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Perceptions Are Key to Your Career

Perceptions are how we view everything. It is the way we see, believe and feel the world around us. You know what you know because you experienced it in one form or another. Some of the ways we develop perceptions come from our environment, experiences and relationships. The media offers a myriad of beliefs and images to convince us their way is the best way to live. From our perceptions we look at the world through our very own unique lenses. You could say that perceptions are like fingerprints or DNA. There are similarities among us humans, but how we individually view the world is distinctly different.

Most people want a broader and richer life. They want to experience growth and development. The caveat is they are using the same skills, asking the same questions, dwelling in the same self-talk, and connecting to same emotions. You can change jobs, change spouses, change locations, but nothing really has changed except the scenery. Initially in this type of change, there is a “honeymoon” period. When the honeymoon is over, frustration and disappointment set in. Transformation requires new perspectives.

To create the new job, the new leadership role, play a bigger success game, or have financial security, you have to dream outside of your limiting perceptions. The way to do this is to gain new knowledge, which can bring you new types and levels of perception and experience. Knowledge is deeper than gaining more information. Information by itself is insufficient. You can read a book and you will learn more about the subject. Knowledge involves both understanding and experience. For example, I can read a book about chocolate, but unless I taste and experience chocolate I won’t know what it is to know chocolate. From the information and tasting of chocolate I now have an experience of chocolate. What if I limit myself to a $1.00 bar of chocolate? Then all I will know and experience is that $1.00 bar of chocolate. But what if I want to expand my knowledge of chocolate?

I might start raising the bar on how much I am willing to financially risk to buy Godiva chocolate, but first I will do some research. Why is Godiva more expensive? What is so different between the $1.00 bar and the $5.00 Godiva bar? Apparently, according to Thierry Muret, Godiva’s Master Chocolatier, “truly fine chocolates have several characteristics in common: they are always fresh, contain high quality ingredients like premium cocoa beans and dairy butter…Consequently, their taste differs greatly from less expensive chocolates, which tend to use artificial flavors and preservatives to achieve a longer shelf life.” (After reading this I think I would like to be a Master Chocolatier at Godiva!)

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