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“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.”
— Henry Ford
This is one of my favourite sayings. I often use it when talking about mindset. But today I’m talking about Perspective, a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view. And this quote is perfect here, too. In this case, there are only two perspectives, and whichever you choose is likely to be a self-fulfilling prophecy — this means, you’ll either motivate yourself to do it if you think you can, or stop yourself from achieving it, if you think you can’t.
Whitney Wolfe Herd says “Life is about perspective and how you look at something — ultimately, you have to zoom out.” She’s right. You can’t just look at what’s close to your nose. Seeing the wider picture can give you a broader perspective and allow you to perceive more of the world around you.
Unfortunately, as Arthur Schopenhauer puts it, “Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world.” Meaning, we often believe, if we can’t do it, no one can. Or alternatively, if we’ve seen someone do it, they must be special in some way, and we can’t do it because we’re not that same sort of special. We forget to zoom out, to look at the bigger picture — that person probably didn’t do it their first try, they’ve been practicing and learning for a long time to be proficient in whatever it is they’re doing! The world is big and grand and full of possibilities. Having a different perspective can change everything for you.
Your perspective is the way you see something. If you think paper straws are the way of the future, you’re likely to think anyone still using plastic ones is committing an atrocious act — don’t they know about the baby sea turtles? Yet if you took the time to broaden your perspective in the moment, you might notice their physical disability requiring the bend in the straw to allow them access to their liquids. Or maybe they aren’t even using a single-use plastic straw and have brought their own reusable one from home. Or maybe any number of reasons that you’ve glossed over with your all-encompassing anything-but-paper-straws-are-bad perspective.
Perspective has a Latin root meaning ‘look through‘, as though one might look through a lens and see something closer or farther away, or of a different colour perhaps. Sterling K. Brown suggests that, “Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It’s all through our own individual prisms.” We see what we see, and no more. But connecting with another person asks us to walk in their shoes for a while, get the feel of the land from how they see it. We can’t do this stuck in our own perspective, we must let go and listen to their words, take note of their body language, watch for subtle changes in their facial expressions. This is how we truly connect, this is how we see more than we can see.
Our belief system is something that builds during our childhood and adolescence and everything that happens to us in life affects that. How we behave and relate to others, handle relationships, stress and anxiety is all down to our subconscious mind and our own perspective on life.
By gaining perspective and taking the time to see something from another person’s viewpoint, we are enabled to become more understanding, tolerant and grateful. Broadening your view, or zooming out, as default, can help with creating relationships with others based on mutual understanding. A lot of arguments, or even wars, could be avoided if we were all open to looking at things by trying on someone else’s shoes for size. It takes a willingness to listen and to be open in order to achieve a balance between what you see and what others see.
We cannot begin our journey until we know where we’re starting from. Maybe we need to learn more empathy, learn about gratitude, develop new habits, or get rid of ones that are no longer serving us. This makes introspection an important part of perspective as well, looking inside and understanding what we think, feel, and know to be true. Jen Sincero says, “Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your perspective from lack to abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more goodness into your reality.”
If you’re looking to see more, to understand where you’re starting from, or gain new perspective, reach out for a free 30 minute Discovery Call and let’s start something together.
