To live life in any thoughtful and contemplative way is to understand we do not have things figured out entirely just yet, and there is always an opportunity for positive growth and change. And the chance to become a better person. This growth can only happen and be a long-term thing affecting our lives if we consciously choose it.  A paradigm is a map we follow to explain a particular aspect of our known territory.  This theory means we have a paradigm for how we interact with others, work in the workforce, seek opportunities, see our self-worth, the way we create and how accomplish goals, and follow our dreams.  Each of these viewpoints has been developed throughout our lives through the beliefs we have accepted as accurate brought on by our upbringing and experiences in life.

The thing to consider is, what if our paradigms have been wrong all along? We have been attacking problems from the wrong perspective.  Right or wrong, how we view and interpret our life and surroundings is the source of our attitudes and behaviors about everything. Our relationships with others and our actions are driven by the subtle programming of our accepted paradigms and interpretations of all things. A paradigm shift occurs when new information enters your experience and forces you to change from seeing the world one way to seeing it another. We can find real change, success, and joy in life through this vision.  We should all be seeking these changes every day.

Significant Change In Your Life

Most people would like to experience some positive change in their life. Better relationships, more money, or a rise in respect are all things people look for to increase their happiness. These changes do not often happen magically, and the current situation we are in is because of the map of understanding we accept as accurate about how the world works. We are conditioned by our parents, relatives, teachers, peers, and society to believe their version of how things work and apply it to our lives.  We live by these accepted “truths” and try to live our life from them. When you start to question these rules, we understand that we have been fed opinions, half-truths, and outright lies.  To find significant change, we have to change our view of what we accept about the world’s workings.

This process is changing your paradigms and the limits placed on you by your accepted and often inaccurate view of your world.  How do you know if your idea is limited? Look at the things you are taught you “can’t” do.   It often takes a tragic event, a traumatic incident, or a primary conscious choice.  These things are generally unpleasant but force you to look at the world differently. And, of course, when you look at the world differently, you will think differently. Your map of you follow as an explanation for things will change.

Widens Scope of Paradigm

Your character as a person also will affect the view we have of the world. One of the fundamental ideas is that the world is a good place with many kind people willing to help you or that the world is a horrible and dangerous place with danger everywhere. This fundamental belief will affect all of your paradigms. If you think there is danger around every corner and each person is out to harm you, you will live your life from that vantage point—one of fear.  Conversely, if you look for the good in people and see it, you will live your life and make choices differently. These are paradigms.

Look at your vision of life and how you see the world.  Do you believe in honesty? Do you believe in kindness? Are you practicing gratitude? Or do you skew your life in the opposite direction?  These questions involve individual answers but will reveal your current paradigms to you. You will see how you value other people and spend your time.  These things are based on the rules you have established and our attempts to explain the territory in which we live.  You control these explanations and either consciously or subconsciously create them and follow them every day. If you are not happy with life, change how you view the world.

Some Paradigms Examples

Learning about paradigms is one thing, and here are some examples of a few that we are taught from youth and tend to hang on for life. Until we choose something different, each explains an aspect of our lives, and we make choices based on these beliefs and will continue to until we decide to remove and replace them.

List of Paradigms

1. You must go to school and get excellent grades to succeed.

2. It would be best if you never daydreamed as it’s a waste of time.

3. You should go to college and get a degree to be successful and productive.

4. You can’t earn higher salaries and promotions without a degree.

5. It would be best to get a secure job, regardless of your enjoyment in performing the task. Secure employment makes you a stable, reliable, and regular person.

6. Happiness is secondary to financial security.

7. It would be best if you got married right after getting a good job, and that is normal.

8. You should always save money for “rainy days.”

9. It would be best to get a formal education in business to run one.

10. You must never spend money lavishly, be frugal and careful.

These are just some of the programming messages we receive through our life experiences. Are these right or wrong? That is up to each person to decide for themselves. There is an argument to be made for each one and how the opposite of each could be just as accurate and valid to a person.  Remember that none of these things are facts. They are all only opinions based on a person’s experience. You can accept, change, and disregard them at any time. That is part of being a conscious, thinking human being.

Examine You

Please take a few minutes and write down what you believe about life and look at how valid they are.  You may find out your truths are just opinions and, if adjusted, will allow you to accomplish more and live your life more satisfyingly.  Too often, our negative thoughts and fear-based beliefs control our paradigms and cause us to live our lives not as we would like but how others feel we should.  Paradigms allow you to recognize the negative, limiting beliefs in your life and restate them more proactively and positively. The life you have to improve is your own.

“Your paradigm is so intrinsic to your mental process that you are hardly aware of its existence until you try to communicate with someone with a different paradigm.” – Donella Meadows

“We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.” – Anais Niin

“If you don’t get out of the box you were raised in, you won’t understand how much bigger the world is.” –  Angelina Jolie

 “Just because something has always been done in a certain way is never a sufficient reason for continuing to do it that way.” – Clarence Birdseye

“If you want to create change, you must challenge not only the models of Unreality but the paradigms that underwrite them.” – Stafford Beer