Mink In The Morning: It All Comes Down To This
Over the last few weeks, we've covered a lot of ground. I started off by saying, "your life is your fault" and we talked about how we must take responsibility for everything we experience in life. Then I said, "your life is your fault because your life is a result of your thoughts, feelings, and actions and your thoughts, feelings, and actions are your fault."
Then last week I said, "Life is happening for you, not to you," and we talked about how we can be the victim of circumstance or the creator of it by how we view the events in our lives. I shared these 3 principles because they have defined every area of my life and I truly believe that if you adopt them, they have the power to do the same for you.
Everything that we've covered so far can be defined by one word, perspective. Perspective is "a particular attitude or way of seeing something, a point of view," and the perspective that you take in life will absolutely determine how you see everything. It's the "lense" that you view the world through.
For example, if you've got the perspective that "life is hard" then you're going to find reasons and examples why it's hard. If you've got the perspective that "life is good" then you'll find reasons and examples why it's good. Your entire experience in life comes down to the perspective you keep.
Impossible vs. I'm Possible
When you look at the word, "impossible" what do you see? Some see the reasons why it will never happen for them. Other see "I'm possible" and they search for ways they can make it happen. They look for opportunities instead of the obstacles. Some exact letters in the exact same order, very different perspective.
Wayne Dyer said, “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.” The key to finding the empowering meanings and the lessons from our darkest moments and biggest failures is changing the way we see them. This means we’ve gotta control our perspective and have the courage to see each situation from different vantage points.
Whether it’s battling addiction, facing abuse, losing a loved one, a failed business or complete financial disaster, if you can control your perspective and ask the right questions, you can find good in each moment. I believe it comes down to asking the right questions as our perspective is typically controlled by the way we think and the questions we ask ourselves.
DISCLAIMER: It's important to understand, this is not "positive thinking." This is empowered thinking! Empowered thinking is understanding that shit is gonna happen and learning from it, seeing it as something you can learn and grow from and that's what we are going for. We want the growth!
How To Change Your Perspective
Before we talk about changing your perspective, it's important to understand what a change in perspective is. As we said before, it's a new point of view or attitude towards something. It's that moment when the light goes off and you go, "Wow, I've never thought of it that way before." It's a moment of insight, understanding, and grace.
There is a variety of ways that you can change your perspective and I encourage you to find the ways that work best for you. Our perspective in life is largely influenced by our environment and those we hang out with. As cliche as it might be, who we spend time with is who we become.
In my life, I've traveled all over the world to change my perspective. I've read books, went to conferences, rubbed elbows with all kinds of people and constantly asked myself new questions. I've started businesses that were a success teaching me how to win, and I've gone bankrupt which taught me how to lose big and rebuild everything from zero.
All of these experiences have shaped and molded my perspective and as I continue to experience life, my perspective will continue to evolve and yours should too. Everything you experience is revealing who you are and has the power to teach you who you want to be. To help with your journey, here are the top 3 ways I've used to change my perspective.
1. Ask New Questions
I truly believe questions are the answer to anything we want to learn or experience. If we want a new outcome or a different answer, we need to ask a better question. You can ask yourself, "why is this happening" or "how can I learn from this."
Two very different questions you can ask for the same situation your experiencing. Both will give you very different answers. The quickest way I know to change your perspective is to ask different questions and search for a new answer.
2. New Point Of View
The second way I recommend changing your perspective is getting a new point of view. In sales and marketing training I've done, they say, "spend a day in your customer's shoes" to truly understand what they are going through. This is a very simple example of getting a new point of view.
It's seeing things from a new point of view. It's putting down your personal biases and beliefs and trying on a different one for a moment. It's exposing yourself to new environments and situations to see what it's like.
In the video, I showed you 3 different images that when rotated create very different points of view. Sometimes to change our point of view we need to zoom in, zoom out, and rotate how we see things.
Changing your point of view can take you from falling off a cliff...
To laying on the ground making a funny face...
It can help you defy limitations...
Or spend a day relaxing with a friend.
When you change your point of view, everything changes.
3. Get New Insights
One of the most powerful ways to change our perspective is to get new insights. To learn something new, make new connections or develop a deeper understanding of what you're experiencing.
For example, if you see look at your hand, you will see some a combination of skin and fingers. If a doctor sees your hand, his understanding and insights of the body cause him to see something entirely different, and if a biologist looks at your hand, he may see cells, tissues, and germs. It's the exact same object, but the level of understanding and insight someone has dramatically changes the way you view it.
Final Thoughts
Your life is a result of your perspectives and how you view the world. If you're unhappy with where you're at or want more out of life, the first step is to begin updating your perspective. Start with asking new questions, changing your point of view and getting new insights and you'll be well on your way to creating a new reality. See you next week...
