DESCRIBE/ COMPARE/ EVALUATE

This triad is what you use to develop your Intellectual Level. If used daily, this triad will strengthen your thinking abilities enormously, and empower you in all your choices. The use of this triad automatically leads you to more awareness of your life and choices. It also trains your mind to see the relationships between forces and events, a type of thinking that seems particularly absent in much of modern society.

To begin practicing this triad, you pick a question or issue of importance in your life. It doesn't have to be something huge, but must be something that matters to you. Examples: any relationship you have, your present job, your housing situation, or any of your own seven levels. Now go through each of the three parts of the triad, one by one, describing this issue or situation, then comparing it, and finally naming its value to you in your life.

It may be necessary at first to write down your thoughts, in order to discipline your mind to stay focused. Or, you can practice together with a friend who is also trying to develop this level, and tell your description, comparison and evaluation to him or her verbally. This is very helpful because from an outside perspective, your friend will be able to help you see aspects you might miss yourself. S/he can also remind you when you slip into comparison while you are trying to describe, for example, or urge you to go deeper or from another angle. We can also work with you on this via email, if you would like to.

1. DESCRIBE. Try to be as thorough as possible; try to describe from as many different points of view as you can. Describe the obvious, surface elements; then go deeper, describe what’s beneath the surface. For example, if you are describing a person, first describe their physical features, what they’re wearing, etc. Then look deeper -what do you see in their expression? What can you say about their movements, their posture, their cultural background, the amount of pain they’ve experienced in their life, how they make a living, their level of comfort or discomfort in their present situation? Keep reaching for deeper levels - go as deep as you possibly can.
2. COMPARE. Any statement that uses words such as more, less, better, worse, sooner, later, etc. is comparison, rather than description. Comparison also encompasses the past, present, and future. Comparison can be made on the basis of such triads as BETTER/ WORSE/ SAME; CLOSER TO MY GOAL/ FURTHER FROM MY GOAL/ NO CHANGE; ASCENDING/ DESCENDING/ STAYING LEVEL, or any other appropriate triad of assessment. Sometimes it is helpful to define a scale and rate whatever you are describing now, and then give a rating for how it was at some time previous. For example, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best you’ve ever felt and 1 being the worst, what number rating would you give your present feeling state? What rating would you have given it yesterday? Last week or last year?
3. EVALUATE. As used in this triad, EVALUATE means to state the value of whatever has been described and compared - either its value to yourself, or to someone else who is connected to the subject. It could even be the value to the world or to society at large. This is often the hardest point for people to do at first. As you attempt to make a statement of value, listen to see if you are reverting to description or comparison. Evaluation consists of a statement of what the value of something is, to you or to someone else. It can also mean extrapolating into the future to see what value could come from a continuation of the present situation, condition or trend. A point about the use of EVALUATION in the school and job setting: most often, evaluation as used in these settings is a statement of the value of the work from the point of view of the system, whether that system is the school or the job environment, or society in general. When you get an "A" in school or a commendation at the job, this is the system’s statement of your work’s value to the system. It may have little or nothing to do with the value of that work to yourself. Although it is definitely important to know where you stand in the assessment of the system you are a part of, it is at least as important to ask yourself, "what is the value of this to my own life and goals?"

To truly and thoroughly DESCRIBE a thing, a person, a relationship, an interaction, is at the very least a mind strengthening exercise. But if you go on, and COMPARE what has been described, in at least several different ways, and finally EVALUATE, you have given yourself a scope and view that will automatically lead to empowerment in all areas of your life. And in addition to developing the Intellectual Level, a daily half hour spent practicing this triad on various aspects of your life and involvements will pay off in greater awareness and clarity in all aspects of your life.