According to Wikipedia, in 1981 Apple employee Bud Tribble famously coined the term “reality distortion field” to describe Steve Jobs’ amazing and magical “ability to convince himself, and others around him, to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence.”
With that ability, he could motivate the Apple engineers to do the impossible. He also famously used that skill in meetings, negotiations, and speaking engagements to excite and sell an audience anything.
See where Apple ended up under his tenure!
As great as he was in generating a reality distortion field, there is someone better than him.
In fact I’ve met dozens of them, if not hundreds.
It’s YOU.
What? You’re saying I’m better than Steve Jobs ever was? No way!
Believe it.
I can safely say that the reality distortion field you’ve built within yourself is way better and stronger than the one Steve could build.
Think of whatever shows up in your life. People. Information. Opinions. Energy. Light. Animals. Environment. Air. Heat. Cold. ANYTHING.
Your reality distortion field affects ALL OF IT. AND YOU BUY IT. You get sold whatever comes out of your field!
Amazing! Much better than Steve could do for you, even if you did buy an iPhone!
But what EFFECT does it have on you?
It affects your ability to view the world as it really is.
It causes bias in everything you do and feel.
It affects your decisions.
It affects how you feel about something…everything!
It changes your beliefs (instantly most of the time!)
If your personal reality distortion field alters reality in certain ways, it can really affect you negatively.
A simple hello gets turned into a roaring lion.
A touch turns from greeting into unwanted sexual advance.
A comment becomes a hurtful, negative criticism.
A job well done becomes not good enough.
And so on.
What to do about our reality distortion field and how to wield it in a positive way?
In my coaching clients, we work with their reality distortion fields. We bring to light what is distorted and what is reality.
Above all else, we must first acknowledge what is real and what is not!
Then we explore what they want to do with that awareness. That is where the real work begins. It could be:
Changing the field to show something else.
If we change it, what else needs to change within them and their lives?
Orchestrating a different holistic response to what is being shown.
What is the response they want to have instead of the one they have now?
Changing beliefs about themselves and the world.
Now that the field shows them something else, what else needs to change in what they believed up to now?
How’s your reality distortion field working for you? Do you perceive the world in a way that serves you? Have you sold yourself a beautiful iPhone that is actually broken?
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