Spinning the Chair
This is the sixth tool in the Mindset Toolkit…
What is it?
This is a short simple tool which serves an applied version of the pliable perception tool from the introspection toolkit.
A chair (think of a standard dining chair) only has one line of symmetry, which you can only see when looking head on and as you revolve on the vertical axis. Spin the chair on any other axis and it will always look different.
Spinning the chair is a short little mantra you can use to remind yourself of this phenomenon and trigger you to apply the pliable perception tool to any given situation.
We can change our perception of a situation by spinning it in our minds much like a chair.
How does it work?
At its simplest, the tool is just about remembering the phrase “spin the chair”, then saying it either out loud or in your mind to trigger a state enabling you to use thinking strategies alter your perception.
I would recommend revisiting the pliable perception tool to rekindle your understanding of the insights shared as these are what you want to utilise during this process.
I do however have some additional angles for you to explore and add to your toolkit of lenses that can help you shape your perception…
Seeing Opportunity
Opportunity and risk are the same…
As a professional in software project delivery, we have a concept called a RAID log which we use to track certain information about the project we are delivering. RAID stands for Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies. These are all things we need to focus on to ensure the delivery of the project.
One thing that people often overlook though is that risks and opportunities are two sides of the same coin. A risk is a chance that something “negative” may manifest, and opportunity is a chance that something “positive” may manifest. The “ will become clear in the next insight…
When looking for uncertainty, humans have a tendency towards negative bias meaning risks of perceived negative outcomes will be more easily identified. Really though, the logic for working out unexpected positive outcomes is exactly the same, we just need to choose to change our focus.
Every cloud has a silver lining if we choose to look hard enough.
The Good, the Bad and the…
We know not what is good or bad…
Positive or negative, good or bad. Two sides of the same coin, but can we really ever tell the difference?
Let me share a little story:
A long time ago, a poor Chinese farmer lost a horse, and all the neighbours came around and said, “well that’s too bad.” The farmer said, “maybe.”
Shortly after, the horse returned bringing another horse with him, and all the neighbours came around and said, “well that’s good fortune,” to which the farmer replied, “maybe.”
The next day, the farmer’s son was trying to tame the new horse and fell, breaking his leg, and all the neighbours came around and said, “well that’s too bad,” and the farmer replied, “maybe.”
Shortly after, the emperor declared war on a neighbouring nation and ordered all able-bodied men to come fight—many died or were badly maimed, but the farmer’s son was unable to fight and spared due to his injury. And all the neighbours came around and said, “well that’s good fortune,” to which the farmer replied, “maybe.”
And so the story goes...
Focus on Reality
Emotions are not reality…
Our emotions are a reflex reaction of the mind to a perceived gain or loss of something we value. This means if we have not clearly established our values, or our perception of the thing being gained or lost is tainted, our emotional response to a given situation can be out of sync with true reality.
The mechanisms driving our emotions are something I have explored in both the emotional checkpoint and finding your cape tools. Check them out to understand the source of our emotions further.
The key point for spinning the chair is to know and accept that emotions do not represent reality. Yes, they can be used sometimes as a barometer or a guide, but do not rely on them as your primary driver for selected behaviour. Emotions should always be viewed with a degree of curiosity enabling you to interrogate them with rational thinking before you determine how you feel and as such your given behavioural response to a situation.
Action is real.
Emotions are just the mental pomp and ceremony that precede the action.
This insight serves as a reminder to use rational reflection and avoid purely emotionally driven action. Spin the chair with rational thought and objectively view your emotions before acting.
In the words of Alan Watts:
Awakening is to know what reality is not.
Always Learning
Failure is a learning opportunity…
Perfection is a construct of the human mind and no two moments are ever the same.
This means in every moment of life there is the opportunity to learn.
Yes, some situations are similar meaning you can whip out your play book or script for what to say and do, but in reality, there will always be subtle differences around how events are unfolding.
In any given situation you have the ability to zoom out and evaluate your own performance identifying feedback and creating the opportunity to learn. Do this through retrospective reflection.
Perceived failure is to be embraced with gratitude as it affords us the opportunity to learn.
Spin the chair with a lens what is searching for learning opportunities.
Only losers like to lose.
But winners love to learn.
– Ramsey Bond
Embracing Challenges
Challenge is growth…
When a butterfly is emerging from its cocoon, it requires the slow struggle to give its wings adequate time to dry and harden. If you help it by slicing the cocoon open, when it comes to fly it will simply fall to the ground leaving it vulnerable to be eaten.
Struggle and challenge give us the opportunity to strengthen and grow.
Yes, it can be hard, and too much can be overwhelming and even inhibit growth, but having no challenge and struggle is a recipe for both mental and physical demise.
When times are hard and you are facing in to challenges which appear daunting, instead of choosing to focus on how hard it will be or complaining, spin the chair and practice gratitude for the opportunity you have to learn and grow.
Sounds cheesy and possibly even impossible, but trust me, even saying you are grateful for the challenge with tongue in cheek can raise a smile or a laugh and have a profound effect on your resolve to push forwards.
Fake it until you make it with this insight by spinning the chair to always embrace a challenge.
Benefits and Practical Applications
Spinning the chair is a mantra that can be used in almost any situation in life. It is designed to promote mental agility giving you the ability to quickly change your perception and access behavioural patterns most appropriate for the action required.
Pliable perception is a reflective tool which enables you to slowly build up the skill of intelligently shaping your perception over time, where as spinning the chair is more like a rapid access tool that can start to be applied immediately with minimal prep work.
The key to this tool is simply remembering you can spin the chair.
The insights or you could call them lenses I shared for how you can then choose to view the chair are just examples of the strategies I most often employ. There are though countless other ways you could choose to view the chair, so while I offer these as a start point this is a tool where you can really make it your own by adding your own lenses.
The effectiveness of the lens applied is proportionate to it opposition to your unconscious emotional response to a situation. Everyone’s emotional responses will be different, so you go to lenses should be different too.
You know you the best so it is up to you to select the lenses to have close to hand for when you choose to spin the chair.
I will leave you with this quote to ponder:
No man ever steps in to the same river twice,
for he is not the same man,
and it is not the same river.
– Heraclitus
Enjoy, for now.
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