It's safe to say that what I see in the mirror is never what others see when they look at me. For all of us, reality is not a static state, but rather an ever-changing clip of our own individual perceptions. Two people experiencing the same event will garner different realities about that event.
It's December, which can only mean one thing in the corporate world - year-end appraisals. It's time to quantify and qualify all I've done in 2010 in the hopes that my boss and his boss will buy into my "I'm awesome" theory. While carefully crafting all the many bullet points about my poignant awesomeness, I began to wonder: Why don't I do this in my "real life?" Why don't I do a temperature check with those I care about to see how they perceive me? I think I've been a stellar daughter, sister, girlfriend, and friend, but if those I love don't perceive the same thing, then MY reality is obsolete.
In an effort to gauge my impact on those around me, I used a social network for a - brace yourself - social experiment. I asked for people to describe me in one word. Clearly, that one word would be a direct result of their perceptions of me. I'm happy to report that the responses I received are on point with the "me" I think I've projected: Happy, Compassionate, Witty and Passionate are some of the perceptions. And my favorite: Beautiful (as perceived by my future husband - looks like I'm marrying the right guy!).
So this year, I challenge you: Forget about the useless New Year's resolutions you know won't last. Instead, take a good look in the mirror and make sure the "you" that you think you're projecting is the same "you" that those you care about perceive.
