You Are Misconstrued

If you're confusing your behavior with who you are, you're misconstrued. Find out more in this mini podcast.

Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

Find the written versions of these podcasts on John's podcasting site: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1628038

"The Grasshopper" is the part of you that whispers pearls of wisdom that  seem to pop into your mind from out of the blue. John's essays and blog posts are his interpretations of these "Nips of Nectar." Others have labeled his writings as timeless wisdom. 

Most of the John's writings revolve around self improvement and self help. They address topics like:

• Mindfulness
• Peace of mind
• Creativity
• How to stay in the present moment
• Spirituality
• Behavior improvement

And stories that transform you to a wider sense of awareness that presents more options. And isn't that what we all want, more options? 

John uploads these podcasts on a regular basis. So check back often to hear these podcasts heard around the world. Who wants to be the next person to change? 

Make sure to order a copy of John's new book: WISDOM OF THE GRASSHOPPER – 21 Days to Creativity. These mini-meditations take you inside where all your creative resources live. And you'll come out not only refreshed but recommitted to creating your future. 

It's only $16.95 and available at BLURB.COM at the link below. https://www.blurb.com/b/10239673-wisd...

Also, download John's FREE book INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change. It's available at John's website  https://GrasshopperNotes.com

Transcript

You Are Misconstrued

The Grasshopper cleared up a big life mystery for me years ago when he said, “One of the biggest mistakes you make in life is confusing your behavior with who you are.”

Think about that. We get judged by what we do, so it’s easy to assume that our behaviors must be us. If someone spews hateful thoughts or does something awful, we naturally think, “Well, that’s who they are.”

But . . . not so fast.

You may live inside the vehicle those words and actions come from, but you are not  the car. You're in the driver’s seat, sure — but most of the driving is done on autopilot. You were programmed a long time ago to drive the way you do.

You’re no more your programming than Harrison Ford is actually Indiana Jones. You’re acting out a script the world has gotten used to, and they think that’s you.

Now, even though you aren’t your behaviors, you still have to pay the consequences for them. That doesn’t seem fair. But as The Grasshopper reminded me long ago, “Fair is for fairy tales.”

Here’s the good news — the saving grace:

The moment you notice a behavior while it’s happening – that moment of recognition? That’s when you discover your behavior isn’t you. It's conditioning. It’s a stimulus-reaction pattern that fires off automatically.

Catching yourself in mid-stream is how you stop confusing yourself with your behavior.The real “you” is the one doing the noticing . . . not the one acting out the pattern.

If you want to find out who you really are, start noticing your behavior as it’s happening.

And noticing has two big payoffs:

1. It cuts through guilt and self-recrimination — which never helped anybody anyway.
2. It helps you outgrow the behavior.

Noticing gives you access to real choice — a choice that’s been hidden by the automatic nature of your conditioning. When you see the behavior in motion, that’s when free will shows up.

A lot of us mix up willpower with free will. We think if we’re strong enough, or disciplined enough, we’ll beat our conditioning. Maybe for a while . . . but that old behavior almost always circles back, the same way the weight you lost on that fad diet comes back.

Noticing and interrupting a behavior, while it’s happening, weakens the old conditioning. Do it often enough and the behavior gets diluted . . . until eventually, it just washes away.

So when you notice and interrupt — you stop getting “miscon-screwed.” Because you stop confusing your behavior with you.

All the best,

John