Life Success Principal Part 2 – The Map Is Not The Territory

Life Success Principal Part 2 – The Map Is Not The Territory
By Michael Griffiths
www.michaelgriffiths.com.au

I hope you really enjoyed part one of our journey through Life Success Principals and understanding your values. Today we are going to touch on an amazing topic and one that very few people can understand on their own. This is so powerful that it will change your outlook on yourself, your family, others around you and your life and that is ‘The Map Is Not The Territory.’

Everyone has their own map of the world and NO two maps are ever the same. A person’s map comes through their own thoughts, actions, experiences and what they hold as beliefs at the time. For example a man living in poverty on the street fighting everyday for survival is going to have a different map on ‘the benefits of welfare’, then an executive who is being paid $200,000 per year and half his income goes in taxes.

A person’s map can only come from what they have experienced and nothing more.

So why do we have ‘Maps’ and what do they do for us; A person’s map allows them to have an outlook of the world, it allows them to justify everything that is going for them and it allows them to belong.

How powerful is this; You cannot change another person’s map and you cannot put your map over theirs. A person’s map is what holds true to them, NOT YOU, and becoming curious around another person will be the only way you can find out about their map.

The same event that takes place in front of two people can have a completely different meaning for both. For example there are two children 13 years of age who are part of the soccer team they have been practicing and the coach yells out “Kick the ball harder” the tone is strong and firm. Child 1 hears this and puts meaning to it – I’m no good at soccer, I can’t even kick the ball hard. Child 2 hears exactly the same comment and puts meaning to it – I must be really advanced if I’m being asked to kick the ball harder.

Certainly I might have taken things to the extreme however it does show the point. You might actually remember a time when you were growing up where something was said, or done where you have placed meaning to it, that has stayed with you for ever.

I remember one event when holidaying on the Gold Coast with my family. I was barbequing with dad and thought I was doing a pretty good job, the hamburgers however started to fall apart as I hadn’t put them on the hot plate first, a comment was made and at that moment I placed my own meaning to that comment. “I was no good at cooking hamburgers on a bbq” I myself got over that fairly quickly but it shows a power of a comment or action and how we end up with limiting beliefs.


If you think of a time in which you thought something made so much sense, everyone should be able to see it ‘Your Way’, what’s wrong with these people. Can you see why it might not have been the case now? Your map, through your own experiences, thoughts and actions are completely different to the next person. Hence the world will always have different meanings for people on the same event.

A person can change their own map and become more aware of other peoples maps, but we can’t change another’s person map.