Managing Perceptions

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Managing Perceptions
MANAGING PERCEPTIONS
What you see is what you get
Slide Topics: The Professional Development Programme

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Attribution: All images are from sources where a Creative Commons license exists for commercial use. All icons are on subscription
from thenounproject. All clipart is from free sources. The MTL Professional Development Programme is copyright of Manage Train
Learn.
Managing
Perceptions
Introduction: Perception is the way in which information around us is selected,
organised and given meaning. Perception gives rise to responses, depending on how we
interpret the stimuli. If we interpret them as hostile, we immediately trigger the stress
response mechanism. However, if we choose a different interpretation, there is no
stress. In this topic, we’ll show you 7 features of the perception-interpretation-stress
process.

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1. A HOSTILE
WORLD
Until the age of about three, we see the world
around us as essentially protective. From three
onwards, however, we begin to interpret the
world as either safe or hostile and, to do this, we
develop three main strategies. We learn to attack
what we think is threatening us, which is the
Power response. We learn to manipulate the
threat from others so that they won't harm us,
the Sensation response. Or we weigh up the
situation and find the safest way out of it, the
Security response.
It’s easy to believe that the world is dangerous
Flickr attribution: /manc72/9724826571/

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2. DEALING
WITH
THREATS
When we see the world as threatening, we
operate from one of the Power, Sensation, or
Security centres. Each of these has its own
beliefs. Power strategies are beliefs that you are
superior, eg I am stronger than they are.
Sensation strategies believe you can change
others, eg I'll be OK if I get them to like me.
Security strategies believe you can outsmart
others, eg I'll be safe if I do what they want.
We have different ways to face up to threats
Flickr attribution: /claudiogennari/3187479048/

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3. SELF-
PROTECTIVE
EMOTIONS
When we use the Power, Sensation, or Security
centres to respond to a hostile world, these
centres produce the following kinds of stressful
emotions. Power centre emotions are the anger
range and include annoyance, irritation, and
impatience. Sensation centre emotions are:
frustration, disappointment, disgust, grief,
jealousy, boredom. Security centre emotions are
the fear range and include worry, dread, anxiety,
and panic. All of these are negative emotions
that serve to deepen and prolong our stress.
The emotions of self-protection are always defensive ones
Flickr attribution: /jcarbaugh/3001692194/

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Self-Protective Emotions
When we perceive the world as hostile, we use a strategy for survival based on one of the three centres - Power,
Sensation, and Security. Each of these centres produces emotions to help us survive but, because they recognise
the threat as a threat, they often only serve to reinforce our stress.
1. Emotions from the Power centre are:
anger, annoyance, irritation,
impatience, frustration, exasperation,
hate, rage, fury, disdain, indignation,
hostility. All these emotions help us
feel that we are in the right.
2. Emotions from the Sensation centre
are: frustration, disappointment,
disgust, grief, jealousy, boredom.
3. Emotions from the Security centre
are: fear, worry, dread, anxiety, panic,
terror, despair, hurt, sadness,
helplessness, loneliness, shame, guilt,
embarrassment. These emotions help
us take avoiding action.

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4. PAY-OFFS
The reason why we find it hard to let go of our
Power, Sensation, and Security centre emotions
is that they each give us feelings and perceptions
that we are dealing successfully with the threat
that we think we see. These are known as "pay-
offs". For example, a Power pay-off feeling is "I
feel alive when I'm angry"; a Sensation pay-off
feeling is "I get attention, sympathy, pity,
approval, comfort"; and a Security pay-off feeling
is "It feels safe to keep a distance from others".
Being in constant battle mode wears you down
Flickr attribution: /rifca/3525815805/

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5. RIP-OFFS
The pay-offs that we get from seeing the world
as hostile do not serve us at all. There is always a
penalty to pay and it can range from any of the
following: physical exhaustion; separating
emotions, such as fear and hate; an inability to
feel close to others; missing the beauty around
us; lack of spontaneity; lack of humour; lack of
growth; and, instead of enjoying life, a pre-
occupation with protecting it. In contrast to the
"pay-offs", these are known as the "rip-offs".
Being constantly alert comes with a price
Flickr attribution: /jamieneely/2931413153/

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Managing Perceptions The Stress Rip-Offs
1
Physical exhaustion
2
Separating emotions,
such as fear and hate
3
Feelings of low self-
esteem from not being
loved
4
Inability to feel close to
others
8
Lack of humour
7
Lack of spontaneity
6
Missing the beauty
around us
5
Wasted energy on
unnecessary conflict
9
Ego conflicts
10
Addictive "tunnel vision"
11
Lack of personal growth
12
Instead of enjoying life,
pre-occupied with
protecting it
When we operate from a hostile view of the world, there is always a penalty to pay. There are 12 types of
"rip-offs" resulting from a view of the world based on winning-and-losing.

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6. CHANGING
PERCEPTION
Unlike animals which respond to outside stimuli
using their instinctive brains, man has the
capacity to respond to outside stimuli by using
his thinking brain. We can actually decide
whether to interpret a situation as threatening
or not. We can step back and look at the
situation rationally. We can put things into a
different perspective. And we can re-programme
our thinking brains with new strategies based on
open and trusting connectedness. In this way, we
can avoid false, addictive stress.
Giving up a stressful life starts with a change in perception
Flickr attribution: /chasblackman/8502151556/

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TCUP: “Thinking Correctly Under Pressure”
When Clive Woodward, England's 2003 World
Cup-winning rugby manager, was asked what his
key team selection criterion was, he said, "a
player's ability to perform under pressure". This
became known as, TCUP, or ‘Thinking Correctly
Under Pressure’.
After their failed 2005 World Cup, the New
Zealand All Blacks team adopted a similar
approach. They found that, when put under
pressure on the field, players could either resort
to a "red head" state of panic or a "blue head"
state of being on-task.
Now, like the All Blacks, the England rugby team
train in a war-room environment where they
role-play the most stressful on-the-pitch
scenarios. The result is more success on the field.
The Pressure of the Rugby Scrum
Flickr attribution: /kleche/279596045/

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7. LONG-TERM
CHANGE
As well as short-term responses to stress, we can
also learn long-term re-programming techniques.
These are based on being aware of our
perceptions, owning them, and deciding whether
they are helpful or not. When we change our
responses, we are able to move towards the
unifying centres of Love, Abundance, Non-
judgmental Relationships and Connectedness.
Instead of the negative emotions of fear, worry,
and hate, the unifying centres create the stress-
free emotions of love, calm, and peace.
Changing your world view can change your whole life
Flickr attribution: /anieto2k/16074523268/

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When we accept that we experience
stress because of our own perceptions,
we have the chance to change. We can
change our programming from a view of
the world based on self-protection, fear
of loss, judgment, and separateness to a
world view of love, abundance, non-
judgment, and connectedness.
Pathways to Growth
Flickr attribution: /alicepopkorn/3223331968/

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This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
The underlying cause of all feelings of stress is the belief that the world is potentially hostile. When
we are taught this belief from an early age, we grow up developing stressful and separating
strategies that we believe will keep us safe. However, they do nothing of the sort. Only by changing
our perception about the world and seeing it as essentially joyful and loving can we feel genuinely
safe and with it fear-free.

Managing Perceptions

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