"It's all a matter of perspective."
That’s one of those simple sayings that people trot out from time to time, but have you ever stopped to really explore what it means?
What does it mean to have a different perspective? Why should you care?
Rachel Finney, CAWA, is the CEO of Columbus Humane. I invited her to talk with me about perspective because she and I share a fascination with the power of reframing thoughts to change emotions, behavior, and results.
So how does that work?
Circumstances are an objective view of your situation, the things everyone would agree on. You may or may not be able to change your circumstances much.
Your power resides in your perspective—your thoughts, feelings, and actions about your circumstances.
And you have far more power than you realize.
Is this starting to sound like wishful thinking or a simplistic view of the world? Many people think so.
But it’s not.
It’s not simplistic to say that there are good and bad parts of everything.
It’s not wishful thinking to say that even though you can’t change difficult circumstances, you can learn from them, develop new skills, and become stronger in ways you never imagined.
It happens all the time. Let’s play with this:
- Name one challenging time from your past.
- What did you learn about yourself during that time?
- How did you use your strengths?
- What became clear to you about your values and priorities?
- How has that experience affected the decisions you make now?
Your answers to those questions give you a peek behind the curtain of how your thoughts, feelings, and actions affect your results.
You can’t do much about your circumstances. And as it turns out, good or bad, your circumstances only make up about 10% of the factors that affect your happiness level. Another 50% comes from your genetic makeup.
But a full 40% of the factors that affect your happiness are within your control.
Wouldn’t you like to make the most of them? This episode has several great strategies that you can use to help shift your perspective to get better results.
And if you’d like some support with this, I’d love to help.
Links worth clicking
- Columbus Humane Society's website, Facebook, and Instagram
- Fantastic episodes on critical thinking with Ginny Price, CVT, VTS, and curiosity with Zazie Todd, PhD
- Subscribe to UNLEASHED (at work & home) on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Stitcher