Adjusting Your Lens

In previous articles I've discussed some framing basics. Obviously, framing can't be summed up in a few little articles, but it's a foundation from which to build our persuasion arsenals.

Now that we have frames in mind, it's time to examine our lenses. When you wear glasses, you don't walk around with just the frames on, you have lenses that fit your particular prescription.

Some lenses are distorted. The frame an alcoholic or drug addict has is: how can I get more of what I'm addicted to? The lens they're looking through is highly distorted and fraught with denial.

Are all of our specific issues lenses? If these issues are strong enough to warp and distort reality, then I'd say, yes. My whole life I was using a really strong lens when it came to food. I'd think about my next meal as I was eating. My blood sugar was so out of whack that I craved more and more sugar or simple carbohydrates after finishing and filling up on an entire meal. The lens I was looking through was overpoweringly focused on unhealthy foods and fear of scarcity. But by adjusting this view, things have changed dramatically.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are some people who look in the mirror and see themselves as fat when they are actually anorexic having little or no body fat at all. This is called body dismorphic disorder and is a distorted lens.

Some social issues can also be thought of as lenses. I read about a summer camp in Northern California where the campers would go to the camp to 'unlearn' issues of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism. The presupposition of the facilitators of the camp was that if we grew up in the US, we've all been indoctrinated into a racist, sexist society, either subtly or overtly and the only way social change and equality can be achieved is to examine the lenses we've been looking through to view the world.

Is this true? Maybe, maybe not. It's a strong frame nonetheless. By 'unlearning' these 'isms' it lessens the distortion of our social lenses.

There are other distortions that keep us blind to the reality of a situation. Religious fanaticism is a strong distortion. Consider the suicide bomber whose lens must be cracked and scratched beyond reason to carry out such violence in the name of a god.

The mentally ill have distortions, as do violent criminals, addicts, and racist extremists such as the Klan who view the world in terms of black and white (literally).

Think on how your lenses might be distorted. In persuasion one of the first steps to truly persuasion excellence is the ability to persuade ourselves. This isn't to say that we have to eliminate all of the things we hold near and dear such as blockages and weaknesses and blind spots (though self improvement is never a bad thing)--I'm suggesting that if we realize what we believe is dictated by our particular fames and lenses, we must also believe that there may be an equally strong opposing belief out there somewhere.

I'll tell you a little secret. My lens is powerfully, intensely, vigorously focused on persuasion. Some might thing to the extreme. Okay, maybe that's not a secret. But it's definitely my lens to the world and I'm thrilled to share it with you.

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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