Value-Perception: Van Gogh Paintings, Barbells, and Swimming

Yes I am aware that Van Gogh paintings, barbells, and swimming are likely not the most common collection of subjects, let alone when it comes to defining perception of value. Yet let me illustrate to you how they are all interconnected and how the stories behind these topics can empower YOU to view moments of adversity, problems, and conflict differently in your life.

It is a fact - We, as humans, can perceive people, interactions, and experiences as either positive or negative, beneficial or detrimental, good or bad. And the way in which we perceive such elements of life, determine our energy towards them. 

I recently listened to a podcast by Malcolm Gladwell - Revisionist History, Season 5, Episode 2: Hedwig’s Lost Van Gogh - where he artfully and captivatingly describes the life of a piece of art by Van Gogh. Without ruining too much of the must-listen-to story, this Van Gogh piece is not the type of famous, immediately recognizable Van Gogh pieces we have come to cherish. Quite the contrary, in fact for the longest time it was believed to be a fake. As described by Gladwell, this piece of overlooked, undervalued art found itself escaping war-torn Germany, experiencing Lavish dinners with Hollywood royalty, the company of a Swedish Baron, as well as a dime-store heiress. Named Vase with Carnations (estimated creation being in the summer of 1886), it is now placed in the Detroit Institute of Arts, in which only a few years ago was it officially authenticated by the Van Gogh Museum as a true work of the famous artist. Before this it was quite consistently considered to be a fake, even being placed in the Fakes, Forgeries and Mysteries exhibition of the DIA Museum, at one point beforehand even placed in its basement for close to 20 years. 

Current head of DIA Salvador Salort-Pons, describes that this Van Gogh “just doesn't look like a Van Gogh.” But in his opinion what makes it captivating is the shift of its value the second it became considered a Van Gogh. He asserts, “It basically had no value. The minute we consider it is as a van Gogh it has a monetary value of several million of dollars. The painting has not changed. The painting continues to be what it is. What has changed is the perception we have on the painting.”

If we come to accept the premise that WE control the PERCEPTION of the elements in our lives, then we come to realize that WE determine the VALUE of those elements - what I like to call: Value-Perception

We are the Van Gogh experts of the Van Gogh Museum metaphorically valuing the compositions of our lives, our experiences, our interactions, our relationships...and even our conflicts, our problems, our issues, and our challenges.

As a coach my objective is to empower individuals to embrace control of their perceptions in life. More specifically, to learn how to change their perceptions of conflict, of problems, of issues, of challenges.

Philosophically, why is a conflict a conflict? And for most, why do we determine conflicts as negative?

Well, academically and socially we are taught to believe in the definitions of those things. 

For example, the definition of adversity according to Mirriam-Webster is “a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune.”

How about difficulty? - “1) a situation that is difficult or dangerous; 2) a thing that is hard to accomplish, deal with, or understand.”

And problem? - “a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome.”

But hold on, let us take another look at that definition. And if you are that type of person, who much like the rest of society, has been taught to believe that a “problem” is something that is bad, wrong, and unfortunate, then this definition should be mind-blowing to you! The definition was, “a matter or situation REGARDED as unwelcome or harmful, needing to be DEALT WITH and OVERCOME.”. Regarded. REGARDED. Regarded. Need I present the definition of regarded? I think not.

Take a moment, pause, reflect. In your life, how do you define conflict, adversity, difficulty, problem...and then ask yourself why…

Allowing yourself the ability to redefine conflict, adversity, difficulty, problem, as moments of opportunity, will allow you to concentrate and load-up on positive energy towards those perceived moments of conflict and problems. We are naturally, chemically, physiologically more excited to approach things we are EXCITED about. We are happy when we approach moments we are HAPPY about. When we are able to change our perceptions of conflict, of problems, as moments that we are happy about, that we are excited about, that we are grateful about, we will then be equipped with an access of energy and positivity that will strengthen us. For as the inspiring Brett Bartholomew states in his book, Conscious Coaching: "Struggle begets strategy"

To use a cliche sports analogy - let us look at strength training or weight lifting. 

My dear friend, Kyle Gerrans, is one of the strongest individuals I have ever known or ever seen in a weight-lifting setting. And when he is stepping up to deadlift 700 lbs, bench press 355 lbs , or pick up a massive stone ball (yes, I just said massive stone ball), he will strategically be at a disadvantage if he gets into a negative mentality - a “woah-is-me” mentality - a problem-oriented mentality. It is very likely he will be unable to produce the necessary chemical and physiological energy that he needs to be able to move the weight he aims to move. 

Beautifully, moving weight is a quite perfect analogy for “difficulties” in life - you are facing something that you will attempt to overpower - that something will try its best (or gravity’s best) to resist you and you will try your best to resist it. But that is the point right there - your BEST. Is your BEST succumbing to self-pity, complaints, negativity, lethargy, and powerlessness? No, I did not think so. 

So when life PRESENTS to you opportunities to challenge your BEST self, frame your mindset accordingly. 

To give yet again another sports analogy - as a member of the Pepperdine Men’s Water Polo team, we were constantly GIFTED opportunities of challenges to test our strengths (and yes, there is a hint of sarcasm in there). And a crowd favorite was either 30 x 100s (4 laps in a row) or 20 x 200’s (8 laps in a row), either on an “all-out” pace or an extremely fast interval. These were, as our coaches defined it, mental tests. It was BRUTAL. 

Frequently, what came with the coaches instruction of 20 x 100s or 10 x 200s was a moan, or a groan, or some under-the-breadth disagreement coupled with one or two profanities from that of us, the players. But one day, in one of our bi-weekly team meetings, two leaders of the team, Brock Liebhardt and Charles Olsen, stepped up to make a statement that totally blew my mind and completely reshaped my mentality around these challenges. Verbatim, they said that they absolutely hated hearing the moans, the groans, and the complaining that came with the instruction of those conditioning sets. Why? Because they were trying THEIR best to stay positive, to energize themselves, to get their mentality right for the OPPORTUNITY to challenge themselves. And that hearing a moan, a groan, or a complaint completely and totally de-energized them. 

As captains, they empowered us to cut the “negative-noises” and from that point on, as a team we would literally start cheering at the instructions of these sets. For some it was a “fake-it-till-you-make-it” mentality and for others it was true genuine excitement, but in both cases they proved effective in embracing the challenge ahead as an opportunity, as a gift, as a chance to perform in your BEST self. We began to Value-Perceive these swim sets in a high-value manner.

Constantly remind yourself that: the only entity that truly matters in controlling the determination of value, or lack-of-value, in your life is YOU. YOU decide how you REGARD elements in your life. So CHOOSE to value moments of adversity, conflict, and problems in a positive light, and I promise you will be pleasantly surprised with the treasures you will discover.