One Big Puzzle

I see it as a puzzle. Some pieces are clearly the corners and edges, and yet others pieces can be recognized, but unsure as to where they go. And then there are those pieces which I don't recognize, and I have no idea where they go.

What makes the coaching process really interesting for me is not having a picture to see - you know, like the picture on the box of a puzzle? Doesn't everyone use that? I heard someone say they never look at the picture because it feels like cheating to them. Well, it doesn't to me. I like the picture. I get some idea of where I am going. But in coaching, you can't look at the box. For some reason, that's what I like about it. 

The Ladder of Inference is pretty powerful for understanding how someone creates their "picture of meaning." It goes something like this....  we take in some kind of data or information, and selectively, we pick what we see. We may think we pick all the facts, but we don't. Just watch other people!  Two people just don't see the same thing twice. Our instructor is a clinical psychologist, and he talked about the role of eye witnesses in the courtroom. Eye witnesses just don't have as much credibility now due to the realization that we take in facts and data selectively. And then we add our own meaning and assumptions to those facts, and make conclusions. And those conclusions form our beliefs and subsequent actions in the world. So naturally, our beliefs then affect what data we see next time. And it keeps reinforcing and repeating itself. 

I wonder what I see without awareness? What do I simply add my own meaning and assumptions, and don't even realize it? What can create a shift or change inside myself? We've talked a lot about authorship, power and choice in class. The ability to rewrite our own stories. And if that's the case, how can I use the ladder to rewrite something that needs a new chapter in my life?