Tag Archives: perspective

“People don’t take trips. Trips take people.”

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“People don’t take trips. Trips take people.”

—John Steinbeck, American author

Photo from Flickr by EBImagery

Photo from Flickr by EBImagery

The calm riverboat cruise my wife Wendy and I took down the Danube was a trip of a lifetime, providing us lots of time to reflect on our lives. Of particular interest was how this journey took us back in time to visit the lives of people who lived hundreds and even thousands of years ago.

We were accompanied by 136 fellow passengers from around the world, who generously shared their friendship and bits of their lives with us as we toured a number of cities, sharing good food and conversation.

EXERCISE:

As you enter the summer months, how can you more fully embrace the places you visit? What can you do to look beyond the surface and experience these adventures more completely?

“Life is like a road trip…”

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“Life is like a road trip. Enjoy each day, and don’t carry too much baggage.”

-Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Georg Sander

Photo from Flickr by Georg Sander

When I first met my wife Wendy almost forty years go, she would often tell me stories of her family’s famous road trips. Her mom, dad, and two sisters would spontaneously jump into their station wagon and head off to places unknown. Each passenger had their turn at directing the driver, telling them to continue on the current road, or to turn right or left.

When they got hungry, they would discover places to eat. When they got tired, they found places to rest. They often traveled with only the clothes on their backs, and little else.

EXERCISE:

How can you live today as if you were on a road trip?  What can you do to enjoy it to the max, taking little or no real or mental baggage along for the ride?

“I would like to travel..”

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“I would like to travel the world with you twice. Once, to see the world. Twice, to see the way you see the world.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Nilanjan Sasmal

Photo from Flickr by Nilanjan Sasmal

The majority of my coaching clients would include travel as one of their core values. They want to see and experience more of the world with the precious time they have left. To some extent, they have a bit of regret that they haven’t made a bigger dent in their bucket lists.

Have you ever noticed how much joy and excitement is experienced when a baby is born?  Perhaps it is because this new life allows all of us—especially the new parents and grandparents—to start a new life “adventure” with a child who is seeing the world for the first time.

EXERCISE:

How can you be far more intentional in your efforts to see and experience the world, and at the same time, double your pleasure by looking through the eyes of those who share the adventure?

“All things come to pass.”

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“All things come to pass.”

—Heraclitus, pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher

Photo from Flickr by Kpcmobile

Photo from Flickr by Kpcmobile

We’ve all heard the phrase “Nothing Lasts Forever.” This, of course, includes the good things as well as the bad. After each great storm the sun shines again, and then the clouds and storms return.

Given these facts, how might we gain power from Heraclitus’ words of wisdom? Perhaps we can choose an optimistic frame of reference to both maximize and celebrate the good in life, and also minimize the times when life brings us down.

EXERCISE:

How can you accentuate the positive and eliminate or at least minimize the negative, which will come to pass throughout your day?

Consider making the exercise above a daily practice to support you in living an even more extraordinary life.

“If time were to take on…”

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“If time were to take on human form, would she be your task master or freedom fighter?”

—Richie Norton, author, entrepreneur, strategic advisor

Photo from Flickr by Gioia De Antoniis

Photo from Flickr by Gioia De Antoniis

Each of has the same 24-hours in our day. Some view this “life capital” from a constraining, scarcity perspective, thinking there is never enough. This often reflects on their attitudes and their level of fulfillment and engagement.

Others view time with an attitude of abundance. They champion and make the most of every moment, fully embracing the gifts each day can bring.

EXERCISE:

What adjustments can you make to your views about time to become more of a “freedom fighter” and less of the “taskmaster”?

“There are people who would love to have your bad days.”

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“There are people who would love to have your bad days.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Tristan Bowersox

Photo from Flickr by Tristan Bowersox

A few weeks ago I visited my family physician. I was having a difficult time with a challenging bug affecting a lot of people.

My symptoms included sneezing, sinus congestion, a headache, a scratchy throat, and every coach’s occupational nightmare – laryngitis. My voice vacillated between bullfrog and complete silence.

My appointment time was 3:00 p.m.; I was still in the waiting room at 3:50. The only distraction was the video wall, showing the four seasons at a number of beautiful locations, and other images in the natural world.

Perhaps the most revealing way in which I passed the time was in observing other patients and their significant health challenges. It caused me to shift my perspective of my own “monumental” situation.

EXERCISE:

Notice how often you make mountains out of molehills, or major in the minors of life. Realize all the goodness and reasons for gratitude that surround you. How many people do you see in the course of your days that would prefer to have your life, even when you are having a bad day?

The war between optimists and pessimists

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 “The optimist already sees the scar over the wound; the pessimist sees the wound underneath the scar.”

– Ernst Schroder, mathematician

The war between optimists and pessimists has raged since the beginning of time. Which camp are you in? For the purpose of this post, please don’t take the back door and choose “realist” – though I do appreciate you thinking outside the box!

It turns out that both strategies come in pretty handy, depending on the situation. Optimists tend to have a promotion focus on growth and advancement. Pessimists, on other hand, tend to be more focused on security and safety. Schroeder was probably an optimist, given the fact that a scar is a protective and healing phenomenon supporting new growth.

Exercise:

Where are you engaged in the rapid healing and growth from wounds you may recently have experienced?

Where are you still feeling the wounds of the past that should have fully healed by now?

The voyage of discovery

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“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

– Marcel Proust, novelist

Imagine seeing life from the perspective of:

  • An infant, toddler, fifth-grader, or teenager
  • A millennial
  • A Gen-X-er
  • A Boomer
  • A senior citizen
  • A person of the opposite sex
  • A person of a different religion, race, or cultural background
  • The eyes of a more analytic, or more creative, person

… you get the idea!

Exercise:

What expanded value do you discover when shifting your perspective?
How can you continue to look at the world through many sets of eyes in the future, to expand and enhance your life?

It isn’t the Mountain

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“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out. It’s the pebble in your shoe.”

– Muhammad Ali, boxer and philanthropist

image of Muhammad Ali

Image from New York Post

We all sometimes sweat the small stuff. We often make mountains of molehills, magnifying issues of little or no importance into giant obstacles and barriers.

How can you keep the small things small, or even find a shrink ray to turn mountains into molehills?

How can you bring a greater perspective to the world around you, so you don’t major in the minors of life?

Exercise:

What issues are you blowing out of proportion right now?

What do you need to think and do in order to shrink these down to size?