Life Balancer (c): Social Context

?We human beings are social beings“... Dalai Lama

Building on the quote of the Dalai Lama, we need to appreciate and consider that sub-optimizations are not adequate... how we interact within our enviroment matters. This articles outline my thoughts for consideration.

The life blood for social beings is the interaction within the environment around us, and the exchange with other social beings. The better we understand ourselves, our capabilities and limitations, and our personal balance in life, the better we’ll be able to fruitfully live within the environment and with others.

As already indicated earlier, perfectionism, strive to become a superhuman or superhero, as well as self-centeredness, are the enemies of life balance and satisfaction. At best we could harvest a lot of immediate reward returns, but this is no good strategy for the Delayed Return Environment we are actually living in. Our brain is hardwired for immediate returns; this could be a bold distraction, unless we develop strategies to balance that tendency.

To improve life, we have to improve how we live. Basics first, fine-tuning second.

The social context has the same value for humans, as fertile soil and water for plants. Therefore it’s so important to establish and maintain capabilities to interact wisely within the social context and with others humans. The destiny of individuals and their social environment are highly intertwined; awareness and judgement are crucial for personal balance and satisfaction.

Balancing of the five Life-Balancer dimensions takes place in the social context as indicated above.

Its grounded on our Values, Attitudes and Beliefs ( VAB ), and directed by our Vision, Purpose and Goals  ( VPG ). Some ground-rules and advice will be outlined in the next chapters of the methodology.

Above I mentioned our capabilities and limitations; while we interact with others around us we should be savvy in how we PERCEIVE, ANALYSE, DECIDE, ACT and HABITUATE. Self-awareness and focus will then assist us to achieve fruitful relationships and sustainable impact.

Following I listed some aspects for our consideration.

We see the world around us… How?

·        RAS is operational ( reticular activating system ): ?we see what we want to see“

·        5 senses are operational

·        40 bit/s could be processed consciously, and 1.000.000 bit/s reach senses

·        Brain: 2% proportion of body weight, and 20% of body energy consumption

·        Wired for conservation of energy  

We are governed by our mindset… How?

·        Power of ?Positive Thinking“

·        Loss frame vs. Gain frame: focus to see the upside

·        Shift from loss to gain is harder than from gain to loss

We decide for action… How?

·        95% of behaviour is unconscious ( G. Zaltmann )

·        Stress threshold level: Awareness and influence

·        ?Old brain“ vs. ?New brain“ balance

·        Heuristics and Biases deployment ( mental shortcuts )

We are social beings… How?

·        Individual exists in dynamic social context

·        Awareness and consideration of personal capabilities and limitations are vital

·        Fuel and Input for Pentagon-Balancer:

          … from inside: VAB and VPG

          … from outside: interactions with other humans