How can changing your perspective transform your life for the better?

A different view can change your perspective.

While my eyesight isn't bad, it certainly hasn't improved with age. I remember putting on my first pair of glasses and realising how much clearer I could see. No more blurry words or fuzzy images. Besides wondering how I managed without them, my new glasses changed how I saw things. They made me think about how a different view can change your perspective.

I often refer to this analogy when I speak to my children or talk with my team. It could be an unwanted change, a challenging time, or a failed project. Often, we negatively view events and get stuck in a particular perspective. Our 'little voice' tells us, "This is bad," "I am a failure," or "This will never change." Viewing a situation differently and considering another perspective allows us to reframe a situation and adopt a new attitude.

For many who have been turned down for a new job or promotion, faced redundancy, are affected by an unwanted change, or are struggling to achieve the right work/life balance, this may be easier said than done. Low self-esteem and feelings of rejection and loss are commonplace, and it's much easier to make excuses or blame something or someone instead of changing our perspective and looking for better alternatives. We are 100% responsible for our lives and how we think, both about the good and the bad. Rather than considering this the end, it could be the start of a new beginning.

Recently, a client of mine found herself stuck in the perspective of "I've failed". Two months previously, she had been made redundant. She didn't see it coming, and she was struggling to view the circumstances as anything other than positive. Setbacks and disappointments in her job search fuelled her feelings of worthlessness and self-doubt.

We talked about her perspective and named it the 'failure perspective'. We then explored the situation from other perspectives and how they may have reframed the same challenge.

• The perspective of her 8-year-old daughter: "I am proud of my mum; she works so hard.”

• From the perspective of her old work colleagues, "We are sad we don't have the same Manager, but our loss will be someone else's gain."

• From the perspective of her old boss, "It didn't work out, but I know this will allow her to re-evaluate her next steps and go on to greater and better things."

  
  

Once we had explored other perspectives, she adopted the 're-evaluation perspective', let go of the 'failure perspective', and view the situation differently.

If you feel stuck in a situation, why don't you try 'putting on a different pair of glasses' and looking at it from a different perspective? The chances are that you will regain control of your destiny and make it fantastic!