Why Success is a Matter of Changing Your Perception
It is not the outside influences that hinder nor free us. Instead, it is our perception toward them that does that.
I happen to live in Tampa Bay, Florida and most Natives associate the 4.1-mile-long Sunshine Skyway Bridge as a commuter’s savior, the sight of a horrific commercial boating accident, and a trendy gathering spot for thousands of runners each year. Some of us may have had a chance to look at the remarkable structure of the Sunshine Skyway, but how does the change of perspective — looking down on its glory — change your perspective of it?
Of course, I’m not solely writing this article to discuss my wonderment at the incredible engineering feat of the bridge, built-in 1987. However, as I flew over the world’s largest stayed concrete bridge on a recent trip, it caused me to think about our lives and how much they have changed throughout 2020.
The impacts of COVID-19 and ongoing social unrest in recent months have further reinforced my question regarding how we are living our lives. There is a famous Chinese saying: “Crisis is an incipient moment (when something begins or changes).”
How often do we get comfortable in our lives and the way we think about the life we’re leading?
You may be experiencing a challenging time right now. I realize that job and home security can be enormous challenges —In fact, they are for me. However, I would encourage you to think about how you can shift your perspective.
What choices will you make? Will you complain about the evolving politics, boredom, and opportunity loss. Or, will you use this time to self-improve, work on a new project, pursue a passion, or try something new?
What Perspective We See Depends on What we are Looking For
As we are now faced with more time away from our normal hustle and bustle, it is a great opportunity for self-reflection. We often fail to change our perspective and look at things differently or through the eyes of someone else. How can changing our perspective help us to be Passion Struck in our life and our career?
As I have gotten older, I have incorporated Yoga as a standard into my life. I perform Yoga as much for mindfulness as for its physical rewards. One of my favorite instructors, Andrea Behler, at my local studio, the Body Electric, taught me a valuable lesson in class. The Yoga Sutras inform us that our world is our own internal projection. It is not the outside influences that hinder nor free us. Instead, it is our perception toward them that does that.
For example, believing that life is a constant struggle. If you allow yourself to run your life with this underlying assumption, then everything in your life will feel like a struggle to you, and it may, in turn, be fraught with roadblocks. It is likely making it more challenging to cope with COVID-19 and its inherent isolation.
We all see many of the same things from the same perspective each day; the coffee shop where we normally get our overpriced latte, the boss who gives us the same tasks to do, and the same bridge we cross to get home. But how we each react to our surroundings can be very different.
And, yet, we look at the same person in the mirror each morning, not considering what our partner or loved ones may see when they look at us.
To be Passion Struck is more than merely having a lust for the things we make each day and the decisions we take. Just as a painter uses various mediums or layers to show “reality” in different ways, we each have a set of lenses — career, wealth, health, family, culture, etc. — through which we see the world around us. Your personal perspective alters the way you think and the actions you take. Ultimately, it is what brings about the feeling of optimism and opportunity.
Therefore, if life constantly looks like a glass half full to you, it could be your perspective. And, now may be the time to consider changing it.
Changing Your Perspective Can Mean Taking the Road Less Traveled
One prominent example of a Passion Struck leader who took a different perspective to discover their passions, test the boundaries of society, and take a leap of faith is Satya Nadella. An electrical engineer from Manipal Institute of Technology in India and currently the CEO of Microsoft, Satya was one of the first people to suggest the existence of cloud computing, which has become of the world’s most used technologies of the 21st century.
According to Satya, his Passion for books and motivation to continue learning are what contributed to his drive to push boundaries and organizational norms — and change the perspective of everyone around him to acknowledge the opportunity within The Cloud.. “‘ For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a hunger to learn — whether it be from a line of poetry, from a conversation with a friend, or a lesson from a teacher,’ Nadella writes in his book, Hit Refresh.” His perspective is that almost any problem, even business ones, can be solved through reading.
“The measure of your success is a matter of perception. Are you perceiving things as they are or as you wish them to be? — Tau Chuan Ling
So what does the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or Satya Nadella symbolize as we embark on our journey to become more Passion Struck and change our perspective?
When we compare the Sunshine Skyway to the W. Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa, for example, we can almost compare a leader who is Passion Struck to one who lives their days only to get to the next. Building the 4.8 miles long Howard Frankland was based on dollars and cents and the necessity to connect the population of Tampa and St. Petersburg. The Sunshine Skyway, by contrast, was and is a symbol of both inspiration and the bold spirit of improvement.
Similarly, by choosing a different perspective, Nadella too is an inspiration to many around the world. He has altered the course of Microsoft and regained much of the market share they lost in the decade preceding him.
How Can We Begin To Recognize The Power of Perspective Every Day?
Even with COVID-19 around us, the next time you’re in the middle of one of your typical daily tasks, such as going to the supermarket, running an errand, or exercising outside, stop and take a deep breath. Look around you and look up at what’s happening and what would continue to be happening regardless of your presence (the bird sitting on a sign or the mother handing her young child a piece of her cookie). There’s a fantastic world going on around you — incredible things that exist and have been created by bright minds like your own.
Take a moment to think even more comprehensively than in your immediate physical location. What has society conditioned you to believe about your life? What do you value most, and how do your beliefs mold those around you as well? If you can begin to think outside of your comfort zone, you’ll start seeing things from an entirely different mindset, and it’s pretty incredible what you can achieve.
It doesn’t take building a magnificent bridge or even seeing it from above to give us the clarity to change our perspective — also, if that perspective shows us the things we can’t change and the things we can.
In this time of crisis, what are you going to do to begin realizing the power a change in your perspective can provide in your life?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John R. Miles is an accomplished CEO, F50 CIO, Management Consultant, Navy Combat Veteran, accomplished writer, and speaker on business transformation, leadership, futurism, the struggles with PTSD, and societal impact. His unique background brings real-life acumen around leadership, problem-solving, applied intelligence, societal mega factors, and digital disruption.