Category Archives: Perspective

“It’s amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday.”

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“It’s amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday.”

– John Guare, American playwright

485Image from Flickr by symphony of love.

How happy are you at this very moment? Notice what is going on around you and pay particular attention to your thoughts. Do you think more about the past, present or future? Virtually all coaching relationships pay attention to all three, focusing particularly on each client’s intended vision for the future.

Regardless of whether your yesterday was good, bad or somewhere in between, a little tomorrow, with its hope and intended advancement, can be a great life elixir to pick you up.

Exercise:

As you look back on yesterday, complete today, and look forward to tomorrow, what do you notice?

Feel free to reply with any insights you have.

“Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time, with the eyes of a child, fresh with wonder.”

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“Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time, with the eyes of a child, fresh with wonder.”

– Joseph Cornell, artist and sculptor

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Image from Flickr by a_whisper_of_unremitting_demand
I just returned from my morning workout at my local fitness center. Guess what I found?  You’re right – lots of new faces intending to start off the new year with a renewed commitment to their fitness and well being.

The annual New Year celebration in Times Square often includes an aging Father Time and a newborn representing the year ahead.

Take Cornell’s coaching here and begin by looking at all things in the light of wonder and possibility, to make this your best year ever.

Exercise:

Look at your current vocation, avocations, relationships, habits and even your food choices, and explore tasting and experiencing all of these with a fresh new perspective.

Consider replying to let me know what actions you take and what happens.

“I believe in getting into hot water. It keeps you clean.”

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“I believe in getting into hot water. It keeps you clean.”

– G.K. Chesterton, novelist

Do you ever feel like one day seems to run into the next, where things seem to be a bit dull or routine? Perhaps we can do as G.K. Chesterton suggests and rinse off the dirt and freshen up a bit … even if that means risking something new.

I know I feel much better when I splash a bit of water on my face to renew myself for what’s next to come in my day.

Exercise:

What areas of hot water can you get yourself in today to brighten up what’s ahead?

(You may need to risk not complying and not fitting in!)

“Instead of seeking new landscapes, develop new eyes.”

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“Instead of seeking new landscapes, develop new eyes.”

– Marcel Proust, novelist

The capacity to perceive things is perhaps one of the most important aspects of coaching. The current paradigms and mental models that we have developed over the course of our lives both serve and limit us at the same time. Our eyes are the proverbial lenses through which we view the world around us.

Just as a pair of sunglasses modifies the intensity of light on a sunny day, our willingness to view things in a new light creates the opportunity for new and more useful perspectives to emerge.

Exercise:

Imagine that you’ve just returned from laser surgery or a cataract procedure. The surgeon has given you two new eyes that not only have you see more clearly but also enhance your capacity of seeing opportunities and beauty, and give you greater creativity, innovation, positivity, gratitude and overall happiness.

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?

“You’ll never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it.”

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“You’ll never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it.”

– Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird

One of the pioneers and leaders in the field of personal development, Stephen Covey, passed away not long ago. He was perhaps best known for his classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Habit 5 states, “Seek to understand and then to be understood.”

In our fast-paced world, most of us do an abridged version of this if we do it at all. Lee’s quote suggests that we go far deeper and climb under the skin of another to fully understand their perspective and point of view.

Exercise:

When you meet someone you don’t know, or even someone you think you know well, try the following three relationship techniques:

1.       Ask lots of genuine open-ended questions to show your sincere interest.
2.       Layer, by taking a piece of their answer, to go deeper and demonstrate that you are truly listening.
3.       Be silent when they are speaking, so they can fully express their ideas and opinions.

Feel free to send me an email (barry@dempcoaching.com) to let me know how these techniques work for you.

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?