If you were given the opportunity to delivery a message that would be heard by the entire world, what would you say?
This is an interesting question, because it drives right at the core of who you are, who you want to be, and what you hold to be the most important. What is striking, is how much of that message makes it into your daily life. Most likely, what you would say to the entire world is a bit different then you what you would say to a child, a family member, friends, colleagues and others close to you. Why is that?
The answer to that question is more important then the first question. Why is what you feel to be the most important message for all to hear, is not the same message that you convey to your loved ones? Perhaps it is identical, but if you answer that way, you are a rare person indeed. The cognitive dissonance between what we would espouse versus what we actually do is very common. Why?
The reason that I bring up the “message to the world” idea is that this would show the magnitude of this dissonance. Increasing the magnitude is a mechanism for really understanding where you have discrepancies. Most psychologists argue that a solid way of improving your mental health is to actively work on reducing this dissonance. Most people would describe a state of peace as being when your life expectations are in complete alignment with how you are living. That would be living a life free of stress. That is impossible, true. However, heading toward that path is certainly better than the opposite direction – creating even greater dissonance in your life.
Guy Reams
