There probably are hundreds of opinions, explanations and reasons given by gurus as an answer to the question. Although all these viewpoints probably have a little truth in them, the fact remains that most people at sometime or another remain stuck and unable to improve the quality of their lives.Today I did not plan on trying to find the answer to the question, but rather I wish to bring a message of hope.Neurolinguistic programming has a wonderful concept, “the map is not the territory“. According to Wikipedia, the expression, the map is not the territory” first appeared in print in a paper that Alfred Korzbski gave at a meeting of the American Mathematical Society in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1931″. Eventually, this statement became a core belief of neurolinguistic programming.

“The map is not the territory” is an empowering concept. Why? Because we live our lives like the map is the territory!

My client had just told me “I’m depressed” and “I’m insecure”. She made these comments painfully but naturally. She is convinced that she is depressed and insecure. She believes that she is depressed and insecure. For this client the map is the territory!

I looked into her eyes and told her she is not depressed and insecure. She has feelings of depression and insecurity. Her feelings are only the map and not the territory.

If ” the map is not the territory,” then

• Feelings of depression and insecurity are her self-concept and her map.
• Her real identity is not depressed and insecure. Since “the map is not the territory,” her core personality and the essence of her being are not depressive and insecure. I emphasized with her that she was feeling distored perceptions of her real self, when she perceived herself as depressed and insecure.
• Her current reality does not have to be depressed and insecure. Her current reality is the map not the territory.
• Her potential reality or the territory is full of possibility and probability for success.
• Our self concept can be created by the territory instead of the map.

Both neurolinguistic programming and the law of attraction emphasize that we get trapped in our mindset, which is a dim, distorted reflection of ourselves and our reality. There is reality outside and beyond our mindsets. Life outside our mindset is full of possibility, beauty, self-fulfillment and success.

There is hope for all of us when we realize our limitations and failures in life are because we are acting as if our map is the territory. We need to step outside and step beyond our limiting mindsets into a mindset molded for creating and attracting success into our lives and the self-concept we wish to have. We need to match our self-concept with the territory rather than the map.

Remember, You Live within the Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal
Life and Mental Fitness Coach