Choose Your Own Perspective

Do you ever stop to notice how much your perspective affects your behavior?

Think about the last time you caught a bad break: someone rear-ended your car on the way to the office, or you woke up sick the day of your big presentation.

What perspective did you take?  What are the words of it?

• “this always happens to me”
• “unbelievable, what terrible luck”
• “guess I’ll make the best of it”
• “interesting! I hadn’t planned on this” 

There are no “right” or “wrong” perspectives.  But your perspective affects the emotions you feel, the possibilities you see, and ultimately the behavior you adopt in response.

Over time most people develop patterns: when A happens, I adopt B perspective; when X happens, I adopt Y perspective.

But we can be more thoughtful than that.  If your perspective drives your behavior, and if you're capable of choosing your perspective, wouldn’t you want to choose one that sets you up for success?

So the next time you find yourself reacting the way you normally do, ask yourself: what perspective is most likely to promote the behavior I really want to have here?