Our attitudes influence our behavior. But it’s also true that our behavior can influence our attitudes. The Greek philosopher Diogenes was once noticed begging a statue. His friends were puzzled and alarmed at this behavior. Asked the reason for this pointless behavior, Diogenes replied, “I am practicing the art of being rejected.” By pretending to be rejected continually by the statue, Diogenes was learning to understand the mind of a beggar. Every time we pretend to have an attitude and go through the motions, we trigger the emotions we pretend to have and strengthen the attitude we wish to cultivate.
You become what you pretend to be. The surrealist artist Salvador Dalí was pathologically shy as a child. He hid in closets and avoided all human contact, until his uncle counseled him on how to overcome this shyness. He advised Dalí to be an actor and to pretend he played the part of an extrovert. At first Dalí was full of doubts. But when he adopted the pose of an extrovert, his brain soon adapted itself to the role he was playing. Dalí’s pretense changed his psychology.
Think for a moment about social occasions — visits, dates, dinners out with friends, birthday parties, weddings, and other gatherings. Even when we’re unhappy or depressed, these occasions force us to act as if we are happy. Observing others’ faces, postures, and voices, we unconsciously mimic their reactions. We synchronize our movements, postures, and tones of voice with theirs. Then, by mimicking happy people, we become happy.
CIA researchers have long been interested in developing techniques to help them study the facial expressions of suspects. Two such researchers began simulating facial expressions of anger and distress all day, each day for weeks. One of them admitted feeling terrible after a session of making those faces. Then the other realized that he too felt poorly, so they began to keep track. They began monitoring their bodies while simulating facial expressions. Their findings were remarkable. They discovered that a facial expression alone is sufficient to create marked changes in the nervous system.
In one exercise they raised their inner eyebrows, raised their cheeks, and lowered the corner of their lips and held this facial expression for a few minutes. They were stunned to discover that this simple facial expression generated feelings of sadness and anguish within them. The researchers then decided to monitor the heart rates and body temperatures of two groups of people. One group was asked to remember and relive their most sorrowful experiences. The other group in another room was simply asked to produce a series of facial expressions expressing sadness. Remarkably, the second group, the people who were pretending, showed the same physiological responses as the first. Try the following thought experiment.
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
- Lower your eyebrows.
- Raise your upper eyelids.
- Narrow your eyelids.
- Press your lips together.
Hold this expression and you will generate anger. Your heartbeat will go up ten or twelve beats per minute. Your hands will get hot, and you feel very unpleasant.
The next time you’re feeling depressed and want to feel happy and positive, try this: put a pen between your teeth, in far enough so that it stretches the edges of your mouth out to the left and right without feeling uncomfortable. Hold it there for five minutes or so. You’ll find yourself inexplicably in a happy mood. You will amaze yourself at fast your facial expressions can change your emotions.
In a further experiment, the CIA researchers had one group of subjects listen to recordings of top comedians and look at a series of cartoons. At the same time, each person held a pen pressed between his or her lips — an action that makes it impossible to smile. Individuals in another group each held a pen between his or her teeth, which had the opposite effect and made them smile.
The people with the pens between their teeth rated the comedians and cartoons as much funnier than the other group did. What’s more, the people in neither group knew they were making expressions of emotion. Amazingly, an expression you do not even know you have can create an emotion that you did not deliberately choose to feel. Emotion doesn’t just go from the inside out. It goes from the outside in.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN MOOD
Psychologist Theodore Velten created a mood induction procedure in 1969 that psychologists have used for over forty years to induce a positive mind-set, especially in psychology experiments. It’s a simple approach that involves reading, reflecting on, and trying to feel the effects of some fifty-eight positive affirmations as they wash over you. The statements start out being fairly neutral and then become progressively more positive. They are specifically designed to produce a euphoric state of mind.
Velten’s Instructions: Read each of the following statements to yourself. As you look at each one, focus your observation only on that one. You should not spend too much time on any one statement. To experience the mood suggested in the statement, you must be willing to accept and respond to the idea. Allow the emotion in the statement to act upon you. Then try to produce the feeling suggested by each statement. Visualize a scene in which you experienced such a feeling. Imagine reliving the scene. The entire exercise should take about ten minutes.
VELTEN MOOD INDUCTION STATEMENTS
- Today is neither better nor worse than any other day.
- I do feel pretty good today, though.
- I feel lighthearted.
- This might turn out to have been one of my good days.
- If your attitude is good, then things are good, and my attitude is good.
- I feel cheerful and lively.
- I’ve certainly got energy and self-confidence to share.
- On the whole, I have very little difficulty in thinking clearly.
- My friends and family are pretty proud of me most of the time.
- I’m in a good position to make a success of things.
- For the rest of the day, I bet things will go really well.
- I’m pleased that most people are so friendly to me.
- My judgments about most things are sound.
- The more I get into things, the easier they become for me.
- I’m full of energy and ambition — I feel like I could go a long time without sleep.
- This is one of those days when I can get things done with practically no effort at all.
- My judgment is keen and precise today. Just let someone try to put something over on me.
- When I want to, I can make friends extremely easily.
- If I set my mind to it, I can make things turn out fine.
- I feel enthusiastic and confident now.
- There should be opportunity for a lot of good times coming along.
- My favorite songs keep going through my mind.
- Some of my friends are so lively and optimistic.
- I feel talkative — I feel like talking to almost anybody.
- I’m full of energy, and am really getting to like the things I’m doing.
- I feel like bursting with laughter — I wish somebody would tell a joke and give me an excuse.
- I feel an exhilarating animation in all I do.
- My memory is in rare form today.
- I’m able to do things accurately and efficiently.
- I know good and well that I can achieve the goals I set.
- Now that it occurs to me, most of the things that have depressed me wouldn’t have if I’d just had the right attitude.
- I have a sense of power and vigor.
- I feel so vivacious and efficient today — sitting on top of the world.
- It would really take something to stop me now.
- In the long run, it’s obvious that things have gotten better and better during my life.
- I know in the future I won’t overemphasize so-called “problems.”
- I’m optimistic that I can get along very well with most of the people I meet.
- I’m too absorbed in things to have time for worry.
- I’m feeling amazingly good today.
- I am particularly inventive and resourceful in this mood.
- I feel superb! I think I can work to the best of my ability.
- Things look good. Things look great!
- I feel that many of my friendships will stick with me in the future.
- I feel highly perceptive and refreshed.
- I can find the good in almost everything.
- In a buoyant mood like this one, I can work fast and do it right the first time.
- I can concentrate hard on anything I do.
- My thinking is clear and rapid.
- Life is so much fun; it seems to offer so many sources of fulfillment.
- Things will be better and better today.
- I can make decisions rapidly and correctly, and I can defend them against criticisms easily.
- I feel industrious as heck — I want something to do!
- Life is firmly in my control.
- I wish somebody would play some good, loud music!
- This is great — I really do feel good. I am elated about things!
- I’m really feeling sharp now.
- This is just one of those days when I’m ready to go!
- Wow, I feel great!
You’ll find yourself feeling good about yourself and thinking harmonious thoughts. When you are in a good mood, you find your body exhibiting it in your behavior. You’ll smile, and you’ll walk briskly.
MONA LISA’S SMILE
Leonardo da Vinci once observed that it’s no mystery why it is fun to be around happy people and depressing to be around depressed people. He also observed a melancholy atmosphere in many portraits. He attributed that to the solitariness of artists and their environment. According to Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo, while painting the Mona Lisa, employed singers, musicians, and jesters to chase away his melancholy as he painted. As a result, he painted a smile so pleasing that it seems divine and as alive as the original.
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To discover the creative thinking techniques creative geniuses have used throughout history in the arts, sciences and business read CRACKING CREATIVITY by Michael Michalko. http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Creativity-Secrets-Creative-Genius/dp/1580083110/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=16NCRBEMHRCEQ1RAZG5V
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