During the last semester of my MBA program I took a course in consumer behavior and as somebody who has an interest in personal development, I naturally found it quite fascinating. That course and Martin Lindstrom’s book Buyology piqued my interest in the concept of perception. You hear that age old saying "perception is reality" but really it should be "self-perception is reality."
Sometimes taking the wrong turn actually leads you down the right path. It’s just perception that gets in your way. Over the long weekend a good friend of mine got married in a small town called Forest Hill, CA. Only 6000 people live in the town and it is a fairly mountainous and naturally beautiful area. The friend I was driving with had a GPS system that really didn’t seem to work very well. We overshot the original exit by a few miles, but the GPS redirected us to another route. That route was an adventure to say the least. It led us through a huge canyon with switchbacks, sharp turns, and and dirt roads. All the while, my friend and I were enjoying a great conversation about enlightenment and enjoying the natural beauty of the canyon, while The Tao Te Ching was playing in the background on my ipod. We had started the personal development journey together so we just reminisced and had some great laughs. It was actually a great car-ride.
After taking nearly and hour and a half to go 15-16 miles, we finally arrived in Forrest Hill, CA. When we got into the hotel we were greeted by a warm, friendly, and funny staff. As a result of taking this off-the-beaten path route to get to Forrest Hill, our perception of the place was:
It was a very tiny town that nobody ever leaves
It is really far form everything,
It is a place where everybody knows your name
It is a place that is very difficult to get to
So, all of our interactions with the staff at the hotel centered around our fascination with their small town in the middle of nowhere. Because we were so intrigued and amused with all these things, they took a liking to us and really changed the experience we had. We out a few hours later that there had been a straight road into town and our "outback" adventure was completely unnecessary. In fact we even missed the wedding ceremony because of it.
When we drove out of Forrest Hill Sunday morning we took the road we were supposed to take. It was just 20 miles of paved road straight to the freeway. I realized at that moment, had we taken that route, our perception of and fascination with Forrest Hill would have been completely different. I would have missed out on the enlightening car ride with my friend, and the people of Forrest hill wouldn’t have been so fascinating. So, just remember, sometimes taking the wrong turn leads you down the right path.
Tags: perception, visualization, insights, self-perception
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! I love these lines: “Sometimes taking the wrong turn actually leads you down the right path. It’s just perception that gets in your way.” So incredibly true — as is what you’ve said about the difference between “perception” and “self-perception.” I hate to sound silly here, but this post is really insightful and you are very perceptive!
Cool Post, Thanks.
Yes this sentence really had me thinking – “Sometimes taking the wrong turn actually leads you down the right path. It’s just perception that gets in your way.”
Sometimes we make mistakes but it’s through these mistakes that we learn what the right path is.
Thanks for the insight!