How to consciously change your perception

Have you ever wondered why some of us can upgrade and evolve our lives while others stay stuck? Have you noticed that some people don’t have much in life but are still happy while others are miserable? Or maybe you know some people that view the glass as half-full while others view it as half-empty.

So what accounts for these differences?

The answer is simply one’s perception.

People can view the same situation in many different ways. Two people may encounter the same situation and interpret it in two different ways. So why do we perceive in different ways? What factors account for these differences? Can we change our perception?

In this blog post, I aim to discuss the topic of how we perceive and how to intentionally bring about a shift in our perception. But before we dive into this topic, let’s establish a definition of perception.

What is perception?

Perception broadly refers to the act of perceiving an object, situation, person, event, or experience. However, in this blog post, I am not referring to the neuroscience of perception but rather the psychology. Perception in this case refers to the way we interpret events, experiences, and situations. It is the point of view or the perceptual filter we have when we encounter any experience or event. These events may be internal (e.g. within your mind) or external (e.g. in the real world).

How do we form perceptions?

We each have a perceptual filter with which we examine the world and different events. Let’s first take a look at how you may have formed your perceptual filter.

Suppose you come into this world, like a baby with a clean slate or an “empty mind”. This would mean that everything in your mind is learned. After your birth, you learn everything that you have known till now. From this, it follows that the way you view the world is a result of your conditioning or learning.

So how do we become conditioned and learn?

It is suggested that up until the age of seven, your brain is in theta waves which is a very suggestible brain wave. It means your mind is in a hypnotic state and whatever you put in it, it will absorb and learn. The information you absorb generally comes from socialization processes or information you obtain from interacting with others such as your parents. It also comes from the experiences you have during those years. After the age of about seven, you are no longer in a hypnotic state of mind but, you start to operate based on your programming.

Generally speaking, your programming consists of beliefs, thought patterns, childhood traumas, and all that you experienced within the first seven years of your life. All of this makes up your perceptual filter and will now influence how you perceive future experiences and/or events.

However, these new experiences can also influence your perceptual filters and then later on further future events.

The diagram below illustrates this idea.

Let’s take a look at an example to get a better understanding.

Suppose, we have two friends, one’s name is Marie and the other is Stephanie, and let’s suppose that both are trying to get dates for an event. Let’s suppose both Marie and Stephanie had a hard childhood. Both experienced childhood trauma (e.g. neglect) and both have the belief that they are unworthy of love. Now suppose, that Marie had a boyfriend that didn’t treat her too well, and he cheated on her. This will only reinforce her belief that she is unworthy of love and she may choose to view this situation as her unworthiness of love as opposed to her boyfriend’s infidelity due to her perceptual filter (#1 in the diagram).

Now suppose Stephanie also had a boyfriend but he treated her well and made her feel loved. This will most likely change Stephanie’s belief that she is unworthy of love and therefore her perception of her worthiness when it comes to love (#2 in the diagram).

Suppose both women are not given much attention from men at this new event and no one seems to want to talk to them. Both women are likely to view this situation in different ways. While Marie may view this situation as rejection and as a flaw within her. Stephanie may view it as simply that people are busy (#3 in the diagram).

This situation illustrates that our perception is a result of our initial conditioning and our experiences. This cycle is continuous and endless. Both of these shape the way we perceive events.

Personal Construct Theory

Personal construct theory by Kelly (1955) mentions the same idea about this topic of perception. He suggests that we are all like scientists with hypotheses and we are all constantly testing out our hypotheses and either gaining validation for those hypotheses or invalidation depending on our experiences. If our hypotheses or constructs are invalidated, then we seek to reconstruct our original construct so that it matches reality.

In Kelly’s theory, the hypotheses or constructs would be the programming or our perceptual filters. When we experience a future event, we are testing our hypotheses or our programming which either validates our construct or invalidates it. When our construct is invalidated, we seek to reconstruct it so that it matches reality. Similar to how Stephanie altered her belief because of her experience.

The only flaw with this is that as humans, we are inherently biased and subjective so, often when we are testing out our hypotheses, we are hoping that our hypothesis is true which means we are already viewing with a cognitive bias. A real-world example is despite the numerous evidence of climate change, there are still people who believe that climate change is a hoax. The experience can only invalidate a construct when a person allows it to be invalidating. For this, the person would need to evaluate the experience or situation objectively. But how?

How can we objectively evaluate an event?

To change your perception, you need to objectively evaluate an event. To objectively evaluate an event, you need to put aside your perceptual filters and stop interpreting the event or experience. But how?

The answer is through mindful observation. This is one way to increase your awareness and create a perceptual shift.

Our minds are constantly thinking, judging, and evaluating. With all this going on, it is difficult to be able to evaluate objectively. To evaluate objectively, we need to observe objectively. Since we are always viewing everything through a lens, the first step is to throw the lens away. This can be done through mindful observation. The key is to simply observe what is happening rather than make sense of it. For those who practice mindfulness or meditation, this should be quite easy. Even if you don’t practice it, you can try to be more mindful or simply present at any moment.

Try it now. Stop everything you’re doing for a minute and let go of all your thoughts. Be aware of the sounds around you, the smells, the sights, and just feel the stillness. This is pure observation, mindfulness, no judgment. This is one way to become more open-minded and expand your perception.

In other mindfulness practices, you may choose to focus on one particular thing such as the breath or the sound of the ocean. The key to this practice is attention. The quality, depth, and breadth of your attention will determine how present you are and this will influence your perception. When the quality of your attention is greater, your awareness of all the stimuli in your field of attention will be crystal clear allowing for greater perception.

As a result of this greater awareness and clarity, you will realize or notice things that you hadn’t noticed before. You may realize that certain constructs were wrong or maybe they were right all along. Regardless, you have a very powerful tool to increase your perception so that you can view a situation from multiple angles. Again let’s go back to the example of Marie and Stephanie. If Stephanie did not pay attention to the kind acts of her boyfriend and his love towards her, she probably would not have changed her perception of her worthiness.

To summarize the questions initially asked, we each are brought about as empty slates and are programmed in the first few years of our life which forms a perceptual filter. This perceptual filter influences the way we perceive events but new experiences may also alter this perceptual filter which can then go back and influence the way we view future events thus this is an endless cycle. However, you can intentionally create a perceptual shift instead of letting life experiences dictate your perceptions. To do so, observe with mindful awareness and deepen the quality of your attention to obtain greater awareness and clarity which will ultimately lead to greater perception.

So what do you think? Are you tempted to try? Or are you skeptical?

What are your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Other than Personal Construct Theory, the rest is unpublished work and simply my personal theory based on primitive reasoning, knowledge, and experience. The theory may resemble already existing or published work out there however, that is a coincidence. This work is original and created by the author.

References

Kelly, G. A. (1970/2003). A brief introduction to personal construct theory. In F. Fransella (Ed.), International handbook of personal construct psychology (pp. 3–20). John Wiley & Sons Ltd.