Joe, Basketball and Accurate Thought

Every living person has a voice in their mind. For example, if you just thought “I don't have a voice in my mind,” that is the voice I'm talking about. This “little voice in our head” is often referred to as our internal dialog, and essentially describes how we communicate with ourselves. It is through analyzing our internal dialog that we are able to garner great insight into our beliefs and—perhaps more importantly—our perceptions. This knowledge, in turn, helps us discern the accuracy of our thinking as it pertains to specific things.

Take Joe, for instance, who is currently in his mid 30's and has been an avid fan of basketball since childhood. Whether watching the pro's, college athletes or friends playing sandlot-style, he is fascinated by all aspects of the game. Joe, however, doesn't play, because, as he would say “I'm not any good at it.” When Joe was 10 he moved to a neighborhood that had a basketball court in a nearby park. Though he was new to the area, he finally got up the courage to go play with the other boys, who got together almost every day after school. It was his first time playing, and compared to the others, Joe was terrible. He had always wanted to play basketball, and though he now had the opportunity, he found that he wasn't any good. As a consequence, Joe resigned himself to the life of a spectator, and as he grew older, began following the sport on both collegiate and professional levels, but he never played basketball again.

Those who have read Lesson I: Perception and Belief can immediately draw some basic conclusions from the previous paragraph. First and foremost, the statement “I'm not any good at it” is a belief which Joe has adopted in regard to his personal competence in the game of basketball. We know this is a belief because it governs his actions and determines the fact (reality) that he doesn't play. This particular belief was created as a result of his initial perception that he wasn't any good, which probably originated itself as a statement by Joe in his internal dialog. But was this perception accurate? In other words, did it correspond to reality? It seems that it did because Joe actually was bad at basketball, especially considering it was his first time playing. However, upon closer inspection of his initial perception, and after taking into account a proper understanding of the concept of failure (as seen in Lesson VII: Failure and Adversity), we find that his initial perception was, on the contrary, inaccurate. That is, it did not correspond to reality.

How is this possible? Joe was, in fact—bad—wasn't he? Wouldn't perceiving himself to be good, despite his incompetence, be a form of self-deception? Yes. But the accurate thinker will note that the proper alternative to “I'm not good” is not merely “I am good,” but rather “I'm not good—right now.” The original statement posed by Joe in his internal dialog, “I'm not good” (which is the initial perception that led to the creation of this belief), is posed as a universal. That is to say, it is posed as a conclusive statement—something which cannot be changed—something which simply is. The proper alternative statement “I'm not good—right now,” accounts for his incompetence within a specific time and place, and as such, allows room for improvement. The plain truth is not that Joe is bad at basketball (in a definitive, all-inclusive sense), but rather, he is simply bad at this point in time, he is bad right now. While the initial perception (“I'm not good”) essentially dooms Joe to perpetual incompetence in the game of basketball—as it is an all-inclusive universal statement—the proper alternative statement (“I'm not good—right now”), frees Joe to acknowledge the reality that he is bad without removing his ability to improve over time. Had Joe perceived his inability to be a temporary affair (one which was contingent only upon his ability to improve), he would not have quit and would have most likely continued playing and developing his skills and love for the game. But as it is, Joe has unintentionally ostracized himself from a first person role in the game of basketball, and will, perhaps, never play again for the remainder of his life.

Examine the specifics of your internal dialog. You may be surprised what you find.