Don’t let your perspective limit you
“Don’t wait for the right opportunity. Create it” (George Bernard Shaw)
Perspective (the way we see things) can be described as representing the light that passes from a scene through an imaginary rectangle to the viewer’s eye, as if a viewer were looking through a window and painting what is seen directly onto the windowpane. If viewed from the same spot as the windowpane was painted, the painted image would be identical to what was seen through the unpainted window. Each painted object in the scene is thus a flat, scaled down version of the object on the other side of the window. Because each portion of the painted object lies on the straight line from the viewer’s eye to the equivalent portion of the real object it represents, the viewer sees no difference between the painted scene on the windowpane and the view of the real scene. All perspective drawings assume the viewer is a certain distance away from the drawing. Objects are scaled relative to that viewer. An object is often not scaled evenly: a circle can be flattened to an eccentric ellipse and a square can appear as a trapezoid or any other convex quadrilateral. This distortion is referred to as ‘foreshortening’ (Wikipedia).
All human beings experience some degree of ‘foreshortening’ in their beliefs and respective perspectives of life. This ‘warped’ sense of reality often expresses itself negatively in unrealistic expectations, insecurity, or, at worst, self-denigration; and, at best, a low self-image, or a limited belief of what’s possible. As such, many are held back from achieving success and making significant contributions in their worlds. Potential is retarded and stretch goals are not made. Many unfortunately just settle for mediocrity, not seeking or offering their best.
Mansfield (Team Know Your Purpose) warns, however, about trite motivational exhortations to accelerate your progress: “In this social media age, we take concepts like “willpower” and “passion” and dilute them down to their most essential meanings, leaving out complexity, reason, and logic. But it’s more than just unhelpful moral statements here and there. People base their whole lives and their careers around ideas like “follow your passion” without understanding that relying on an emotion-based drive is a terrible plan. They try to change habits by amplifying their willpower, not realising that doing so often just worsens their pre-existing internal conflicts. It is clarity, principle, and the willingness to grow that doesn’t just get us through life but builds meaning and effortless drive.”
Mansfield insightfully goes on to warn against five misguided and misinterpreted perceptions of life “advice” that severely hinder success while under the guise of being helpful, viz.:
Passion is such a heavily used buzzword when it comes to defining what makes for meaningful and aspirational work. When people say, “pursue your passion,” what they really mean is to find something you care about enough to work on consistently. Passion is emotion-based, and therefore, unpredictable, if not fleeting. If you rely on passion alone to propel you through your life’s work, you will be constantly at the whim of it. Cultivating principles means adopting behaviours that consistently work you toward your goals, whether or not you always “feel” like it.Self-sufficiency is a virtue, but unrealistic self-sufficiency is an Achilles’ Heel. You cannot and are not meant to do or be good at everything. Truly fulfilled people don’t do everything themselves, they identify what they are fundamentally responsible for and good at, streamline, and then outsource where they lack or are not as strong. It is wise to do things like hire an accountant, or automate bills, or otherwise ease your own workload each day. It will make you more effective, productive, and likely happy. Remember, you are adequate but not enough.It’s true that having kindness, compassion and universal respect for other human beings is one of the noblest principles to which we can aspire, however, some people interpret “be nice to people” as a means to get everyone to like them, which is a fruitless and ultimately a self-eroding goal. One of the most significant things that hold people back in life is trying to be liked by others, mostly because they think it is what you have to do to “be a good person.” Being kind to others for the sake of it is one thing, being “nice” to everyone to be liked, admired, and approved of is another. Accepting that you won’t get along with everyone — and that you are not meant to — frees you in that you don’t have to harp on trying to win over everyone you meet and know. You are better off finding a small group of people with whom you genuinely connect and giving your energy to them.
Most people live the majority of their lives waiting for their circumstances to change before they will change. What this means is that they wait until they’re offered a better job to start performing like a top-earning professional. They wait until they’ve found the “right” significant other to start going out and being more social. They wait until they’re out of more debt to start budgeting like someone who has their finances managed. They wait until other people approve of them before they feel proud of themselves.This is a way of externalising your base of control. It means that you assume your thoughts and feelings are dependent on what’s happening outside of you, rather than your perspective and interpretations. This belief paralyses people because they perpetuate the behaviours that are keeping them stuck, rather than transforming their habits and therefore changing their lives. It doesn’t matter if your stage has three people in the audience, perform like you are performing for millions.
If you were not able to sit back, sip your coffee this morning and enjoy the day ahead of you, you will not be able to do so no matter how wealthy, successful, in shape, popular or admired you become. It is one of the most devastating failures that we have convinced ourselves that life begins on the other end of our achievements. It doesn’t. Happiness is not something we earn or work for, it is something we become. Life unfolds from the inside out — not the other way around. You cannot perform at your highest level if you are not happy, so before you think of conquering the world or chasing greatness ask yourself “Am I happy?”.
So, Mansfield is suggesting that the way that you see things and understand them is important to how you will navigate through life. Instead of being driven by popular culture, commit to not sabotaging yourself.
‘Foreshortening’ can be overcome by bouncing your perspective off the perspective of others. Don’t limit your potential. Get clarity, understand the operating principles which are permanent, and be willing to change and grow.
Originally published at https://www.stretchforgrowth.com on July 31, 2022.
