Argyll Socks

An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Metaphor 

Do you care how many people wear argyle socks? Well, what I want you to do isreally, really develop a strong belief that college boys have to wear argyle socks. Reallyfeel it in your gut. Really get behind it (I canʼt!) Well, really try. Feel overwhelmingly strongly about this. Is it working? (No).

Ok, now I want you to imagine that even though you canʼt make yourself feel strongly about this, you are going to act in ways that make argyle socks important to college students. Letʼs think of some ways. For instance, you could picket the dormitories that have low percentage of argyle sock wearers. What else? (I could laugh at kids who don’t wear them) Great. What else? (I could give away free argyle socks to college students.) Super. And notice something. Although these things may be silly actions, you could easily do them. (And I would be known as that stupid guy who wasted his time worrying about argyle socks). Yes, and possibly because of your commitment to it, as the person responsible for bringing argyle socks back into fashion! But also notice this: If you behaved in these ways, no one would ever know that you had no strong feelings about argyle socks at all. All they would see is your footprints…your actions. Now here is a question. If you did this, would you be following a value that says that argyle socks are important? Would you in fact be “importanting” about argyle socks? (Sure.) OK, so what stands between you and acting on the basis of things that you really do hold as important? It canʼt be feelings if they are not critical even when we are dealing with something so trivial.