Psychology of Possibilities
The way it is vs. the way it could be.
The way it is vs. the way it could be.
By defining what is for the way it should be, you are limiting your own reality and possibilities.
Read it again: Declaring “This Is…”, because of the way we think/learn/experienced/… how it should be, limits what is possible for us.
More than we think, we are stuck from and by our culture, language, and models of thought. Those “way it should be” are continually limiting our potential. In every single thing we do, behave, feel, and think.”
Defining what is and understanding what can be are not the same thing.
By embracing the idea that we don’t know what we can do or who we can become, we open a new path to discover what could be. From that space, we have a fresh start that changes our perception of reality.
Possibilities open up when we realize the difference between uncontrollable and unknown.
Where is the research?
There is an outstanding amount of research conducted by Dr. Hellen Langer and her teams during the last 30 years. The most famous study, maybe the first shedding light on the power of possibility, is the counterclockwise study:
A group of 80 years old adults was sent to a retreat place, split into 2 groups, and accommodated in 2 buildings. Both buildings were recreated as being from 20 years earlier: The magazines in the area, the shows on the TV, the furniture, the food… everything was as 20 years earlier (as in the time they were 60 years old). One group was instructed to speak making the past time in the present tense: living as 20 years ago, doing things as 20 years ago, and speaking as Now. The control group, instead, spoke normally (the past in past tense).
After one week, the experimental group showed more significant improvement in vision, muscle force, joint flexibility, finger length (their arthritis reduced), and improved manual skills, over the control group. On intelligence quizzes, 63% improved their scores compared to 44% of the control group.
Amazingly, there were photographs taken before and after and shown to people who knew nothing about the experiment; everyone noticed people in the experimental group to be looking younger than before entering the house.
Another study?
Perception impacts Outcomes: The Chamber Maid Experiment
A group of hotel maids who didn’t exercise were selected and measured in all her health variables. Then divided into 2 groups: half of the participants were used as a control group, and half were told that their regular work was in fact “exercise.” They were educated on how making one bed equals to that gym exercise, or brooming the floor equaled to another gym activity.
A rigorous battery of assessments assured no additional effort in any group. All were working in the same manner.
After 6 weeks, the control group showed a weight reduction, decreased body mass index, waist to hip ratio, and decreased blood pressure.
What a great “story”: What is a useful point for me?
“Mind” and “body” are words we created to understand what we are referring to. However: It’s all one.
When you put the mind in strange (unusual) places, the “body” reacts in ways we didn’t know. As in the experiments above, thinking different thoughts, that we wouldn't consider otherwise; the “body” changes.
What can it do for me? How can I implement it?
The psychology of possibility first requires that we begin to assume that we do not know what we can do or become. Rather than starting from the status quo, we should start from “How I would like it to be.” From that beginning, and observing where we are now, we can ask how we might reach that goal and make progress toward it. It’s a small and simple change in thinking that has the power to change everything.
The magic lies in being aware of how much we mindlessly respond to cultural and social cues. By being more aware of the subtle changes, we open up space allowing for what could be, rather than behaving in the way it should be. New, fresh, otherwise unseen options seem to appear.
Challenge the idea that the limits we assume are real and must exist for all of us. In every single action, you do. With little subtle changes in our words, expectations, assumptions, and activities, we can gain new creativity, vitality, and optimism.
How Exactly, please?
- Notice something new every time. Read the end of this article looking for what is different, what is new. Your attention will be captured by something new, and you’ll discover new things that were not there before.
- While we may not be able to control something now, that does not mean we will be unable to in the future. Make the assumption that there are no assumptions (Langer, 2013)
- When making a mistake, try to incorporate the error into what you are doing, cooking, writing, painting, work meetings…make your way around “the mistake,” go with it as it was meant. Make it part of your activity: You may discover an entirely new world: it was a “mistake” for what you thought it should be. Play with it.
- “Noticing even subtle fluctuations in how you feel can counter mindlessness or the illusion of stability. We tend to hold things still in our minds, although they are changing all the time” Open your mind, a world of possibility presents itself.
- Re-read the 2 studies above, get creative about how you can challenge and change your psychology of possibility.