What Is Perspective And Why It Can Be Our Life's Biggest Problem Solving Tool Ever

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Problem Solving 101:

Let me tell you a story. There was once a guy who was in pain. Wherever he touched himself, it hurt. He felt he was in big trouble, he must be dying, otherwise why would he hurt so bad? He decided to get himself checked out. A doctor examined him thoroughly. He declared, “Well you’re doomed. Your finger is broken!” Of course, the guy chuckled, but realized his mistake immediately.

Many times in life, just like that guy, we don’t realize that we are part of the problem. Our outlook and our attitude towards what is happening to us is usually the problem.

So, what is perspective and how can it help with our problems? Perspective is our personal point of view. And how do we arrive at deciding which event or situation is good or bad? We process situations and conclude how we feel about them based on comparisons from our previous experiences and how we understand life around us. Comparison enhances the context, that’s why we understand good as good because we also have seen that evil exists. We know beauty as beauty, because we’ve experienced ugliness.

Same goes with virtues vs. sins, and even at the basic hot vs. cold.

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Why Is Perspective Important?

Taking a 35,000 feet view of any scenario helps us with our long term goals. Instead of getting bogged down by the current minor setbacks, we can look at the bigger picture and strive to keep moving forward.

If your life boils down to 936 marbles in a jar for every weekend you have assuming you will live until 80, what really does matter at the end of the day?

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How Perspective Matters:

Our thoughts, emotions, opinions, beliefs and how we perceive our truth determine how we will act next. Be ready to learn, adopt a few new ways, and a wider perspective offers us endless possibilities when we feel stuck in a difficult situation.

A new perspective is literally looking at everything with a fresh set of eyes. It is looking at every setback not as a failure but as a situation to be overcome. Think about this, when good things happen to us, we never ask ourselves, “Why me?” So in the same way, when things don’t work out for us, we must continue to forge ahead instead of asking ourselves “Why me?”

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Problem Solving 101:

Problem Solving Like Stoics

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After All, It’s Your Life:

In the end, life is a matter of interpretation. It can be a comedic circus or an unbearable chore depending on how you see it. You can choose to navigate speed bumps with the right attitude or get caught up in sink holes while sweating all the small stuff.

You can’t deny the things that happen to you, especially the ones over which you have no control over. So, learn from your experiences, and understand that you’re stronger because of what has happened to you, and not worse of. After all, having a great perspective is a self-preservation technique. And one situation can have multiple outcomes, and not necessarily the one that we prefer the most.

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How To Get An Open Perspective:

Understand our role in the world, through our resources, we must contribute, make a positive impact and plan to leave a legacy for others to follow. Instead of that, we start developing attachments to family, career, business, and our materialistic pleasures – like our phones, wifi passwords etc.

Let’s say you’re caught up in a terrible situation of your own doing or something out of your control. It’s a situation right now, it will become a problem if not addressed immediately and will spiral into a crisis if you ignore it. Also, it’s important to manage your frame of mind. How will this issue matter 24 hours from now, and 24 years from now?

And if you still feel someone else has wronged you to put in the current situation you’re in, then you must read this. Because, even your mom doesn’t owe you a thing.