"I stand up on my desk, to remind myself, that we must constantly look at things in a different way." - That's a quote from Dead Poets Society from 1989, and just like John Keating, I'd like to invite you today to stand up on my desk with me and look at life from a different perspective," says Leander Greitemann to his audience at the Speakers' Night at the Volksbühne am Rudolfplatz in Cologne. "Because only from up here can you see that all the accidents you build are because of the narrow perspectives and huge blind spots our egos have." That's not how personality development works.
"What many people then often try to do to make their ego bigger: they think they need more money, a hot body, more likes, more fame. If the others love me, then I love myself too and I won't make any more accidents - some think. If every one of us thought and acted like that, we'd be walking around with truck-sized egos," the speaker says. Ego, he says, is the "fucking problem." Why this is so, wants to Leander Greitemann in an experiment with the audience. "For change to really happen in our brains, we need to feel it. I'm going to ask you right now to simply introspect: observe your own feelings, thoughts, and impulses to act during the experiment!"
Uncertainty. Not having expectations. Gratitude, the speaker experiences as feedback from the audience in response to his question, "How did you feel about a speaker not speaking on speaker's night for one minute?". "I bet if I asked each and every one of you now how you perceived the experiment, there would probably be 400 different versions. Because you don't see the world as it is. You see the world as you are. Based on your experiences, social imprints, how you got up this morning, you have your own glasses on your eyes when you look from your own ego. And that's how you judge!", says Leander Greitemann quite unembellished.
Our brain creates an image based on the expectations we have. Because of external circumstances, you like to blame your boss. Or other fellow human beings. "When we create that thought in our mind, we create the problems right along with it. The outside world is the mirror of your inside world," Leander says, continuing with a poetry slam of himself:
We create this world through our thoughts...
in the head and create the barriers there,
...over which we may quarrel.
Because even or even when your glass is empty,
new doors will open for you.
Creativity doesn't come from stirring old water.
Barrels filled to the brim overflow more easily.
Success and failure are identical twin brothers.
The question of how much water is in your glass,
...you won't care if you stop measuring your happiness with a yardstick.
The stupid thing about blind spots is: we don't see them. The more specific you are about what you want, the smaller your world becomes. "Don't think that you'll be a happier person if you have all of your Goals achieved Leander Greitemann clarifies. "How do you want to love and be loved if you think in pigeonholes and only see others with your firmly preformed patterns? Drop your glasses and see what happens when you decide to be a Change of perspective open. Decide, neutrally and with open curiosity, to perceive the beauty and perfection of the moment. It's so much more pleasant not to have to be in control of life all the time."
Ask yourself: With what attitude do I approach things in my life? Do them for fun, detached from expectations. You always see the beauty in your life. The Dissatisfaction comes only when you don't agree with the way things are right now. What happens inside of you when you forget all of the old stories and Letting go of belief patterns and face everything new that comes your way? Then look forward to the following experiment:
How did that feel? To sing. Free of any thoughts! That's how you can meet your fellow human beings from now on, trust them. Maybe you'll see a different side of uncool people. "Be more creative and open. Experiment. Dare to do things differently instead of always questioning them," encourages Leander. "I believe that this is how we can make the world a more beautiful place, piece by piece!"
