Usually, when we feel sad, the last thing we want to do is go out into the outside world, or even enjoy activities that usually make us happy. When we get angry we can become aggressive or even violent, and stress can cause us anxiety and anxiety. And although many times the most appropriate is to seek medical attention or require a natural solution, to complement these options, we must also take into account that there are many behaviors or habits that we can adapt that have the ability to modify the way we see and react emotionally before the situations in which we find ourselves.

Psychologists and marketers agree on the same point, perception creates reality. But how to change perception? Our mind may seem somewhat hazy and easily malleable because we do not see an immutable physical form, but the reality is that the opposite is true. Several studies have shown that the best way to change beliefs or ways of thinking is to change behavior as such. Do you want to be the type of person who goes to the gym every day? Do not wait for your mind to become that of a bodybuilder, just start going to the gym, do it routine and you will become someone who is engaged in exercise. In the same way, if you feel sad and not wanting to leave but eventually you would like to improve and return to the world, no matter how much effort you require, simply take that first step outside your home and start doing the activities that would usually make you happy.

The key concept of acting or appearing to do something real extends beyond our internal “I”. Several phenomena have also been observed in which our way of acting directly shapes the reality we perceive. The first, the Pygmalion effect (also known as the self-fulfilling prophecies) may be best illustrated with a well-known example and with which perhaps we can all identify to some degree. The Pygmalion effect describes what happens when the expectations we have about a person’s behavior, cause that person to end up fulfilling them, even if, had it not been for our initial behavior that reflects certain expectations, this would not have been the case. . That is, if a teacher sees that a student is dressed in a bad face to the classroom, perhaps with the aspect that the teacher associates with a stereotypical rebel troublemaker, it is possible that the same negative attitude with which the teacher acts towards the student , derived from his prejudices and expectations, also produces in the student a negative attitude in response and ends up becoming precisely the type of troublemaker that the teacher expected him to be.

On the other hand, there is also the placebo effect, a phenomenon that describes what happens when a person, simply believing that some substance (usually a medicine) will have a certain effect on him, suggests himself unconsciously and begins to feel the relief of medication, or whatever the expected effect of the substance. Many forms of alternative medicine are believed to work by this same principle, people manage to convince themselves that whatever they are taking is doing good. Of course, this cannot cause miracles, and the more one is aware that the effect may be at stake, it becomes less likely that it will manifest itself effectively, since one can no longer “deceive” oneself.

Although sometimes, no matter what we do, there are real physical limitations that prevent us from making a desired change, the lesson one can take from all this is simple: if you want to be or feel one way, act as if You already are. Feel comfortable in the new role you try to assume, or take care of how your behavior can not only alter the perception of your environment, but also transform it completely into a new reality that fits the attitude with which you face it. So the next time you feel extremely stressed, remember to try to change your behavior, do not act stressed, take a deep breath and do what the “relaxed you” version would do.

References:
https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/changing-attitudes-by-changing-behavior/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychology-writers/201210/using-self-fulfilling-prophecies-your-advantage
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201007/when-are-attitudes-pliable\