Acting As If

Life is a series of moments. To Live each one is to succeed. - Cortia Kent

The technique has its origins in the 1911 paper Philosophie des Als Ob (‘Philosophy of As If’) by Hans Vaihinger.
The theory is: we can never really know the underlying reality of the world. Because of this we construct various systems of thought and then we assume that these match reality. We then behave behave “as if” the world matches our models of the world.

The ‘Acting As If’ technique presupposes that the result has been or will be realized.

The intent is to make it easier to explore possibilities and ideas internally. Such possibilities would not usually be available to us because of the limiting beliefs we usually hold about ourselves and others. The goal of the technique is to allow the limiting beliefs to be set aside by reducing or avoiding internal resistances. The purpose of doing this is to explore alternate possibilities, without having to threaten or challenge our existing world-view. The limiting belief can be kept if it is useful.

For example instead of saying “I don’t know how to be confident in around people I’ve never met before” you can act as if you have done it before. Doing this puts you in the stage of conscious incompetence, but you behave as though you have conscious or even unconscious competence.

This technique allows you to acquire competence rapidly, efficiently and effectively compared to just acknowledging your incompetence.

Using this technique requires you to focus and mobilize your personal resources. ‘Acting’ means that you have to overcome inertia and passivity and become a doer. ‘As if’ implies empowering beliefs that the result is a possibility, if not a reality.

You need to have a vision or a mental model of yourself successfully performing the skill you want. The model may be informed by images and memories of real-life people you’ve seen being confident among strangers. Even if you are learning by trial and error, or by “trial and succeed” there is always a reference point.

You can internally reinforce ‘As if’ behavior by using positive affirmations (Meeting new people is easy for me) and visualization.

The ‘acting as if’ technique can be used to develop skills and roles you require. You can also use it to be the kind of person you want to be. It can be an effective approach to interpersonal communications. When you act as if someone else has a positive intent, you can ‘encourage’ them to express that intent by ’showing’ them a preferred possibility for their behavior. This is a form of personal power.

Examples
I can’t tell my partner how I feel.
But if you could, what would you want them to know?
By acting as if you could you can move away from “I can’t”, towards discussing the the problem or identify what you would like to say. You then spontaneously start to consider ways you could say what you feel. Either move would be a positive step towards learning to solve the problem.

I don’t know anyone who could memorize this poem.
But if they could, how do you think they might do it?
Well, I suppose they would…..
Again you must move away from the flat denial of your capabilities and knowledge. You can then engage in a creative approach to consider how to achieve the goal. This is often called a generative approach. It encourages you to brainstorm and generate new ideas without reference to prior assumptions of inability.

Alternatives for When You Get Stuck
If you continue to feel unable to identify new ideas you could try the following:

• Address the presupposition “What stops you?” [presuposes something specific is stopping you and this can be identified and considered],

• Look for role models “Who else might know?”,

• Test whether there is a generalized belief of impossibility “Could there be anyone who could do it?”,

• Look for a secondary problem or problems (things that mean it cannot safely be considered) “So what would happen if you did?”,

• Search for counter-examples “Has there ever been a time you could…?”,

• Search for potential internal conflicts “Is there a part of you that would have a problem doing that?”

• Look for more positive motivational leverage “What else would you get if you could?”

• Allow yourself to consider broader kinds of solutions from other perceptual positions such as third parties “If your wife was here, what might she say you weren’t seeing?”

• Reorientate yourself to see the problem from a future perspective, such as the double question “How would it feel if you could find a way?” followed by “And how might you get that?”

• Consider smaller steps “And if you could find a way to get there anyway, what might you have to do first?”

Acceptance

Acceptance

Rather than trying to better control your thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories and other private events, it is easier to “just notice”, accept, and embrace your private events, especially previously unwanted ones. Active Mind Control is associated with reduced levels of happiness.

The aim is to get in contact with a sense of self known as “self-as-context” — the you that is always observing and experiencing but is distinct from your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories.

You need to clarify your personal values and to take action on them. This brings more vitality and meaning into your life and increases your psychological flexibility.

The core conception of the Acceptance technique is that psychological suffering is usually caused by experiential avoidance, cognitive entanglement, and results in psychological rigidity that leads to a failure to take behavioral steps in accord with core values. This is summarised by the acronym, FEAR:
▪ Fusion with your thoughts
▪ Evaluation of experience
▪ Avoidance of your experience
▪ Reason giving for your behaviour

The healthy alternative is to ACT:
▪ Accept your reactions and be present
▪ Choose a valued direction
▪ Take action

ACT commonly employs six core principles to help develop psychological flexibility:
1. Cognitive defusion: Learning to perceive thoughts, images, emotions, and memories as what they are, not what they appear to be.
2. Acceptance: Allowing them to come and go without struggling with them.
3. Contact with the present moment: Awareness to the here and now experience with openness, interest, and receptiveness.
4. Observing the self: Accessing a transcendent sense of self, a continuity of consciousness which is changing.
5. Values: Discovering what is most important to one’s true self.
6. Committed action: Setting goals according to values and carrying them out responsibly.

Accentuate the Positive

Accentuate the Positive
 
All situations are a combination of positive and negative elements. We are likely to perceive positive things such as our successes and strengths as wanted and negative things, such as weaknesses as unwanted. What we perceive can be a matter of choice. We can choose between noticing the positive or the negative as well as between less and more positive responses – between ‘I’m fine” and “I’m fantastic”.
 
These choices are important as they give us more control over situations.
 
The first tool of accentuation is focus. You can make something more significant, more likely to occur, simply by attending to it. Encouragement and reinforcement can amplify the effects.
 
Complete the process by turning it into a truth statement eg ” Accentuate the positive and your mind will work to make it a reality”
 
Accentuating the positive means we are more likely reduce Negative Thinking.

Accelerated Learning

Accelerated Learning

Accelerated Learning technologies and methods are designed to make learning rapid, easy and efficient.

The emphasis is on strong visual imagery and associations, mind maps, the use of peripheral texts assimilated by peripheral vision, all kinds of mnemonic techniques. Rhythm and some kinds of music also play and important role in facilitating learning.

Academic teaching tends to emphasize language, numeracy, logic and analysis and thus uses the left side of the brain. The right side of the brain deals with images, patterns and music, helps us see the big picture. Accelerated Learning helps us make sure that the whole brain is engaged in learning.

The assumption is we learn best in a relaxed and receptive state of mind. In this state our brain waves are in alpha rhythm rather than beta rhythm. Advocates of the method suggest learning environments should be more “child like” in that fun, play and spontaneity are valued as part of learning.

The Incline of Difficulty Principle: Most formal courses present simple material first and the rest of the course becomes progressively more difficult. Accelerated Learning calls this practice into question and does not to make concessions. However it also does not to expect the student to learn everything presented to him. Telling students that the work is going to get increasingly more difficult sets up expectations that learning will be a joyless task.

Accelerated Learning ideas are present in other areas of personal development such as meditation, neuro-linguistic programming. In NLP learning can be accelerated by modeling. In this case Accelerated learning is learning to do something and only later learning how you are doing it.

The usefulness of Accelerated learning is in this age where knowledge is growing rapidly in very varied forms of media. In medicine it has been calculated that if a doctor reads 2 journal articles a night for a year, then at the end of that year they will be 800 years behind.

Defeating Self Defeating Beliefs

Self Defeating Beliefs

“People are not disturbed by events in the world, but rather by the view that they take of them.” - Epicitus

Pain and suffering is inevitable – being miserable is an option

Our view or interpretaion of an event impacts greatly on not only our behaviour in relation to that event, but also our emotional reaction.

Two people may be involved in the very same event, but have a very different emotional reaction based on how they perceived the event. For example research in the forensic field looking at the accuracy of eyewitness testimony shows how two individuals who witness the exact same crime can have two very different perceptions of what happened. Our perceptions can differ due to a variety of external factors such as our location and our physical viewpoint. But this perception is also colored by our own thoughts, values, morals and our past life experiences. Our life view is a sum total of all our experiences, with some experiences (such as the death of a loved one) having more impact on our life than others. From a very early age we learn to incorporate these experiences into our cognitive structure to make sense of the world and how we relate to the world.

These experiences lead us to develop a variety of beliefs and thinking processes. Some of these beliefs are widespread, such as the sun setting in the east and rising in the west. This is an example of a belief that is congruent to our reality. However sometimes our beliefs are not congruent with reality and here is where problems can develop. Albert Ellis, a psychotherapist and founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, described a number of irrational thoughts that he had observed in a large number of his patients. He determined that often his patients problems were influenced by their particular way of thinking and their expectations and interpretations.

Further research has shown that these self defeating beliefs are in existence in most of the population. Most people allow between three to five of these core beliefs to influence and impact upon their emotions and behaviors. Many people will refuse to admit that they may believe these statements as reading through them they are quite obviously irrational and unhealthy. However our behavior is an essential indicator of our thinking processes and we often behave in accordance to these beliefs, without being aware they are in existence.

We can come to hold beliefs that are self defeating. Explore the list of 10 Self Defeating Beliefs and try out the suggestions to change them.

• Self Defeating Belief 1
I must be loved or approved of by significant people in my life in order to be a worthwhile person.

• Self Defeating Belief 2
To feel happy and be worthwhile I must achieve, succeed at what ever I do, and make no mistakes.

• Self Defeating Belief 3
People should always do the right thing. People who don’t are bad and should be blamed or punished.

• Self Defeating Belief 4
If things don’t turn out the way I want them to be it’s a total disaster and completely intolerable.

• Self Defeating Belief 5
My unhappiness is caused by things outside my control and things that happened to me in the past – so there’s little I can do to feel any better.

• Self Defeating Belief 6
If something is going to be dangerous or frightening, then I should be terribly concerned about it and worry about it a great deal to stop it from happening.

• Self Defeating Belief 7
It is easier to avoid problems and unpleasantness in my life than to face it.

• Self Defeating Belief 8
I need someone stronger than than myself to rely on.

• Self Defeating Belief 9
Every problem should have an ideal solution – and it is unbearable when one can’t be.

• Self Defeating Belief 10
I should become upset when other people have problems and feel unhappy when they’re sad.

Self Defeating Belief Number 10

I should become upset when other people have problems and feel unhappy when they’re sad.

It is natural to be concerned for a friend or family member when they are experiences some difficulties and this shows signs of being a compassionate person. However when you become over-involved in other people’s problems not only are you using up your energy and time to deal with a situation that is someone else’s responsibility, but you are also taking away their opportunity to grow and learn. If we are forever solving other people’s problems, that is not leaving much time for us to achieve our goals and look at improving our own life. When we take on board other people’s problems we also take on board their emotional reaction to those problems, which uses up our own energy and resources. A good question to ask yourself if find yourself having a strong emotional reaction is “WHo’s problem is this?’ if you answer is that is is someone else problem, then it is that persons responsibility to solve it. You can provide support in a compassionate and caring way and offer advice is asked, but leave the problem with them, that way you also leave the emotions with them.

A healthier idea

It is sad to see other people in trouble, but I don’t help them by making myself miserable. I can cope with feeling sad, and sometimes I can take constructive steps to help them.

Self Defeating Belief Number 9

Every problem should have an ideal solution – and it is unbearable when one can’t be found.

It is natural to desire a positive outcome to problems in life. Problems occur when we demand a positive outcome and dismiss potentially satisfactory solutions in search of the perfect solution. When we demand that all problems are solved to perfection we once again set ourselves up for failure and distress. There is no evidence to suggest that there is a perfect outcome to any problem, and by searching for this we miss some very viable options. Often in life the options we are faced with are far from perfect, but that are satisfactory. If we dismiss them then the problem can actually become bigger and we expend more time and energy looking for a solution that just doesn’t exist.

A Healthier Idea

It is good to have a perfect solution to a problem, although that is rarely possible. There are often a variety of solutions and I am capable of using problem solving to choose the most appropriate solution.

Self Defeating Belief Number 8

I need someone stronger than stronger than myself to rely on.

It is actually very healthy to be strong enough to ask for help when you need it. We alone are not able to achieve and accomplish everything is life that is necessary for daily living, that’s why we all have different careers and specialty areas. For example when our washing machine breaks down we call a plumber because that is their specialty area. Problems develop from this way of thinking when we are asking for help from others on a regular occasion and we develop a dependence upon them. Over reliance on others can lead to a lot of problems in our life including avoidance of situations and responsibility, lack of confidence in ourselves and our own abilities and an inability to make our own decisions. Some warning signs that you may be defendant on others are not doing things you want to do for fear of other peoples approval, constantly asking other peoples advice, or asking people’s permission to say or do something.

A healthier idea

It is good to get support from others when I want it, but the only person I really need to rely on is myself. Over reliance leads to dependence and I can and will trust my own judgment

Self Defeating Belief Number 7

It is easier to avoid problems and unpleasantness in my life than to face it.

On the surface it is sometimes easier to avoid a problem than to face it. By using avoidance as a coping strategy we can avoid dealing with issues that create feelings of uncomfort and distress. However by using avoidance as a short term coping strategy we set ourselves up for long term problems, that are often bigger and more difficult to solve that the original problem. By avoiding a problem we also are avoiding responsibility and the opportunity to grow and develop by facing new challenges. Avoidance also means that for the period of time that you avoid the problem, you are left with feelings of anxiety, fear and distress because you know deep down it’s not going to go away, rather than facing the problem (and the discomfort) head on, dealing with it and then getting on with the rest of your life.

A healthier idea

Facing difficult situations will make me feel bad at the time, but I can cope with that. Putting off problems doesn’t make them any easier, it just gives me longer to worry about them.

Self Defeating Belief Number 6

If something is going to be dangerous or frightening, then I should be terribly concerned about it and worry about it a great deal to stop it from happening.

This belief is irrational and it only serves to create anxiety in your life. How many times have you gone over and over a particular concern or future event in your mind and found yourself feeling very anxious, only to find that when that event did happen everything went smoothly? Believing this statement only serves to create a lot of unless worry in your life and wastes a lot of energy. Worry does not solves problems, it only creates more, and it certainly doesn’t stop the event you are worried about from actually happening. If you do find that you are worried about something it is much healthier to ask yourself what the probability of that event occurring is and then use problem solving techniques to create a solution. After doing that you can then free you mind of the worry and you already have a solution.

A healthier idea

Worrying about something that might go wrong won’t stop it from happening, it just makes me unhappy now! I can take constructive steps to prepare for possible problems, and that is as much as anyone can do. So I won’t dwell on the future now.

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