Hey, my friend! What is up? And welcome back to another episode of Do Life Big. I am so excited to have you here today. Today's episode is going to be short, sweet, and to the point. And we're going to dive in today, talking about how we can start to think more clearly, and really get to the truth of what's happening versus living in this distorted reality with these made-up stories that we seem to tell ourselves, sometimes they can really keep you trapped, and they can really make you feel like you are a victim. And they can keep you from really living from your truth and living this life of freedom.
Sometimes we distort reality. And I'm sure that we can all relate to this. And I'm going to just share with you an example of a time that I've done this, I do this all the time. And I'm sure that you can relate as well to where something happens. Or maybe someone says something. And in your mind, you interpret it or make it mean something then what it actually really means, right? So way back in the day when I used to be a teacher. And I remember I was teaching grade two at the time. And you have to get these observations done these teacher observations done a couple of times a year by the principal. And they would come in and they sit there and they watch you teach the lesson to the whole class. And they do this whole write up about it, what you did well, what you can improve on, they have a meeting with you after. And that's just the deal when you're a teacher.
As I was teaching grade two, and I remember I had this math lesson I was going to teach. And this was a brand new principal that was at our school. And I was a fairly new teacher, I think I was maybe year two in, it was very early on in my teaching career. And I went up there and I taught the lesson to the grade two students, did a great job. And went on with my day, the principal came in did his observation left. And at the end of the day, he called me into his office and he went over all the notes from the lesson that I taught. And he was giving me constructive criticism, he told me what I did well, but he also gave me a lot of constructive criticism on how I could be better and do better than next time, which is what we want, right?
And in my mind, I completely distorted the reality of what was happening. And instead of me being able to come to terms with the truth of what was happening, which was he was giving me constructive criticism and feedback on things that I could do to improve. I took it as he doesn't think I'm a good teacher, he thinks that I suck, I suck as a teacher. That was my distorted reality. That wasn't my truth. That was just a bullshit story that I was telling myself based on what he was telling me. And this is just one example. We do this all of the time. And we're constantly doing this. And the thing is, if we are constantly distorting reality, then we aren't living in truth. And we can't live our life making assumptions about things all the time because assumptions aren't facts. It's not true. It's just all made up in our mind.
But when you get to the truth, the truth is really what will set you free, really set you free from the story that you've created, free from the suffering that your mind has been causing you to be in the state all the time. And it's really this clear way of thinking that we should all strive for, it's something that we need to number one start to become aware of. And I think most people think that they're thinking clearly, you know, like if I sit there and say, “Hey, like do you think that you think clearly about things and see things for as they are or what would you say about that?” I think most people would say that. Yeah, I think that I can think pretty clearly about things and see them for as they are and take the facts as they come. But in reality, if we really took a step back, we've got a lot of distorted thinking going on there. And when we can start to think more clearly, this is when we can gain more wisdom. And wisdom really is having this ability to see things clearly and to see things for as they are. And the hard thing about this is that we need to remove ourselves literally take a step back, and to start seeing things objectively.
It's almost like if you were inside a jar, you can't read what the label says. So you need to pull yourself out of the jar to read what it says. So we have to do the same things in our real life, we have to pull ourselves out of our mind, out of ourselves, to look at ourselves from a third person's perspective almost and ask, what's wrong here? What's really happening? What are the facts? What is the truth? And being able to do this is way more important than being just someone who's smart, who can just sit down and acquire all this knowledge, right? See things as they are without our stories, or our narratives that we create.
But it's hard because you really do need to get your ego out of the way, you've got to be okay with looking at something objectively, and opening yourself up to being wrong, to being incorrect to seeing your own lies. And let's be honest, most people don't want to do that. Most people don't want to admit that they've been lying to themselves, that they're wrong. The smaller you can make your ego, the more you can see the truth for what it actually is. And the more that you can see the truth for what it actually is, the less suffering that you'll go through. And the more free that you will be because you'll be seeing things in truth for as they are.
It really truly always is our ego, that's clouding our reality. So it's taking a step back and asking yourself, okay, why do I feel so upset and triggered right now by this? Is it because of what this person said? Or is it because of how I took it? Is it because of how I interpreted it? Is it because of how I made it mean? Or what I made it mean in my mind versus what they actually said? If I think back to my story that I said about the principal doing that observation when I was a teacher, it's me asking myself, okay, what exactly did that principal say to me during that observation? Did he actually tell me that I wasn't a good teacher? And that I sucked? Or am I just taking it that way? What is this showing me about myself? It's taking a step back and asking yourself that, right? Well, what is this trying to show me about myself?
What is it showing me about my ego and about my patterns in my behaviors, and it's always just your ego stepping in being like, oh, you know what, you're not good enough. You don't have what it takes. And that's why you've got to get good at practicing how to turn your ego down, take a step back and look objectively about what actually happened. What are the facts? What is the truth. And when you feel stuck, like I hear people say a lot, I just feel like I'm stuck. When these kinds of things happen, like I'm almost trapped in my mind. When you feel stuck like this, you're really just stuck in your story. And when you're stuck in a story, you're not able to be free. But it's a story that you've created, that you've made up. So try to always find the truth in physical reality of what's going on, not what you're thinking, or what you're assuming, or what you're imagining in the near future, the actual truth in that moment.
So it's like, alright, Kathi, did the principal actually tell you that you weren't a great teacher that you sucked? No. Okay, well, then Kathi, you are totally full of shit right now. Right? It's being able to do that. So you want to be free, then you have to be willing to be 100% honest with yourself, and question your thoughts constantly. And if you can start to do that, what you'll start to notice is that a very large portion of your thoughts are just total bullshit. And listen, this is a lot of work, just like anything else, and other any other area in your life you're trying to improve on. It is a lot of work. And I get it. It is, and it's the reason why most people won't be bothered to do it. Number one, because they're not aware, they're not even aware of what's happening.
Or number two, they're just not willing to take a step back and start to question themselves, you know, takes a lot of awareness, to take yourself out of that moment. And seeing it as it honestly isn't asking yourself real questions like, Is this the real truth? Or is this just something I'm making up? And it's your ego that keeps you trapped and keeping you as this victim? And so it's constantly looking for ways to show us that we aren't good enough. That is your ego, constantly looking to show you for ways that you're not good enough.
So can we get better at thinking clearly, more often? because if we can, and we can seek the truth, it really is the truth that will set us free. And we're all a work in progress. And no one's perfect. I'm not perfect. But we're all here listening to this podcast right now. Because we want to improve. And we care about that. And we want to be the best version of ourselves.
And before I let you go, if you have not picked up my free, think this not that workbook, you can head over to kathireuter.com/thinkthisnotthat I will put it in the show notes. And you can start to rewire your mind for success. It will give you 19 of the most common limiting scarcity beliefs that people think and what you can start to replace that thought with instead. So you can start to live life, on your terms the way that you truly want to live it and have happiness and competence and look back with no regrets. So thanks so much for being here. You know, I love you. I think you're awesome. And I will see you the next time.
