Two ideas are competing for attention in the field of learning. One side is the idea of ultimate truth, content-based fact, and superior knowledge based on expertise or position. The second idea suggests that there is no ultimate truth or content-based facts. Instead, we are all creators of our truth.

My frame of reference is that reality is somewhere between the two. Truth is discovered in various ways through various experiences. Those with more experience often have more knowledge to discover this truth, but that doesn’t mean those with less experience don’t sometimes discover a truth a more experienced person doesn’t see. The natural learning model, my proposed model of learning, is based on the premise that who we are and, therefore, our frame of reference results from our experiences and responses to these experiences.

Our frame of reference is based on a combination of our experiences and our responses to those experiences. Whether you intentionally select your responses or not, they impact how you perceive everything. Not making a choice is still a choice.

Emotional and Cognitive Dissonance

Let’s start by defining emotional and cognitive dissonance for the sake of this conversation. Emotional and Cognitive dissonance are, in my experience, almost always linked together.

Cognitive dissonance is when your mind says, “Something’s not right here.” It’s when your current point of view or experience does not match the facts and observations you are experiencing.

Emotional dissonance is the emotional context associated with cognitive dissonance. Depending on how you describe what you feel, this could be anger, frustration, confusion, concern, or worry.

Your Current Frame of Reference

Although we, as a society, have come to accept this state as negative, my challenge is to look at it another way. If you never experience emotional and cognitive dissonance, you are not experiencing new parts of life, concepts, viewpoints, and information. If you never experience anything genuinely new, then you are not learning and growing as an individual. From this viewpoint, emotional and cognitive dissonance are, in fact, a positive indicator that you are learning, growing, and on the path to achieving your goals as an individual.

What are the assumptions that you hold to in life or teaching? What ideas and beliefs do you “know” to be true? Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying they are not true. They very well may be. However, if you are not intentionally aware of what you believe and know, how do you know they are true?

Your experiences, knowledge, culture, and everything that makes you who you believe you are determine your frame of reference. It’s the lens you see the world through. There are no positive or negative attributes associated with it as long as you know what it is and understand that everyone, and I do mean everyone, has a slightly different frame of reference. That makes life interesting and allows us to learn from each other.  

Take a moment to reflect on your experiences, both professional and personal. Essentially, any event, moment, or experience that had a significant impact on you. If you have previously reflected on these experiences, wonderful. If not, there is no better time.

Responding to each experience, you intentionally or unintentionally adapted your viewpoint. Consider what impact the event or experience had on your frame of reference and whether this impact serves to help you grow or stifles your growth.

If the experience helped you grow, that’s fantastic. Consider the lessons this experience provided and how they might be applied to your continued growth.

If the event or experience stifles your growth, consider the reason and whether you intentionally chose this response or merely responded. If you discover your current frame of reference is preventing you from growing, consider reframing.  

When you first start investigating your frame of reference, you might think of it like wearing sunglasses. When you put on sunglasses, the world has a slightly different tint. The objects, people, and places are the same. They just look slightly different. Be open to viewing your world slightly differently, and you will be surprised by what you learn about your own frame of reference.