Where one person sees an obstacle another will see an opportunity.

Where one person sees the glass as half empty another will see the glass as half full.

Both people are technically looking at the same thing/situation, yet are interpreting said thing/situation entirely differently.

This is based on our personal perceptions about ourselves, how we view ourselves and what we're capable of, as well as our perceptions of the world, how we view the world and what we believe is possible.

Perception is defined as "the recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based upon our memory." and each of us has our own unique perception based on our past.

Our perception of the world is what creates our life experience.

Many things have shaped our perceptions including our upbringing, environment, culture, social status, and content we've consumed.

If we don't believe in ourselves or our capabilities and believe the world is a tough and evil place, any challenge we face in our lives will be viewed as an obstacle to tear us down.

But if we do believe in ourselves, our capabilities, and see the world as an amazing and beautiful place, any challenges we face will be viewed as an opportunity to build ourselves up.

Negative perceptions make us the victim causing us to think that everything is happening to us, as opposed to positive perceptions that make us the ones in control, where everything is happening for us.

This difference in perception has a dramatic effect on the quality of our lives, as negative perceptions lead to negative emotions, which overtime negatively impact both our mental and physical health. Whereas positive perceptions lead to positive emotions, which overtime positively affect our mental and physical health, leading to happier, higher-quality lives.

So if our perceptions are so important to the quality of our lives, how do we go about changing our perceptions so that they help us rather than hinder us?

The first thing we must do is change our thoughts because our repeated thoughts and actions form our beliefs, and our beliefs create our perceptions.

By generating new thoughts and performing new actions we begin to form new beliefs because we're no longer thinking and acting as we always have, thus causing us to change, and as we change so do our beliefs and perceptions.

Practices to change the way we think include:

1. Meditation - so that we can sit and observe our thoughts and bring awareness to our thoughts, allowing us to consciously shift the conversation in our heads.

2. Affirmations - when we repeatedly do this on a daily basis we begin to believe what we tell ourselves and act accordingly.

3. Journaling - this allows us to put our thoughts down on paper allowing us to be even more aware of them and having a record of how our thoughts are changing over time.

4. Gratitude - this shifts our mindset from lack to abundance, allowing us to appreciate everything we've been blessed with making us more aware and grateful for all that we have.

Changing the way we think will naturally change the way we act because we'll be operating from a new state of mind, plus those practices require action as well so that's doubling the benefit of those practices.

These simple practices, when done repeatedly over time, will have a dramatic effect on how you perceive yourself and the world!