Perception

"Take 20 seconds to look around the room."

I did as I was asked. "Now leave!"

I was ushered out of the room and placed in another room across the hall. The stone walls were built to resemble a castle. Ornate rugs draped across the floor.

The man talking before entered the room after me. His mustache greying above his lips, he asked, "Now what details can you remember about the room we were just in?"

I froze... I had just started practicing meditation 3 years prior. I closed my eyes and named the details of the room.

The old man nodded his head, impressed. "Let me ask you some questions to help jog your memory."

- "What color was the carpet?"

My answer - "Green."

- "How many bookshelves?"

My answer - "Four."

- "Were they all filled?"

My answer - "50% Empty."

It went on like this for several minutes. I felt proud with myself.

I've always been quick to answer. He gave me a score...

I did okay, slightly above average.

Whop, Whop, Whop...

Our Perceptions are not always how we remember things. Memory is an important cornerstone to your Perception.

As a human being our Minds are made to create meaning from our Memories and this does not always align with what we can perceive with our senses. This doesn't make our experience less real. But you can get closer to the Truth of the matter with a keen Perception on your Reality.

Perception is the dialogue between YOU and REALITY. We see things we want to see, hear things we want to hear. But when we are shown something can we find it's clear meaning or do we allow it to gloss over a truth we are avoiding inside.

There is a language to the Universe and Reality and it speaks in symbols. If your Perception isn't crystal clear you can misinterpret these symbols and get the wrong impression.

For Example:

I had a friend who was driving to see a potential partner. She was so excited. On the way over, she saw that the road was blocked. She spiraled interpreting this as a negative sign. Never playing out the relationship. The question arises - Do things just happen or is it all have a meaning?

Let me make it simple:

1. There's no such thing as coincidences.

2. What you think it means may not always be correct.

This will seem paradoxical to you. It should. What's important is to stop and reflect. BREATHE BEFORE REACTING! See if you notice anything standing out in that calm space between breaths. Some small clue. Check that deeper Intuition within.

When you can clear the unconscious biases that jade your perception your interpretations grow authentic.

There Are 12 Senses

You know the 5 senses:

1.) Sight

2.) Smell

3.) Sound

4.) Touch

5.) Taste

These are an excellent starting point and can bring one back into the present moment. This mental health tip I used while working in my 5 years of Residential Treatment Care. When anxiety was on the rise for a client, naming:

- 4 things you can see

- 3 things you can hear

- 2 things they could feel

- 1 thing they could smell (or taste)

Would ground them back into the reality of the present moment. This is where clear Perception starts. The Present. Clearing their projected Perception (whether anxiety of the future or depression of the past) was a huge piece of my work.

Let me tell you a story:

There was a client at the facility I worked for (for voluntary adult patients).

She had trouble making friends and needed a lot of attention in the form of validation.

These clients are hard to work with. Finding the balance of being there for them while holding boundaries around time and attention was tight rope.

Another staff member had an important workshop to host but this client was holding her attention. A hard boundary was set as I walked by them in the hall. I got a vague Intuition to walk slower, so I did. The staff left and the client started going into an anxiety attack. I turned back and lead her through the trick laid out above.

Helping her to regulate her breathing, she calmed down. A tear fell from her eye behind her thick glasses. She smiled, telling me she was going to go lay down. I nodded my head and let her know I'd be around if she needed anything.

Once the clarity of your physical senses is grounded. More will come.

There are 7 senses beyond the 5. Let's get into them:

Rudolf Steiner's "anthroposophy" related an extra 7 senses.

1.) Ego sense - recognizing the presence of another's energy.

2.) Life Sense - is the awareness of bodily well-being.

3.) Speech Sense - understanding meaning in words.

4.) Balance - is spatial awareness and equilibrium.

5.) Thought Sense - perceiving ideas & concepts.

6.) Movement - perception of bodily motion.

7.) Warmth - feeling temperature changes.

Now that these are stated above. Makes a lot of SENSE, doesn't it? These innate abilities orient you to your world. There are many mental health regulation techniques that utilize these 7 other senses. Can you think of any?

Beyond regulating, these Perceptions help you navigate the Reality in which you live.

But what if there were more... buckle up.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions

Along with the 12 physical senses we talked about in the last section there are 12 Intuitive Senses or "Clair" senses. What are you talking about Benji!?

DON'T WORRY, I'LL TELL YOU!

Some of you have experienced one or two.

Let's get into the 12 Intuitive Perceptions:

1.) Clairvoyance - clear seeing (visions, symbols, auras).

2.) Clairaudience - clear hearing (inner voices, sounds).

3.) Clairsentience - clear feeling (empathic sensations).

4.) Claircognizance - clear knowing (intuitive downloads).

5.) Clairalience - clear smelling (scents with no physical source).

6.) Clairtangency - clear touching (psychometry, sensing objects' energy).

7.) Clairkinesthesia - clear movement (feeling unseen forces, energy shifts).

8.) Claircreativity - clear creative flow (channeled artistry, writing).

9.) Clairdreaming - receiving visions and messages in dreams.

10.) Clairtime - sensing past, present, and future events.

11.) Clairintellect- clear thought (divinely inspired).

12.) Clairgustance - clear tasting (tasting energies).

I've touched on many of these in my Letters so far but I wanted to address them here. In total there are 24 human Perceptions - 12 Physical & 12 Spiritual.

Perception as an Act of Change

In 1974, Steve Jobs traveled to India to understand the meaning of life. Less than a year later, he came back with fresh perspectives that turned Apple into a $3 trillion business.

19-year-old Jobs sold everything he owned and bought a one-way ticket to India. He wandered the streets of Delhi barefoot, lived simply, and studied Eastern spirituality. His college friends thought he'd lost his mind. But Jobs knew something they didn't...

True innovation doesn't come from the mind. It comes from the space between thoughts...What Zen masters call 'mushin.' That's why Jobs meditated even during his biggest product launches. But few know who had the greatest impact on his success...

His greatest insights came from Zen master Kobun Chino Otogawa.

Here are 5 forgotten Perceptions on Reality he used to turn Apple into an empire:

1.) Your sensitivity is a Strength, not a Weakness. In India, Jobs learned to embrace sensitivity as a tool for creativity. Able to write some of the most powerful statements for his products, Job was able to see deeper into the market. Sensitivity and Perception allowed him to strike the hearts of the populous.

2.) Less is More. Jobs didn't just adopt minimalism for design. He lived it. He wore the same outfit every day. Apple’s design? Simple & Elegant. The thought of the times - more gadgets = a better product. Jobs did it different, understanding his customer's need to be user friendly.

3.) Your Mess is Your Medicine. Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985. Instead of breaking him, it built him up. He returned to Apple in 1997 stronger and revolutionized tech. Many of you take failure at face value, yet it's an opportunity. Can you imagine being fired from your own company? To admit defeat means failure. Keep going? It's a learning opportunity to step back and grow.

4.) The Future Belongs to Conscious Leaders. Jobs knew that tech wasn’t enough. Apple wasn't about the gadgets. It was about expanding human potential. Jobs says the future belongs to leaders who are hippies at heart... This trust in his future lead him to do great things. He had a vision in humanity and knew how to speak to the people.

5.) Structure Enhances Your Spirit. Jobs combined Zen-like mindfulness with ruthless execution. The issue with modern spirituality is the ineffectual state of flow. Simply accepting everything won't make the world a better place nor your life better. Knowing the difference between what you can change, what will take time to change and what you can't is key. To succeed you need to combine spiritual principles with sustainable systems.

Jobs didn’t just learn these lessons—he applied them. By combining Spiritual Perceptions with the modern world, he built one of the most valuable companies today. You can do it in your own way.

The Importance of Clear Perception

Your brain tells stories. Sometimes the wrong ones. A strange look from someone you assume they’re mad at you. A delayed text reply you start wondering if you said something wrong. A missed call labeled urgent your brain jumps to the worst-case scenario.

I've seen it happen.

"CALL ME, IT’S AN EMERGENCY."

Four missed calls from my wife. Right before an hour-long session with a client. I called back. No answer. My heart started pounding. Something was wrong.

A car accident? A break-in? Someone hurt? My brain started spinning, filling in the blanks with the worst possible scenarios. Here’s the thing — NONE of those things had happened. My brain wasn’t reacting to reality. It was reacting to a STORY.

Your brain is a prediction machine. Every second, it takes in incomplete information and tries to make sense of the world. And when details are missing, it fills in the gaps — usually with a NARRATIVE.

Neuroscientists call this "narrative coherence." Your mind craves a beginning, middle, and end. Even if it has to make one up. Like I did.

This is why Memories shape Perception and Perception - Memory. Why two people can live the same moment but recall it completely differently. And why stories —TRUE OR NOT— shape how we see reality. Stories aren’t just entertainment. They’re the FOUNDATION of how we think.

Every belief you have started as a story. The things you think you're capable of? A story. The fears that keep you stuck? A story. The person you believe yourself to be? Just another story, told enough times that you call it truth. But here’s the good news...

You can rewrite the story — Most people live inside stories they didn’t choose. Hand-me-downs from childhood, society, or past failures. Stories that say:

- "I'm not good enough."

- "I'm bad with money."

- "I'm destined to struggle."

But stories aren’t FIXED.

They’re MALLEABLE.

Change the story, change the way your brain predicts the future. When your brain expects something different, it starts. FINDING PROOF for it. It’s called "predictive coding." Your brain will literally reshape your Perception to match the new narrative. Is this good or bad?

That's up to you — Back to those missed calls. Ten minutes later (1 minute before session) My wife finally texted. It wasn’t an emergency. Just something urgent she needed help with. Nothing life-threatening. Nothing tragic. But for those ten minutes?

My mind had been ready to believe ANYTHING. And that’s when I realized:

REALITY IS FLUID.

It’s just a story we tell ourselves over and over again. So, if you don’t like the story you’re living? Tell a better one. It will change your entire Perception.

Read the next Superpower of the Soulpreneur:

6 Superpowers of the Soulpreneur

Stay vigilant.