Perception: The Map Is Not The Territory

 Hi everyone,

It’s Matt here, and I’m back to share some more tips with you.

Today I’d like to discuss perception. 

As mentioned last time, my specialist area is NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming, which is similar to CBT.

A classic NLP phrase is: The map is not the territory.

 

This phrase means that everyone’s perception is different. Two people can look at the same thing and see something different.

For example, you might look out of your kitchen window and immediately spot your neighbours bright red car, followed by a tree which is swaying in the wind. Whereas a friend or family member might look at seemingly the exact same view, but not even notice the car until you point it out to them.

Another example, you could make someone a cup of tea, and while one person might rejoice at getting their caffeine fix, another might complain that it's not in their favourite cup and the tea is too milky. 

It’s all about perception. Your mind can “delete” things that it doesn’t deem interesting or relevant.

Now, we all have bad days.

But bad days are also down to perception.

The Map Is Not The Territory.

Let’s say we’ve barely slept, we wake up feeling groggy and miserable, it’s raining outside, we forget to charge our phone and it dies on the way to work. Our train is late, and we forgot our lunch.

 

First of all, congratulations if you’ve ever managed all of that in one morning, that’s quite impressive.

But on a serious note, these events depend on your perception.

Sure, it’s not ideal to go a whole day without your phone – but there are ways to manage the situation.

Five years ago, my smartphone completely broke and I was without a mobile phone for a couple of weeks. I had to do everything on an ageing laptop, and when I was out I had to rely on interactive bus timetables to know if I’d be on time for wherever I was going.

It’s only in a situation like that, that you become aware of other options.

If you use your phone to keep track of the time, you can either look at your laptop clock, interactive bus timetables, you can even use asking for the time as an excuse to start a conversation with a colleague.

Plus, if you’re a clock-watcher, you’ll have fewer distractions from tasks. We all love that feeling of not realising how much time has passed. 

 

Is it lunch time already?!

If you’re feeling tired from having a bad sleep, you can practice methods to encourage your mind to be more alert. Meditation, hydration, exercise, stretching are all ways to help liven up your mind and body.

Plus, you can plan a relaxing bedtime routine – maybe a hot bath and some bedtime reading before you have an early night. 

 

If it’s raining outside, use the opportunity to wrap up warm, wear your favourite coat. Put the heating on and order your favourite takeaway when you get home.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll never have another bad day, but we’re simply creating resources that you can access, that will help to improve your mood if you are having a day where things aren’t going your way.

In the next few weeks I’ll do a couple of videos on NLP techniques – to vary our content a bit.

In the meantime, have a great week!

The map is not the territory.

Matt x

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