How you view reality is a key to a good life. Whether your reality is a place of endless wonder or a depressing hole depends on how you look at it.
Here’s the interesting thing.
Reality can be whatever you make it, and you are in control of that. By making some adjustments to how you see your life, you can have an infinitely better experience on this planet.
In this article we’re going to look at the power of perception on your life experience, and what you can do to shift it in a direction that makes life worth living.
Your Perception of Life Dictates Your Life
We assume that we all perceive the same reality, but everyone lives in different worlds. Since we are all individuals who have undergone different experiences, we all see the world a little differently. And that’s the beauty of it. Everyone’s life journey is unique, despite how similar some may seem.
Your life experience is molded by some things such as:
- Your beliefs
- Your experiences
- Your mindsets
- Your influences
- Your culture
- Your values
Together, all these different aspects of you create your perception of life.
Your perception of life refers to a conglomerate of systems that form your view of reality. Everyone has a unique view of reality, no two people’s perceptions of it are exactly alike.
Think about it this way.
A corporate millionaire is going to have a very different perception of life than an indigenous shaman. A world traveler is going to have a different view of reality than a single mother.
The frame that you view life creates the foundation for your life.
If you believe that the world is going to hell and you’re a helpless pawn in the system, then you’re not setting yourself up for a very good experience.
On the other hand, if you are optimistic about your future, you have adopted an opportunity mindset, and you see the world as your oyster where you can become anyone and do anything, then the reality you’re creating for yourself is going to be very different.
Your perception of life facilitates the experience that you have. It plays a role in how happy you are, how much you suffer, and what you make of your life.
Let’s look at it from another angle.
If you are a pawn on a chessboard, your perception of life is the board. It’s the framework in which you navigate your life experience.
If your framework is fundamentally broken, you’re at a massive disadvantage. If your framework facilitates growth and expansion, then you’re setting yourself up for a successful life.
Luckily, your perception of life is not fixed because naturally, it’s always changing. This means that your outlook on life can drastically change if you put in the effort to change it.
Changing your perception of life is neither a quick nor easy process. It’s like planting a seed and tending to that seed as it grows into a beautiful tree.
Here are some questions for you:
- What is your dating life like? How do you feel about dating and relationships? Do you constantly seem to struggle, or think that you can never get a good partner, or are you thriving in this area? What’s holding you back?
- What are your relationships like with your family? Are you distant or close? Does family matter a lot to you? What do you want your relationship with your family to look like?
- Do you feel like people don’t understand you or that you’re different? Why do you think this is? What do you need to do to be socially competent and cultivate an active social life?
- How do you feel about work? Are you doing something you love? Do you have issues getting money or a good job or being financially independent? What sort of things are you working towards and do they fulfill you?
- What’s holding you back from achieving your financial goals?
- What are some changes you can make to your lifestyle to feel more in your element?
- Are you unfulfilled with your lifestyle? How do people seem to travel the world, go to all the events they like, and do whatever they want while you work so hard and can’t afford to do the same? Is there something else holding you back?
- Do you feel like you have everything you need to be happy, or that you need to have more? What areas in your life do you feel abundant in, and what areas in your life do you feel you’re lacking?
Developing New Ways to See Reality
We’re all provided with a canvas, but paint different pictures on it with the experiences we have. Ultimately, everything in life is subjective because everyone sees everything differently. This is the basis of perception, understanding that life itself is subjective.
Below are some different frames that people create through their life experiences. See if you can identify each person’s beliefs, experiences, mindsets, influences, and values that have created their perception of life.
Identify your frame of reality, and write it down. Do you know what experiences have facilitated your current outlook on reality, and is it a desirable outlook to have?
The World View of a Traveler
I perceive life in a way where we are responsible for what we make our lives into. If we don’t take some risks and face our fears, we’re going to end up stagnating. Therefore, I value adventure, life experience, and personal growth more than anything else. As such, I created this website around these values, to help you develop the same.
This investment in my growth has worked out for me. I’ve been traveling the world for many years, embarking on many adventures, and experiencing so many different situations of all colors and flavors.
To me, life is limitless. We all have this innate capability that needs to be nurtured. We might not be the right people to achieve what we want, but we can make ourselves the right people. I’m searching for the wisdom to reach my highest potential, and make the most of the journey.
The World View of a Comedian
A comedian will often see the world through a lens of humor, as a good comedian has trained themselves to see the humor in each little detail. While someone who is quite serious will miss these details, the comedian is a master at pulling material from everything and using it to make people laugh.
What is interesting is that the comedian will find different things funny that an ordinary person simply won’t see. They’ve built up this muscle of humor, of perceiving reality through a playful, less serious lens, and this may bring them a lot of joy, ease, and health because laughter is a medicine.
The World View of a Spiritualist
Matt has done a lot of inner exploration and has discovered that he is happiest when he’s cultivating a deeper connection to the spiritual. Over time, his reality has become a very intriguing place. His faith has become very strong and he believes in many ideas after death, and these beliefs have completely eradicated his fear of death.
Matt is on a journey to find those feelings of wholeness. He meditates a lot, does yoga, seeks human connection, and is by no means a superficial or materialistic person. He has learned to slow down and smell the roses.
After all, isn’t that what life’s about? So he doesn’t spend his time worrying, but feeling love and compassion, and working to become a better person while in this fleeting meat suit.
The World View of an Entrepreneur
Sheena perceives life in a way where fulfillment comes through following her passion and making something of herself. She has imagined every situation in life, but can’t see joy unless she is living the life that she wants to build for herself.
As a result, Sheena worked hard to create her own business and now makes a good income with it. Sheena does what she loves and continues to develop her business, network, and help many people along the way.
This drive to do what she loves has created a fulfilling lifestyle that she’s proud to have. She couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else with her life.
The World View of a Victim
Joel perceives life in a way where he’s a victim of his circumstances. He doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him, and he doesn’t know why he’s so unlucky.
Every day Joel seems to have issues with people, work, getting ahead, making money, or finding time to do what he likes. Everyone is always trying to bring him down, and he constantly needs to fight to survive in this cruel world.
As Joel is an innocent victim. He feels that he has no power and that he needs to be compensated for the hardships that he has been through. He knows he will never make it as long as the world tries to keep him down.
Changing Your Perception of Life
How you are conditioned throughout your life molds your perception of life. This determines what you are receptive to, and how experiences are interpreted. This ranges from noticing different things to having different expectations, associations, outlooks, and mindsets.
After nearly drowning while swimming at the beach, you will not see the ocean the same as you once did. Your focus will shift from an enjoyable experience to associations with fear, unease, and trauma. Your negative experience conditioned you to see the beach in a certain way.
Someone who was raised in an abusive family will live in a personal reality of fear and paranoia if these traumas are not addressed. Due to their previous experiences, their reality shifts to accommodate resonating beliefs.
This person might become more receptive to other people’s suffering. They are likely to notice more crime, drama, and misery in everything they experience because they see the world as a hostile place. As a result, they live in an ugly reality.
It’s not that people are changing the universal, subjective reality. They are distorting it to match their own experiences, and this is why the experience that you have plays such a pivotal role in your perception.
Therefore, it’s important to heal from the past and start having experiences that align with the reality you want to create.
For the most part, it’s not your actual problems that cause suffering in your life. It’s the way you view these problems. This means that to solve a problem, you need to get to the roots of the problem for anything to change.
Here are some things you can do to help aid this process of changing your perception of life.
Challenge Your Belief Systems
Your beliefs aren’t concrete, but they play such a big role in how you view the world. Believing that the government is fundamentally rotten and that the whole system needs reform is going to create a very different world than if you think it’s all working perfectly fine.
If you are an atheist, you’re going to have a different experience believing in reality after death. Changing these beliefs will make you view reality in a completely different way, which facilitates different values, philosophies, and ways of living.
So challenge your beliefs. Question yourself. Don’t just reinforce a certain belief because it’s your belief. Your mind should be a workshop that’s constantly evolving, so encourage that process by constantly challenging what you know and realizing that nobody knows anything.
Break the Pattern
If you’re living in the same mental programs that you’ve always known, you’re going to get a whole load of the same crap from life.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to get stuck in the same patterns. For the most part, they’re all we have ever known. But there’s a whole new reality out there! Without awareness, we never end up breaking those patterns, and life stays the same as it always has.
So you keep getting into relationships that aren’t good for you. You get taken advantage of at work and wonder why it keeps happening. But it keeps happening because you’re not fixing the root cause. You’re destined to repeat the same reality if you don’t break those patterns and change things up.
So break the patterns and set yourself free from replaying the same situations in life and thinking that this is just how life is because it’s not.
Learn From the Perspectives of Others
People are gold mines of valuable information, but we’re so distracted that we never really listen to them.
Of course, the ego factors in here. We tend to stick to our belief systems and assume we know what’s up, but what if we listened to alternative perspectives? What if we were genuinely curious to learn about other people’s worldviews and understand how it makes them feel?
Well, it’s not too late to start. Start hearing people out and having conversations with people who you think have nothing in common with you. I challenge you.
If you’re pro-vaccine, I want you to have a conversation with someone who is anti-vaccine, and hear them out. Likewise, if you’re anti-vaccine, listen to people’s concerns and perceptions of being pro-vaccine.
If you’re pro-Ukraine, listen to someone who supports Russia and vice versa. If you’re a Republican, listen to a Democrat. If you’re anti-drug, listen to someone who works with plant medicines.
If you hear people out, you might start seeing eye to eye. The problem is that you don’t hear them out, so your perspective never broadens. So, start listening to everyone, despite what they think.
Begin Creating Your Unique World View
Perception is a double-edged sword. Life isn’t all drama and torment, there’s a wonderful side to it if you learn to see it. It’s through life-enhancing perceptions that people build the lives they do.
If you have a healthy perception that encourages your development, the world becomes an amazing place. Through this paradigm shift, you will cherry-pick the positive elements of life and see the best in everything.
It’s important to understand that the conditions of your life don’t matter. They are simply advantages and disadvantages. Only your mind is capable of creating and sustaining happiness.
Start changing your perception of the world to a happy medium. Focus on everything good that happens to you every day, and milk every positive experience that life hands you.
Make a habit of this and keep at it, and over time, your reality will become a very different place.