Recap
Part I of The Crystal Ball Effect highlighted the difference between Physical and Constructed Reality. I also discussed two components of Constructed Reality, Planning and Visualization. Lastly, I acknowledged the necessity of using Constructed Reality to help us achieve our goals.
Welcome back to Part II of this post where I will continue to discuss the Mindtrap called The Crystal Ball Effect by examining the dangers and inherent flaws we experience when working with Constructed Reality. I will also discuss what happens when Constructed and Physical Reality collide and how we are most often affected. Finally, I will present several solutions to The Crystal Ball Effect.
3 Dangers of Constructed Reality
Now that we have differentiated between Constructed and Physical Reality, we can really dive into the heart of the Mindtrap that I call The Crystal Ball Effect. Thus far, we have only discussed the positive aspects of planning and visualization, but this Mindtrap has to do with some inherent flaws of planning that start to present themselves as we move forward towards our goals. Before reading Part 1 of this article, you probably had no awareness that there were two different realities dancing in harmony together to make up the process of planning and achieving your goals. Now that you have a clearer understanding of these two very different types of reality, we can now start to discuss what happens when the dance gets out of sync and the two types of realities start “competing” against each other.
There are three inherent dangers that take place in the mind as we start to manipulate Constructed Reality and move forward down our paths of Physical Reality. (a) The division between what is real and imagined starts to become unclear, (b) along with this mental fuzziness comes a skewed perception of which type of reality we can and cannot control, and (c) as we spend more time in this process, we start to build our own comfort zones which can further complicate the situation.
As we plan and visualize our future more and more, we begin to strengthen the Constructed Reality within our minds. Because our inner mind cannot distinguish between Constructed and Physical Reality, it starts to believe that our Constructed Reality is just as real as Physical Reality. While this can mean we are very focused about our dreams, I want to remind you that a special property separates Physical and Constructed Reality. We said that Physical Reality must obey the physical laws of the universe, but that Constructed Reality was only limited by imagination. This reveals an inherent danger when our minds start to believe that our plans are true and that Physical Reality will conform to it. As we spend more time with the thoughts of our plan and try to make it a reality, we will inherently run into those universal laws and as a result, parts of our Constructed Reality can start to fall apart. As we are suddenly confronted with the sharpness and inflexibility of Physical Reality, we will view it as something negative, full of unknowns and see it as a setback along our journey. Due to the Thermostat Effect, we tend to draw away from Physical Reality (the unknown) and cling tighter and tighter to Constructed Reality (the known).
The Crystal Ball Effect (CBE)
This type of confusion leads to what I call The Crystal Ball Effect. The Crystal Ball Effect is when we see our future in our minds (like looking into a crystal ball) and then expect that things will work out exactly as we saw them. And when things start to go differently, we have trouble letting go of the future the crystal ball revealed to us. I don’t want to go as far as saying that you have scammed yourself into thinking you can make the future you want, but only that the way to get from here to your destination may be nothing like your initial plan (your crystal ball image of how to get there). Let’s examine the three dangers in more detail.
3 Dangers of The CBE
The first danger occurs when our Planning and Visualization become such a strong focus that our minds start to accept Constructed Reality as Physical Reality (like during the Visualization exercises). I liken this unto someone who plays too many video games and never gets off the couch. Playing video games is like living in Constructed Reality. It is a fantasy land that is a spectacular place to be. After all, there are no rules and I can make my planning anything I want it to be. Of course, we will never get anything done in Physical Reality if we never get off the couch and start moving. We must be careful to not get so caught up in planning that we forget to go out and take action, or more precisely, that we confuse playing the video game with living real life. We think manipulating Constructed Reality is shaping our Physical Reality, but we must remember that while Visualization can serve to enhance a physical skill, it can never teach a physical skill. Skill is only learned through practice in Physical Reality.
The second danger is our belief that we can fully manipulate Physical Reality to fit into our idea of Constructed Reality. Because we spend so much time constructing our future, a part of our mind can start to believe that Constructed Reality has more standing and validity than Physical Reality. The truth is that Physical Reality always has the right of way. Have you ever had a dream that your received or bought something really nice only to wake up and find out it wasn’t true? Well The Crystal Ball Effect can act to switch your perception of what is a dream and what is real. And so we start to fight to control Physical Reality to conform to our crystal ball image of what is supposed to happen along our journey. As we give too much credibility to our Constructed Reality, we expect to manipulate Physical Reality into our personal ideas of how the world should operate. And because our imagination is not bound by the natural laws of the universe and Physical Reality is, it becomes very easy to construct highly unrealistic expectations of what is supposed to occur. This type of impractical planning helps set us up for failure.
The third danger is developing an over-familiarity with Constructed Reality. As we learned in The Thermostat Effect, we feel most comfortable with things that are familiar and predictable. What could be more familiar and comfortable than a reality that we are free to construct? As we start to have small run-ins with the inflexibility of Physical Reality, it becomes very easy to shun it and withdraw ourselves back into Constructed Reality. This can serve to hold us hostage from progress towards our goals while we mentally reassure ourselves that we are on the right track towards achieving success. Many people who fall into this trap actually withdraw from life all the while believing that they are approaching success in the real world.
Examples
So, what are some of the examples of what happens when our attachment to Constructed Reality collides with the inflexibility of Physical Reality? Let’s revisit the variables of planning that we talked about earlier: Timelines, Obstacles, Resources and Results (remember that you created a more detailed and relevant list that pertains to your current situation). Physical Reality may present us with unexpected timelines. In some cases, goals may take much longer to achieve than we had anticipated, and in other cases, we may achieve them more quickly. We may have prepared for obstacles that never present themselves and we may suddenly find ourselves battling an obstacle that we did not expect. Resources we planned on having may fall through or may be much more abundant that we had anticipated. And, our end results might be a mere fraction of what we were aiming for, or they could be above and beyond anything that we foresaw. So you see, there exists a whole gamut of possibilities that are different that the reality we had constructed for ourselves, which depending on the actual events that unfold could be something that are negative, positive or indifferent to the goals we are trying to achieve.
The interesting thing about The Crystal Ball Effect is how the above miscalculations affect us. I think everyone understands that if we face timelines that are longer than expected, encounter problems that we did not foresee, lose resources that we were counting on and achieve results that are below the mark we were aiming for, that this would cause us some level of stress. But, I think many people are surprised to learn that even if timelines are shorter than expected, we do not encounter problems that we foresaw, we found an opportunity for additional resources and our results were getting bigger than we had anticipated, we oftentimes respond negatively due to a lack of trust in the Physical Reality, simply because it is not how we anticipated things to transpire. We will tend to view positive opportunities with a high degree of skepticism and mistrust which can lead us to make decisions that sabotage the success we seek. The fact is that because our minds give too much credibility to Constructed Reality, we often perceive ANY difference in Physical Reality as something negative and suspect we are losing control or doing something wrong. This happens because our mind buys into our Constructed Reality and feels that things have to turn out exactly as we saw them in our crystal ball, and if they are not going as planned, then something must be done to realign what is happening (Physical Reality) with the way we believe it is supposed to happen (Constructed Reality).
Negative Psychological Effects
How do these discrepancies affect us? They can produce a sense of confusion that makes us feel like we should be trying harder because we perceive a lack of control. We also feel a sense of frustration that can cause us to doubt ourselves. Lastly, the stress we experience can cause a sense of emotional drain, even when we are on the correct Path. Can you imagine being stressed out because you are right where you need to be to achieve your goals? That takes all the fun and excitement out of reaching your goals. And all this stress because life is not going the way it happens when you see it in your crystal ball (in your Constructed Reality).
These emotional stresses coupled with our skewed sense of what is real and imagined cause us to react in a number of different ways. Some people will give into the pressure they feel from their loss of control and quit while others will experience a loss of confidence in their abilities. Some people will lose energy and momentum while others will fight even harder against Physical Reality. The more optimistic people will re-plan their strategy or look for better answers on how to remedy their perceived problems, but they will almost always use the same variables based on the same preconceived ideas of what they believe is supposed to occur in Physical Reality. They will always revert back to their crystal ball.
Solutions to The CBE
So, what are the solutions to The Crystal Ball Effect? How do we use Constructed Reality to effectively plan out our goals without falling prey to it? There are several strategies that will not only keep you safe from this trap, but that can also greatly enhance your effectiveness in pursuing your goals.
The first strategy is to simply expect differences between Constructed and Physical Reality. Understand that they operate on different rules and that there are always going to be miscalculations and surprises. A good practice after you visualize and plan how you are going to reach your goals is to tell yourself, “I am going to start here and see what changes I have to make to my plan”. Be flexible from the beginning.
The next step falls right in line with the first. Don’t be afraid to plan and re-plan. Create a space and protocol for examining your goals and see what is happening in Physical Reality. Feel free to add new timelines, take out obstacles that are not showing up, add new possible resources as well as changing up exactly where you are aiming to arrive. In this sense, your Constructed Reality should be “alive” and always changing and adapting to your current situation.
Get clear about the fact that Physical Reality always takes precedence and holds more weight than Constructed Reality. We should not fear the differences we encounter in Physical Reality and when we find a part of our Constructed Reality that is not going as planned, we should feel happy to gain valuable information for revising our plan. It is the plan that functions in harmony with the real world that is going to win you real results. The clarity and value of the discrepancies you find far exceed any imagined plans that you can create for your path. Value Physical Reality and know that while you have constructed the way you would like things to go, Physical Reality is telling you the way things really are. This honesty can act to augment and correct your current strategy.
Re-Planning and Re-Strategizing
The most important strategy of all is to learn how to properly take the information you gather from Physical Reality and use it to revise your plans. I mentioned before that some people try to revise their plans, but they make the mistake of still basing their strategy off their original preconceived ideas. I recommend using the following four step process to revise your plans:
- Factor in new information from Physical Reality. Ex. If you learn that a timeline is going to be reached much sooner than planned, take a look at how the new dates affect the rest of the plan.
- Factor out old information of Constructed Reality. Ex. If you have new information that a resource has fallen through, you need to take into account how that affects the rest of your current plan.
- After you add all the new information you gathered from Physical Reality, and take out all the old information from your Constructed Reality, then you need to take a fresh look at what you have left on the table. Forget about the ideas that you had before and see only what is in front of you. Many times our minds cling onto parts of our past Constructed Reality even after we consciously know that they are no longer a part of our plan. That is why it is important to throw everything on the table and treat it as a totally new challenge or goal. You may find that you now choose to attack the problem in a whole different way than before.
- Create a new plan based on what you have in front of you. Create new timeline, obstacle, resource and result goals based off what is left after Steps 1 through 3. Create a system for periodic updates so that you can re-enter this process anytime you feel Constructed and Physical Reality Colliding.
As you can see, revising is not really what we are doing during our re-planning phase. We are actually making a totally new plan based on the variables we now know to exist (Physical Reality) combined with our best ideas of how to make them happen (Constructed Reality).
Conclusion
I encourage you to keep moving forward towards your goals and learn not to believe everything you see in the crystal ball. Life is spontaneous and full of surprises and our methods for navigating to our destinations must adapt accordingly.
In conclusion, remember to expect differences between the constructed ideas and what is happening in real life. Don’t be intimidated when your things do not go as planned and be happy that you are receiving real world feedback to implement back into your strategy. These setbacks bring clarity, effectiveness and will lead to real results, so change your attitude about how you perceive them. While others are fighting reality and withdrawing into their constructed shells, you will be the one moving and adapting and finding a way to reach your dreams. Lastly, know that this constant process of re-evaluation and re-strategizing is a skill set of successful people and high performance organizations.