Big Picture

Perspective can help clarify complex issues. Imagine you are zooming in and out in order to see things differently and maybe get new insights.

When I was little I used to love laying on the couch in my parents living room with my head on the floor and my feet up on the couch. I thought their living room was beautiful, it had an orange plush couch and pretty white chairs. It may sound dated now, but then it was 'state of the art'. I would sneak in there (we technically were not allowed in that fancy room) and I would sink into the room and how pretty it was. Then I'd get into upside-down position on the couch and new interesting thoughts and ideas would come to me as I looked at the world in a different way.

Sometimes our shifts in perspectives happen because we hear an inspirational speaker, sometimes we read something or someone we are around says something insightful. Pay attention to your perspectives and when they shift, being open to those shifts and curious can create new opportunities and ideas.

If you want to be sure you experience a shift without waiting for an outside force to provide it, practice zooming in and out.  Think of a situation which is challenging you. I'll share my own. I used to work in a corporate job and I made a lot of money and worked with great people. However, the red tape and the big company politics took the joy out of my work. I felt that I was wasting my 'life energy' so I decided to quit to find a new calling for my life. I'm now 3 years out and not much has happened. Without changing perspective I can get pretty depressed. That is my zoomed-in perspective, just looking at where I am today.

Now I'll try zooming out. I am lucky I had the chance to leave my job, I received a year's pay for early retirement. During those first years, I was getting healthy and exploring. I'm 15 pounds lighter now than I was when I was working. I worked at several non-profits and I took very insightful Positive Psychology and Coach training. I created websites, wrote articles and gave speeches at schools. I traveled, a lot including a trip to Australia and a trip to Italy.

That zoomed out perspective helps me to feel gratitude and to see what indeed I have done many things for the past 3 years, in fact, I have made a lot of progress! Now during year 4, it is time for me to launch my business and make my way!