The Reality of your Reality

The Reality of Your Reality

Most people don’t realize they’re time traveling.

You do it every day. Probably did it this morning.

You sit down at the kitchen table, sip your coffee, and before your kid even walks into the room, you already know they’re gonna complain about what’s in their lunch box, or in our case that they have to put pants on. 

You’re 14 seconds into a partner call and already writing the script in your head. They won’t deliver. They never do. You knew that before you hit join.

And that guy down the street? The one who always has an opinion on how long you leave out your trash bin?

You can feel your shoulders tightening just thinking about his glare. He hasn’t even opened his mouth yet.

It’s not ESP. It’s just your brain playing reruns.

Ten years ago, I sat in a fluorescent-lit conference room with a notebook in my lap.

I was 25. A creative director. Writing copy and designing for billion-dollar brands and budget plumbers. I could tell you why Helvetica was sexy. But I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about how my mind worked.

That changed when Mara Gleason Olsen walked into the room and told me something that rattled me.

“You’re not experiencing the world,” she said. “You’re experiencing your thinking about the world.”

Let that sit with you for a second.

Because if that’s true, and I believe it is,
then the story you’re telling yourself, about your partner, your boss, your day, and your life might not be the truth.

It might just be a habit.

So here’s a little brain rewire for you

You don’t have to show up the same way today.

You don’t have to clench your fists before the conversation even starts.

You don’t have to re-live the same meeting, the same argument, the same stale tension.

You can stop, mid-thought, and ask your mind:

“What else you got?”

That one-liner is a key. It cracks the door open.

Lets in some light. Lets in a different possibility.

Lets in the truth that maybe this moment, this person or, this experience doesn’t have to be what it’s always been.

Try this:

Catch yourself mid-prediction.

Stop.

Ask for something new.
And when it shows up? Don’t bulldoze it with your past.

If you want to go deeper, Jason and I had Mara on the podcast.
Listen here on Spotify or Apple.

And if you’re the kind of leader who wants to do more than hit revenue targets
if you’re the kind of human who wants to grow in ways you can’t measure in a spreadsheet you should come to Montana this summer.

Arcadia Leadership Experience
July 14-17 | Bozeman, MT
Real people. Deep conversations. Unforgettable Experiences. 

See you in the wild,
Sam