
Reclaim Your Real Magic by Using this Advanced Psychological Method
by Scott JeffreyOverview: Understanding the mechanism of psychological projection can help you realize your potential. Here’s how.
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Think about someone you admire, perhaps someone for whom you have feelings of awe.
What is the primary quality or attribute you most admire in this person?
Maybe their courage, their conviction, their charisma, their intelligence, their creativity, their talent. What’s the quality you admire most?
Now, think of someone you despise. Despise too strong of a word? Then think about someone who often rubs you the wrong way.
What don’t you like about them? Maybe their selfishness, their cluelessness, their nastiness, their inauthenticity.
One of the most fascinating discoveries in psychology over the past century is a mental mechanism called projection.
Let’s see how it works …
Table of Contents
How Psychological Projection Works
Essentially, it goes like this: starting in early childhood, we begin psychically cutting off parts of ourselves.
We separate from our best parts of ourselves like courage, generosity, and compassion.
And we disidentify with our worst parts like envy, pettiness, and rage.
We cut off from anything that we can’t find a way to integrate. In so doing, we divorce ourselves from anything that doesn’t get acceptance or approval from our environment including our parents, teachers, family, and friends.
We strive to become, in a sense, “normal,” average. Desperately wanting to fit in during childhood and adolescence, we seek the middle.
Not our middle, but the middle of our social groups and society itself.
And our school systems, sadly, support this surgery of the soul. These systems are highly effective at stripping away our innate genius, those qualities that push us far away from any “average.”
But we can’t really cut off parts of ourselves. I mean, where are they going to go, really?
In the animated film Inside Out, the creatives at Pixar illustrated these disowned parts and lost memories as ball dumped into a dark abyss. An aspect of the personality, in this case, Joy, must go on a dangerous adventure to access these lost parts.
All of these qualities get packed away into what psychoanalysts call the shadow. Or what poet Robert Bly called an invisible bag we drag behind us since childhood.
(For a free instructional guide on how to meet and integrate your shadow, click here.)
And so, because we can’t easily identify these qualities within us, our minds project them out onto others.
When you get irritated at your colleague’s selfishness at work, you are observing his selfishness. But your irritation is a result of not owning your own selfishness.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t get irritated. You would see your colleague’s selfishness and immediately acknowledge the selfish part in you. (Because we are all mirrors for each other.)
Instead, you have an understanding that stems from self-awareness. There would be no emotional trigger to cause irritation.
Hero Worship is Psychological Projection
The converse is also true: We project our greatest potentials and possibilities onto other people.
This person then becomes larger than life to us.
Our culture is ripe with this kind of psychological projection. We call it “hero worship” and it happens in every field, relationship, family, school, and office.
Let’s say you’re an aspiring public speaker. You follow the work of your favorite speaker carefully.
Sometimes you idolize him, hanging on his every word. You admire his effortless calm and confidence on stage.
Here too, you are projecting. You have disowned your confident part and have identified with a more anxious, fearful part of yourself. If not, you wouldn’t be in awe of him.
Instead, you would notice this speaker’s own insecurity behind his confident facade.
That is, you would see him not a hero, but as a fellow human being.
The difference between this speaker and you is mainly that he’s putting forth greater effort to be on that stage.
He may be honest with his own insecurity or he may be deceiving himself.
Either way, his insecurity is there. And if you don’t see it, it’s only because you are projecting. And we are all projecting onto others most of the time.
Many people do this with celebrities. To them, people like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are like royalty. Others project onto musical artists or star athletes.
Business people often do this with titans of industry like Richard Branson, Bill Gates, or Elon Musk.
They fail to see that these individuals are showing their public personas—they represent archetypes, not humans.
These figures become superhuman to those who project onto them.
Self-improvement enthusiasts might project onto figures like Tony Robbins or Tim Ferriss. They may see them as productivity machines, fearless, efficient, masterful.
Spiritual seekers project their best selves onto people like Eckhart Tolle or the Dalai Lama.
In every field, there are numerous characters that legions of people project their best selves onto.
See also: Decoding the Hero Archetype
Breaking Psychological Projection
But we don’t just project our best qualities onto celebrity figures. We also project onto our spouse, our friends, our professional colleagues, and even our neighbors.
The problem isn’t that we project onto others. This is a normal and healthy process in our own development.
The challenge comes when we don’t recollect our projections and reintegrate our latent potentials.
Sometimes these projections break, especially when scandals enter the public’s eye.
How many people were shocked at Tiger Woods’ infidelity? How could a fine, upstanding athlete consistently cheat on his wife?
Only by way of psychological projection can such a question arise.
I projected my inner gold onto various “self-help gurus” in my 20s and onto a spiritual teacher in my 30s.
Each time, I raised these figures high above me. Their character, capabilities, attributes, and achievements were so far beyond what was possible for me that I could only be in awe of them.
Having access to the information behind their public persona eventually helped break these projections.
In each case, I slowly learned more about the real person behind their social mask.
Each time, I was shocked, then confused, then rageful. I didn’t understand what was happening.
The disillusionment was difficult. I felt betrayed, tricked. But that’s because I didn’t understand how psychological projection works.
Now I know that my disillusionment was because I unconsciously projected my own latent potential onto them.
Why We Project Our Best Qualities Onto Others
Here are three reasons we project our best stuff on others:
These positive qualities conflict with our conscious identity.
For example, maybe you have latent natural confidence, or a keen mind, or a big, caring heart.
These qualities might conflict with your current behavior (which was conditioned by your early environment—parents, teachers, kids at school) and how you see yourself.
Psychologists call this cognitive dissonance. The mind doesn’t like this ambiguity and confusion.
In this case, your mind really doesn’t know what to do with these positive qualities or how to relate to them.
And so, when we don’t know how to bring these positive qualities back into us, our mind is left with only one option: project it out onto another.
Owning these qualities is an awesome responsibility.
The phrase made famous by Marvel comic creator Stan Lee explains this well: “With great power, comes great responsibility.”
Psychologists consider projection to be a “defense mechanism.” We do it to keep us safe and in the known. Reclaiming our projections—good and bad—is unknown and therefore, it feels unsafe.
We often shy away from this responsibility because it means being totally accountable.
What if we hold these awesome powers? What if we fail to actualize these latent potentials?
But more importantly, it means we have no one to blame but ourselves. It means no one from our past or present is the determinant of our future character and behavior.
This, if you look at it deeply, can be terrifying to the part of us that resists growth and development.
We have a fixed mindset.
Psychologist Carol Dweck’s research on success has revealed that we hold either a fixed or growth mindset (or mixed).
With a fixed mindset, we believe our intelligence and abilities are static. This leads to a desire to look smart and a tendency to feel threatened by the success of others.
In contrast, with a growth mindset, we understand that intelligence and abilities can be developed.
This leads to a desire to learn and a tendency to find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.
With a growth mindset, you are destined to actualize more and more of your latent potential, giving you a greater sense of free will.
With a fixed mindset, you tend to plateau early in life and abort your self-actualization.
That is, with a fixed mindset, you will always project your potential onto others and never put forth the effort to actualize it in yourself.
With a fixed mindset, you envy the success in others. With a growth mindset, the success in others teaches and inspires you to realize more of your own potential.
Only with a growth mindset can you reclaim the best stuff in you.
Discovering Your Inner Gold
Most of our potential is hidden from us.
We aren’t conscious of what we are truly capable of—our innate strengths, drive, discipline, latent talents, courage, and creativity.
Jungian author Robert Johnson aptly calls our untapped potential “inner gold.”
He writes in Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection:
Inner gold is the highest value in the human psyche. It is our soul, the Self, the innermost part of our being. It is us at our best, our twenty-four-karat gift to ourselves. Everyone has inner gold. It isn’t created, but it does have to be discovered.
Inner gold is another term we can use for our positive shadow.
In How to Be An Adult, psychologist David Richo explains:
To integrate the positive Shadow is to acknowledge our own untapped potential behind the awe we have of others. We begin to acknowledge and to release from within ourselves the very talents and qualities we admired in others.
Psychological projection is a natural process in childhood. In an ideal environment, I believe we would all reclaim our projections in early adulthood.
We would naturally grow into strong, highly-capable, mature adults with innate abilities beyond our imagination.
But the reality is different and most of us project our inner gold onto others throughout our lives.
Again from Robert Johnson:
Generally, we don’t exchange gold well, and much of our depression and loneliness revolves around misunderstanding this exchange. We run around in a state of guilt. I’m a failure. This isn’t working. What are they going to think of me?
But when you understand the transmission of gold, you can honor it and not feel guilty. You know something indirect is taking place. You can sense it, but you can’t possess it yet. Just try to remember that it’s your gold that is being held by whomever or whatever. Knowing this gives you a certain dignity, which we all desperately need.
As long as our inner gold is being tossed about, we can not embody our true creative gifts. The pervasiveness of this problem is difficult to appreciate.
“We barely understand how much of what we perceive in others and the outside world are actually parts of ourselves,” Johnson writes.
Reclaiming Your Inner Gold
Half of the battle of reclaiming your inner gold is simply becoming conscious that you’re projecting parts of yourself onto others.
“Please observe the energy investments you make,” says Johnson. “The exchange of inner gold is occurring all the time. Try to be conscious of it … We need to create new language and new ways for increasing our awareness.”
Only with awareness can you recollect your psychological projections.
And only from your Center in a state of mastery can you cultivate this awareness.
Now, here’s a process you can use to reclaim more of your inner gold and make meaningful changes to your personality.
The following process was inspired by Douglas Labier’s article in Psychology Today, Can You Really Change Your Personality.
Step 1: Think of someone you admire or envy. Make a list of qualities or attributes you admire or envy about them. Choose one to work on first.
Step 2: Envision what it would look like if you embodied that quality right now in your work, relationships, and emotional attitudes.
Step 3: Describe in your personal journal how embodying this quality can change your life. If, for example, you’re working with the quality of persistence you admire in someone, write down how your life will transform when you reclaim this power.
Step 4: Brainstorm a list of things you can do each day to strengthen that dimension of yourself as if you are strengthening a new muscle.
Step 5: Finally, “act as if.” Act as if you already possess this quality, as if it’s already an integral part of you. As David Richo writes, “At first this means ‘acting as if’ but soon we act with ease and even more of our hidden powers become accessible to us.”
Through your effort, grace will come. Through this conscious process, you will become more of yourself each day.
This article was inspired by Robert Johnson’s Inner Gold. I highly recommend it. It’s a fast read; only 76 pages. Johnson has a gift of communicating complex psychological ideas in easy-to-understand prose. Inner Gold is one of my picks for the 10 best books on psychology.
What do you think?
Leave your thoughts, questions, and comments below:
It helps. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Amy.
Scott, very profound concepts communicated with clarity, good examples and personal experiences. These are difficult topics to write about in an understandable manner for people to put into action and you accomplished this. Thanks for making this contribution!
Brad, thank you for the comments. Glad you found the material useful.
Scott, I always like to read your short topic reviews. I find what you write interesting, provocative and stimulating …. a catalyst towards more personal growth. Thank you.
Pete
That’s great to hear, Peter. I try to keep topics like this as interesting as possible.
I noticed some people tend to project ‘good qualities’ onto awful people. They’ll see ethical and altruistic behavior where there is none in that person who is quite literally the epitome of fear, avarice, anger and spite. It seems the folks projecting are projecting their own personal values onto the other individual and doing so undeservingly. I can’t figure how the mirror works here, are they just hoping/wanting it to be true because that awful person happens to be the CEO / Boss / or Pastor? I honestly do not see the negative qualities in many of those projecting positive traits onto people who do not have those traits.
The question is: Is there any way to disrupt this type of projection from the outside? You know, without potential head injury and locking them up for a highly questionable deprogramming session.
Chris, what I’ve come to observe within myself doing this kind of inner work, is that any time I try to focus on “fixing” someone other than myself, it’s always because there’s something I don’t want to address within myself.
We are all projecting all the time — positive qualities, negative qualities, and everything in between. Until we own our innocent and stupid parts, we will always be manipulated. Until we know our inner manipulator, we will continue to trick others (and not even know it).
We are often fooled by those in positions of authority because we listen to their words instead of observing their actions and behaviors. If we only watched their subtle and not-so-subtle actions and behaviors and ignored their words, we would not be so easily deceived.
I needed this!
You are one of the ONLY people who I am subscribed to that I create time to read all of your emails. You even have your own folder!!! I appreciate the depth yet relatability you bring to your focuses. Thank you so much!
Thank you for the comment, Heather. That’s really wonderful to hear. I’m honored.
Nice article Scott, I thought the Shadow was just the “dark” side of the unconscious, which I found hard to integrate to myself, but now this inner gold or positive shadow brings a new world of possibilities. Just one question, it´s really challenging integrating the inner gold, but what about the shadow I project, what to do when the subject (me in this case) identifies that projection? Thanks and congratulations, keep on going.
Joz, I’m not sure what you’re asking: “what about the shadow I project, what to do when the subject (me in this case) identifies that projection?” Please clarify.
I mean, the projection of the positive shadow (inner gold) gets integrated, but what about the projection of the “dark shadow”. When I realize I’m projecting the dark side of myself, that should be integrated/ accepted or how should I work it out?
It’s the same in either direction. When you catch your projections, you recollect them. Once you identify these qualities — positive or negative — within yourself, you’ll no longer project them outward. Or, at least, you will do so less frequently.
Thank you very much sir, new in your site but eager to learn a lot about Jungian psychology. See ya
Great summary, as always. I love your work and the style you put it together! Great learnings for me, as usual. THANK YOU
Thank you, Michael. I appreciate your comments.
Thank you so much for sharing this information. You have taken complex ideas and made them understandable and relatable. Great work!! Extremely helpful.
Thank you, Cynthia. You concisely described what I’m attempting to do! Glad you found this guide helpful.
I’ve been looking for practical ways to “integrate dark and light shadows” and so grateful I came across your work here. Thanks for all the effort. Look forward to getting started
You’re welcome, Davina. Enjoy the material.
Thanks Scott every part of me is growing in joy with every find and read of your beautifully expressed wisdom . As I do your exercises I am finding , I am light and dark and many shades of grey , all this is combined with laughter joy and a great sense of fun as I at last give myself permission to be one whole self , monkeys and all 😉
That’s good, Michelle. Although be careful in making “joy” the outcome. There are many aspects of inner work that don’t evoke positivity of any kind. The goal, in my understanding, is “okayness” — not light or dark, joy or depression.
I appreciate this comment and reminder about “okay ness”.
Hey its me i dont know where to turn but if u offer genuine true help to better life guided ill accept any real help
Turn towards yourself. Always. Stop turning outward and turn inward. You can use these guides for assistance too.
Great information. I am just learning more about this inner gold. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Phyllis. Enjoy.
this has helped me more than you could ever know. thank you
That’s great, J. You’re most welcome!
really appreciate your regular emails Scott, they are so often full of deep and useful insights, thanks for all the effort you put in to share them
Sure thing, Richard. Thank you for the kind words!
Thank you for the crisp content. Your work has helped me immensely and I am truly grateful.
You’re most welcome, Yuvrani.
Love this info Scott, already on the path to finding the inner self almost there but now I have a path. Great inspiration. TY so much.
Sure thing, Susan. Enjoy the pathless path, as Joseph Campbell would say.
Here’s something that worked for me. My father sent me a nasty and arrogant e-mail. I realized that he wouldn’t be nasty and arrogant unless he thought I was treating him that way. I thought I had been respectful to him, but in my reply, I said that I now realized that I was being arrogant and I apologized to him for my nastiness. It worked! He accepted my apology with “It’s okay” and we moved on. But, more importantly I learned that even when I think I am being respectful, he felt I was stealing some of his spotlight. (Another thing I do, too.) So, if you are angry or hurt by someone, try owning the exact thing you think they are guilty of.
I’m not sure I understand. I get irritated by people that throw litter on the highway. I don’t throw litter on the road. What part of me am I not claiming?
Reclaiming your inner gold (this article) is about owning the best aspects of yourself — so this litter example wouldn’t apply.
However, in this example, getting irritated with littering is one thing. But consider what you think of the person who litters. What judgments do you make about the litter?
For example, so inconsiderate, insensitive, primitive, destructive, ignorant, etc.
If those judgments carry an emotional charge with them, then they represent aspects of your shadow awaiting to be re-owned.
I suffered a mental breakdown in my twenties &gradually the world became a intimately dangerous place after that.I was paranoid and was convinced as I listened to the world around me that “I” was being noticed. What I listened to was judgements about me, good ,bad,indifferent but why was it all about me.I rationalized it away;I’m just crazy.Is it something else?
It’s difficult to say for certain, Scott. But from the level of the unconscious, we all have judgments and evaluations about everyone we see. The more psychic you become, the more you can “hear” these judgments.
And according to Dr. Lee Sanella, a lot of psychotic episodes are a result of an increase in kundalini/psychic energy. (See his “The Kundalini Experience: Psychosis or Transcendence”)
So it’s difficult to say …
Thank you for your reply scott,I appreciate the help.Maybe I should read Dr Sanella’s book
You’re welcome, Scott!
Thanks so much for sharing – I was literally just talking about this with my husband about a problem I’ve been having with a fellow co-worker, but I didn’t know how to language it in these terms. The synchronicity of me reading this now already makes me feel better!
Sure thing, Nancy. Yes, having the language about these things certainly can help!
Thanks didn’t know this.but now I know. I can be aware of what and why my capabilities are and my own weakness and my own strengths.
You’re welcome, Mia.
Thank you for helping me to disolver my inner conflict, thank you for such helpful and kind information
You’re most welcome, Rose. Great to hear the information was helpful for you!
This is a great write-up. I commend it highly as it will help develop individual life and our society generally.
Thank you, Patrick.
amazing
Thankyou very much for this content. It has helped me in many ways and I’m finally able to solve many of my inner conflicts. I can understand myself better because the content here is so relatable. I really appreciate your efforts.
That’s great to hear, Nisha!
Awesome. Thank you.
Inner Gold is Marvelous, inspiring, great help for growth mindset people like me, an Excellent guide to enhance my creativity and Innovation. Thank you , Jazaak Allaawhu.
Thank you for the feedback!
I think I want to reclaim my inner gold. I really had no clue but always admired the art of understanding the inner workings of the mind. It seems you have helped me to understand one more thing – another productive day.
Hey, it’s Kelly again. I was just going through the comments and was intrigued by the response you gave to the person who thought he had a mental breakdown. I actually went through what I thought was a mental breakdown in 2017 as a result of trauma to my emotions, mind, spirit, and body. I think that I am just awakening and regret not already being. What is the state of my psyche?
Hi Kelly. I’m not able to assess the state of your psyche. Only you are in a position to do so.
We all have trauma. We all have lots of unhealthy conditioning and programming. We all “breakdown” from time to time given the right conditions.
The question for you to answer (to yourself): Overall, are you moving closer to your Self or further away?
I apologize but knew you could not assess my psyche that was supposed to be rhetorical. Again, I do apologize for my wording. I am definitely moving closer to Self. I guess it took all the trauma to jolt me into acting. I appreciate your knowledge and have enjoyed reading your works.
Thank you,
Kelly
Yes, Kelly, most often it does seem to take some kind of trauma — or at least the acknowledgment of that trauma — to lead us to question and self-reflect.
very helpful. Thank you so much Scott.
You’re welcome, Nidhi.
Good morning Scott, I AM in great appreciation of your knowledge and writing. Since I was a very little girl I just “knew” that I was one with all…that absolutely everything had an occult meaning. It “seems” that I had a chaotic childhood…that left very repressed emotions that seem to be very numb, where I cannot feel them.
Although I have studied a lot of occult teachings that have immensely improved my life… the physical body continues to be challenging. With dis ease due to an addictive behavior…that brings lethargy and undisciplined behaviors. With a tremendous amount of non stop self sabotage. It seems that I’m pretty “conscious” most of the time…but these blind spots continue to drag me.
You have a lot of information that applies, that I don’t know where to begin or in what order to address my specific consistent problem. If you can guide me, I would greatly appreciate it.
Unfortunately for the time being, financial resources are extremely scarce..I would not be able to afford any session with you. Luckily time I do seem to have. Thank You Kindly
M A
Thank you so much. This is something I need to invest time into
You’re welcome, Monty.
I have reading “Quora” and this Column,I was in a Relationship with a woman who I found out is a Narcissist, I’m an Empath, I didn’t know that what degree I was ,She is a Enlightened Spiritualist ,who was Abused Sexually as a Child and in Her Early Teens,She told me Her story as the Relationship grew, She spoke of Duality ,Now that I have Educated myself of Why She acted the Way she Did, I Understand and I have healed from Her ‘ Dark Triad’ that I didn’t Understand before, Thank you, For All I’m leaning from all of Info here.
Hi Scott,
Very interesting information. Enjoyed reading the article. I have a strong passionate interest in what makes me tick. There are a lot of influences out there that impact the human body, the mind, the heart, the soul in one way or another. A vulnerability to the whole array of life.
Questions I ask often, where am I amongst it all? Was that me whom just spoke or a projection deep within the recesses of the subconscious? I often catch myself after the fact of saying something or doing something, that took myself by surprise.
This absolutely fascinates me and have done many years of reading, practices toward discovery of my own human nature. Why is it I do what I do? Is it possible to be aware of impulses that drive my reactions before I actually act upon them? Yes it is! I have discovered. Its an exciting journey. So much there at my fingertips.
Love your work Scott. Thanks!
Susie
Great to hear, Susie. Enjoy!
This article is a key to the lock I had put on my life. Thanks.
Well worded, Swati. You’re welcome.
I really enjoyed reading this. While I was reading each step explaining how to gain our inner gold, I noticed that you said to “act as if”. However, I listened to podcast where the individual spoke about how “acting the part” is like putting a band-aid over our internal issues. I want to hear your perspective on that statement.
Context is the determining factor, Caitlyn.
Let’s say you feel insecure and you try to act confident when you don’t know why you feel insecure in the first place. In that context, you might say “acting as if” is a band-aid.
But let’s say you’re aware of your internal issues. Meaning, you know how you were mistreated at home or looked down upon at school. You can recall some of these early “origin stories” that produced the initial trauma.
You’ll still need to “act as if” in this second scenario because the feeling of insecurity is still there and you’ve been conditioned to feel that way your whole life. But now, with more consciousness of what’s going on, you can “act as if” in the face of your prior conditioning and begin to reclaim more of your inner gold.
Thank you so much. I understand now.
Hi Scott, does theses recommendations apply to physical projection and more specifically body dysmorphic disorder? I am bigorexique and in this case the “act has if” can be dangerous from health point of view. My ideal body cross the line of healthiness. I manage to accept the limits of my body and health. I am somehow accept my body. I still have difficulties managing my social relationship. I often found myself splited between two behavior: 1. Carefully creating a safe circle on which physical projection is not possible. yes, it’s about physical discrimination, avoiding a certain type of people not to project on them. or reversely 2. Seeking the friendship of people with whom projection is obvious. What is better for me?
Thank you so much for your wonderful work. It’s always a pleasure reading you.
Hi Patrick,
I’m not really understanding what you’re saying or asking.
Projection is a psychological mechanism.
Well I can’t believe this. Let me try explain you with an exemple in your article. People may like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie because they are intelligent, courageous, attentionate or creative. Most will like them because they are sexy and physically fit. They will envie them for their physic and perhaps want to be like them. They would project themselves in the physic of those stars.
Ok, it’s a phycological projection but based on physical comparisons.
Going back to your article:
“Think about someone you admire […]
Maybe their courage, their conviction, their charisma, their intelligence, their creativity, their talent. What’s the quality you admire most?”
Can’t it be simply their physic?
“They would project themselves in the physical of those stars.”
This is not what psychological projection is about.
To give you an illustration with regard to celebrities. The media uses celebrities as “authorities” or “experts” when interviewing them on critical life issues.
Yet, why would someone who can memorize lines from a script and repeat them in front of a camera be someone we view as an authority (knowledgable or wise) on issues like human rights (for example)?
Celebrities in modern culture hold the projections of royalty from — of kings, queens, and noblemen of old.
The issue you’re addressing — envying a celebrity like Brad Pitt because of his facial appearance, body, or sexual appeal — is not relevant to the topic of psychological projection.
Hi Scott, I understood your reasoning. Thanks again for your wonderful work.
Please, feel free deleting my comments since it is irrelevant to the topic.
No worries, Patrick. I’ll leave the comments in case someone else has a similar question.
Hi, Scott. Well this is way off topic, and possibly leading down a rabbit hole. I wasn’t sure where to post this comment. But I was curious of your thoughts on subtleties. I feel as though the most powerful “things” in life are the most subtle because they slip right by your consciousness to your subconscious. In many ways this could probably be brainwashing. There is the saying, “It’s the little things in life.” I don’t know.. To be honest, I was wondering if there was one little tiny thing I could do to change my entire perspective without even being aware of it, therefore permeating into the subconscious. Maybe a part of me is just looking for a short-cut. Anyways, I enjoy your articles and have already learned so much. Thank you. I know you’re not my therapist and maybe this is asking too much. I just couldn’t find much on the art of being subtle. Any literature you may be aware of would be sweet! Thanks again.
Hi Mandy,
I’m not sure I see a question here. You allude to one but you didn’t actually ask it as such.
Generally speaking, things go from the gross to the subtle. So to cut out the gross and go right to the subtle would be difficult.
For example, there are a lot of subtleties to playing golf well. But you can’t appreciate them until you invest time getting down the mechanics of your swing first.
You can read a lot about the subtleties, but it will be difficult to apply them to your swing in the beginning. In the beginning, your swing will be awkward as you don’t have the “muscle memory” and you’re thinking about many moving parts all at once.
You simply won’t be able to appreciate them because they won’t be part of your experience yet.
Subtleties are more appreciated as you reach the stage of “unconscious competence” in learning something.
You can read more about these stages here:
https://scottjeffrey.com/four-stages-of-learning/
Thanks very much for the great content!!!
what are the process of achieving my golds
I don’t understand your question, Peter.
awesome
Very great topic and summery, thank you much Scott.
This concept was totally new to me and I am sure it is helping me a lot. Cheers, Ehsan
You’re welcome, Ehsan.
Authenticity! Thank you! 🙏
thank you so much