same visual and “see” two totally different objects. In other words, we see what we want to see.
This is also true in the the field of professional coaching, where I am. So often, we condition ourselves to have a certain mindset toward something or someone. For example, because it’s raining when you wake up you decide it’s going to be a crummy day. Or the economy is reported as declining so you adopt a mood of gloom. Meanwhile, someone else wakes up to the same weather and thinks, “I’m glad it’s raining; that will be good for my plants”. As for the news about the economy someone else says, “I have no control over that. I’m going to focus my energies on what I can do today”.
The point is, we get to decide. We always have the option of choosing our attitude and “seeing” what we want to see.
