What You See is What You Get: The Power of Mindsets and Paradigms

Back when I went to college, I actually had to take an introductory computer class. Yes, I am so old that those things were not mainstream at the time I went to college. One of the terms that got stuck in my head was WYSIWYG or “What You See Is What You Get”, which was used to describe a then revolutionary Graphic User Interface in which you could control a computer with a mouse. You could visualize what you were inputting on the screen, you could even get to see on the screen something similar to what the output would eventually look like, then the computer processed your request, and finally magically you got the output you requested. I felt I had entered a brand new dimension and finally was able to take advantage of that fantastic technology. I had learned to use computers in high school with the infamous DOS operating system with the black screen and blinking dot where you had to input specific commands for the computer to work on them. For someone like me who was not a computer wizard and that barely spoke English, it was a tall task to take advantage of the computer revolution. However, that thrill was nothing compared to the one I felt when I discovered the profound and ever-lasting impact that paradigms and mindsets could have in all aspects of my life.

An Effective Operating System

When I introduced this blog, I spoke about a series of things we will discuss through this journey. I mentioned topics such as: meaning, receiving, giving, habits, Guatemalans being among the happiest people in the world despite their hardships, Americans not being among the happiest people in the world despite their material wealth, great sages that changed the world, Viktor Fankl surviving a concentration camp, being a life-long learner, not being afraid of experimenting and failing, and how I have been able to find my meaning in life, among others. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as you will soon see), none of that is possible without the right mindset or paradigm. Using the computer analogy, imagine the way you live your life as a computer operating system. Do you live using a user-friendly WYSIWYG operating system where you clearly define, see, process, and obtain what you want out of life? Or do you use a mysterious and inefficient operating system such as the old DOS, where you work as hard as you can but where you are never quite sure what you inputted, or even what you will get out of it? If you are in the latter group, like I was for a long time, and like most of the population, perhaps it is time for you to get an operating system upgrade. The user-friendly operating system I refer to is the power of your mindsets or paradigms.

The Power of Mindsets

One of the most effective ways to become an extraordinary individual is to adopt high performance habits.  In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhig explains the science behind forming habits. Duhig’s framework for creating habits is as follows: Step 1: Identify and think about the habit or routine you want to create. Step 2: Experiment with rewards. Step 3: Isolate the cue. Step 4: Have a plan. For the time being, we will only focus on Step 1. Don’t worry, we will have plenty of time and posts to talk about habits, and revisit the other steps. Without you first thinking consciously about the habit you want to form (or stop doing), the other steps are irrelevant. The way you think about the habit or routine you want to form, makes an enormous difference as well. Let’s say you want to start working out 3 times a week, and you start with the mindset that it is a chore, that you do not have time for it, that it is not that important, and that you simply will get it over with. With that mindset, it will be difficult to stick to your new routine. If, on the other hand, you think of working out with a more positive mindset, such as viewing it as a pleasure, thinking of how well you will feel and look after you are done working out, imagining the interesting people you can meet at the gym, taking advantage of the audio books or music you can listen to while you work out, it will be a lot easier to enjoy and stick to your new habit. Having the right mindset is critical to developing effective habits, and to ultimately transforming a person or organization. In my experience and opinion, the right mindset supersedes even the right culture or the right strategy in terms of importance.

The Power of Paradigms

Another tool of this upgraded operating system is the power of paradigms.  Thomas Kuhn coined the term paradigm in his seminal book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.  Kuhn explains how scientific progress is mostly a development by accumulation, but that continuity is interrupted by periods of revolutionary science. Those revolutions lead to new ways of understanding, or paradigms, which change everything, even the journey of future scientific progress. He cites examples such as the paradigm shift of the Copernican Revolution that placed the sun at the center of the solar system, which replaced the paradigm of the Ptolemaic system that placed earth in the middle of the universe. That simple paradigm shift changed scientific thought forever. Think about the effect that Doctor Semmelweis eventually caused in hospital hygiene. Without knowing about germs, in 1846 Semmelweis was the first person to realize that physicians not washing their hands caused a large portion of deaths in hospitals. That simple paradigm shift saved millions or perhaps billions of lives. I particularly enjoy seeing the effects of paradigms in sports. World or Olympic records stand untouched for a while, until someone breaks them, and then the floodgates open for many dozens or even hundreds of athletes to accomplish them. The most famous case is the one of the 4-minute mile, which was thought to be not only dangerous but also impossible, until Roger Bannister broke it in 1954. What was Bannister’s secret? A simple paradigm that he could beat that time that allegedly people had tried to beat for a thousand years. Once Bannister broke that mark, a new paradigm took hold and the rest of the world realized it was possible. Today, even high-schoolers break that 4-minute mile mark routinely. The right paradigm changes what we can accomplish and what is possible.

The Reticular Activating System

An important physical factor that influences your mindsets, paradigms, and WYSIWYG is the Reticular Activating System (RAS hereafter). The HappiMe app has produced a very entertaining video that does a good job explaining it.  I have found a number of different perspectives on it on the scientific literature, and I am sure we still have a long way before we fully understand it, as with the rest of the human brain. What we know today is that we receive and process millions of bits of data at any one particular time, but we can only focus on a couple thousand bits. Our beautiful brain evolved to focus only on those thousands of bits that it understands are important. But how does our brain know what it is important? It is very simple, we tell our brain what is important and in turn what to focus on! Have you ever bought a pair of shoes you had never seen before, or got acquainted with a dog breed you did not know existed, or bought a brand new car you did not know was made until you researched it, and then the shoes, the dogs, and the car are “suddenly” everywhere. It is not that those items did not exist before, they were always there.  Instead that is the effect of your RAS in action, and that you unknowingly programmed to focus on those items. That is why your thoughts and what you decide to focus on is what you actually see. If you focus on thinking you will not pass an upcoming exam, chances are you will not pass it. If you focus on getting that perfect job or starting that business you always wanted, your RAS will make sure it focuses your energy and resources on accomplishing those goals, and chances are that they will happen for you. Serendipity occurs when we try, and we try when our RAS focuses on what we want. It is not simple optimism or esoteric beliefs, but the way our brain works.

Other Related Factors

There are many other factors at play of how your thoughts end up influencing you. The psychological confirmatory biases are ideas or concepts that people would like to be true that end up influencing desires and beliefs. One of Neurolinguistic Programming’s presuppositions is that, “the map is not the territory”, which posits that each of us has built over our lifetime our map to interpret the world that determines the meaning we make of our life and what we attract. Actually, the Law of Attraction or The Secret, and how the forces in the universe conspire to assist you in accomplishing what you desire, hopefully makes more sense to you by now. I can attest to this power of attraction, since I have read several books on this topic, and have experienced their effectiveness. The book that got me started was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, which is among the top 25 most sold books in history. The author was a protégé of Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest persons in the world in the 1920’s. Carnegie granted Hill access to the corporate stars of the time. After the 20 year journey of interviewing and analyzing these corporate stars, Hill’s conclusion was that what all of them had in common was that with passion and purpose their thoughts turned into wealth, as the book title implies. I cannot say I am a billionaire, but I am more than that.  I am precisely what I want to be, wealthy physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I owe a big part of it to living what this type of literature preaches. An optimistic and growth mindset and paradigms attracts happiness and all kinds of wealth.

Summing It Up

As we get this meaningful journey started, it is worth revisiting Frank Outlaw’s quote:

Watch your thoughts, they become words;
watch your words, they become actions;
watch your actions, they become habits;
watch your habits, they become character;
watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Do you want to live a meaningful life? Without the right operating system, it will be difficult to achieve. When you upgrade to this simple operating system of what you see is what you get, you will be able to be all that you are meant to be. It all starts with your thoughts, with your mindsets, with your paradigms.

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