Finding Your Perspective

There are times when we feel overwhelmed by events that surround us. In sport, in business, in life generally we are used to having peaks and troughs, busy times and crazy busy times. We have days when we wish that time would stand still to give us a break from the craziness we find ourselves in. Then come the quiet days where we draw in our breath and do whatever we can to recharge, ready for the next onslaught.

This feeling of being overwhelmed can produce within us a sense of being pulled in many directions. We can become stressed, tired, mentally and physically exhausted, and unable to connect with the peace of mind we all deserve to have on a daily basis.

It can affect how well we do a job if we are constantly reminding ourselves of how many other demands there are on our time.

Whilst we cannot totally command this peak and trough cycle, we can change how we react to having way more on our plate at one time than we want.
How do we do that?

We firstly make a conscious choice to find “a place of command”.

Practice finding a place of perspective from which you are far more able to direct the pushes and pulls of your business, sport, and life and weather the peaks and the troughs with equanimity.

Consciously practice reframing your perspective on challenges by making the decision to be the chess master rather than the pawn moving at the whim of others.

Take a step back from the situation so that you can perceive the situation more clearly.
Imagine that there’s another “you” in the top corner of the room, surveying the situation “you down below” are in.

The “top you” is getting a different perspective, figuratively and mentally. It can see more clearly the overall situation, the wood for the trees, more of the chess game.

From this wider perspective, you can learn the habit of dissociation, the habit of taking a step back and getting a clearer view of the situation in a challenge. This was something I practiced long before I ever had to make use of it, and useful it was.

There is a difference between being “the cause” of what occurs in your life / business or “the effect” of what takes place within it. Being the cause is achieved by taking responsibility for making change and moving forward. Being the effect is allowing yourself to be subject to the situation you find yourself in. It’s far easier to be a “cause” if you can have a clearer perspective.