Have you ever struggled with a decision because you felt you hadn’t considered it through all the way? Like you needed more information? Not necessarily more data or facts but rather input so you felt like you had considered a few different perspectives. Well you can achieve that from the comfort of your own home and in the comfort of your own mind.
The Perspective Exercise
Step 1: Find a quiet place to sit or lie down.
Step 2: Settle into your body, close your eyes, and find yourself a little more still.
Step 3: Think of the decision or problem you are struggling with from your own perspective. Think of it as a movie and play it through once from beginning to end.
Step 4: Shake it off. Think of your favorite sport.
Step 5: Now, recall someone whose opinion or advice you trust and value. Imagine either putting on their head as a helmet or imagine stepping into them, into their body. Whichever way you choose, make sure you are seeing through their eyes and hear through their ears. Now consider the decision or problem from their perspective. See the problem or decision through their eyes and hear it through their ears. Then remove the helmet or step out of that person and back into your own self completely.
Step 6: Notice what was different about the problem or decision from that person’s perspective?
Step 7: Keep what is useful and discard what is not. Repeat as needed.
Sometimes just one more perspective is enough to shed some light on the issue. Other times, more views are needed.
If that is the case, consider who else could you gain some perspective from?
- Another friend?
- A colleague?
- A spouse?
- A celebrity?
- A industry expert or professional?
- An artist?
- A shark?
- A scientist?
- Someone on death row?
- How would Salvador Dali see this?
- A cat?
- How would Sheldon Cooper experience it?
- How would a parkour runner think of it?
- An amputee?
- A fly on the wall?
- A burn victim?
- What perspective would a dwarf or a giant offer?
Are there any limitations?
Nope – every person offers their own perspective from their own set of experiences and resources. Play with this and see which kinds of perspectives offer you the most choices.
