Perspective

Perspective

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”

Henry David Thoreau

Perspectives are a funny thing.  We can gain fresh perspective or lose it altogether.  We get lost or stuck in them, believe them to be absolute truths, and more surprisingly we can choose and create our perspectives.

The only thing that separates a very calm passenger on a plane with lots of turbulence and another who is white knuckling it with sweat pouring down their face, is how they are choosing to see and experience it.  Yes, I am afraid, even if you really don’t enjoy something, you are in choice with viewing it that way!

The important thing to ask yourself about a perspective is: Does it work for you?  Many perspectives we hold on to do not. Consider what other options might be available to you.

If you hate Mondays and get a feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach every single Monday (or as early as Sunday), what would happen if you chose to see all the good things about a Monday?  Mondays are a fresh new start, Monday starts with my favorite letter, Monday rhymes with sundae which just happens to be my favorite dessert!  Remind yourself of anything good that has occurred on a Monday (productive meetings, amazing workouts!).  It doesn’t mean that Monday will miraculously become your favorite day.  It presents another option: another lens to see the same day.

Think about the cost of your chosen perspective.  My commitment to hating Mondays robs me of enjoying my Sunday evening.  I become a grump and I get shitty sleep.  What small step can you take to shift your perspective? If I didn’t choose to remind myself of how much I hate them, what would be different for me?

Mondays will always be Mondays but how you see them can change. Your new perspective might be: Monday is my 7^th favorite day. Or: once I’ve moaned twice about how abhorrent Mondays are, I then have to shift my attention to 3 things that might happen today that will be great.

If you don’t have a perspective for something you like, you can always borrow one! 

The owner of Tempur-Pedic, before he was even in the mattress game, promised himself he would adopt a new perspective of saying yes to new opportunities.  So when someone came to him talking about mattresses, even though he thought it was a crummy idea, he said yes.

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Unknown

Let’s say you hate Mondays and get a feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach every single Monday (or as early as Sunday). First think about the cost of your chosen perspective.  My commitment to hating Mondays robs me of enjoying my Sunday evening.  I become a grump and I get shitty sleep.  What small step can you take to shift your perspective? If I didn’t choose to remind myself of how much I hate them, what would be different for me?

Now what would happen if you chose to see all the good things about a Monday?  

• Mondays are a fresh new start
• Monday starts with my favorite letter
• Monday rhymes with sundae which just happens to be my favorite dessert!  

Remind yourself of anything good that has occurred on a Monday (productive meetings, amazing workouts!).  It doesn’t mean that Monday will miraculously become your favorite day.  It presents another option: another lens to see the same day.

"We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are."

Anais Nin