The Lens Effect

Reflection: 

This idea has been sitting with me while reading "Beyond Belief" by Nir Eyal. (This book as changed my life and I am not even half way through! Here is a link if you want to purchase https://www.nirandfar.com/beyond-belief/ ) In the book, he quotes Anaïs Nin and it’s one of those lines that sounds simple but gets heavier the longer you sit with it: “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” — Anaïs Nin

The more I sit with that the more I realize how much of our life experience is not actually about what’s happening but about how we’re interpreting what’s happening. Two people can go through the exact same situation and walk away with completely different meanings. One person sees failure. Another sees feedback. One person sees rejection. Another sees redirection. The external event itself is neutral.  I actually talk about this in an Instagram post I shared recently on my instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/warriorxstrength/ where I break down how situations themselves are neutral but the meaning we assign to them is what shapes our emotional experience and response. It comes from us. From our beliefs, our conditioning, our past experiences and the identity we’ve built over time. In a lot of ways, we’re not reacting to reality directly we’re reacting to a filtered version of it that’s been shaped long before the moment ever arrives. That can be the uncomfortable part or it can be the empowering part, depends on the lens you want to use. 

If perception is the filter then growth isn’t just about changing behavior right? It’s about becoming aware of the lens you’re looking through. Most people try to change their life by forcing new habits while keeping the same internal story but if the story stays the same guess what? The interpretation of everything stays the same too. Eventually the old patterns just pull them right back into familiar outcomes. 

Now, you may be asking how does this apply to fitness and not just mindset stuff. Well I will show you. I’ll often have clients ask themselves these 3 things: 

1. What am I actually believing right now in this situation?
2. Is this objectively true or does it just feel familiar?
3. Am I responding to what’s actually happening or am I responding through an old lens I’ve been trained to see things through?

Because in fitness this shows up constantly. A missed workout becomes “I’m inconsistent.” A lower energy day becomes “I’m falling off.” A rough week becomes “I always fail.” The event itself is neutral but the meaning gets layered on instantly. This shows up in real time too while working out, not just in the moments between. Some examples are:

1. A weight feels heavier than expected and it becomes “I’m getting weaker.”
2. A rep slows down and turns into “I can’t do this.”
3. A set feels uncomfortable and immediately the story becomes “I’m not built for this.”

But nothing about the situation has actually changed except interpretation. It’s fatigue. It’s effort. It’s demand meeting capacity. That’s it.

What determines whether someone pushes through or shuts down is rarely the physical limit it’s the meaning they assign to the sensation.

And that’s where my work comes in. Because I believe it’s my job to bring awareness, intention and connection back to my client's bodies. Most people are moving through training and life disconnected from what they’re actually feeling, thinking and holding physically. When we slow that down we create space to notice what’s real versus what’s assumed. 

The shift isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about seeing more clearly who you’ve been operating as and deciding if that lens still serves you.

Because once you really understand that you don’t see things as they are but as you are, you also start to realize something so freeing: 

If the lens was shaped, it can also be reshaped.

3 actionable steps: 

1. Catch the automatic story in real time
When something happens (missed workout, tough set or low energy) pause and label the first meaning your mind creates. Don’t fix it, just notice it. The goal is awareness of the story, not agreement with it.

2. Separate fact from interpretation
Write or mentally split it into two lines:

• Fact: “I missed today’s workout.”

• Story: “I’m inconsistent.”
  This forces clarity between what actually happened and what you’re attaching to it.

3. Bring it back to the body before the identity
Before deciding what something “means" check in physically: breath, tension, heart rate, effort level. Ask: "What am I actually experiencing right now in my body, separate from the story?" This grounds you in reality instead of interpretation.

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