Perspective, perspective, perspective. So what am I on about? Well just recently I’ve been hit by a number of sad tales, tragic experiences that have happened to friends which you wouldn’t wish on anyone, let alone good friends.
And the thing about tragic tales, especially if it’s someone that you know or can easily relate to, is that it pulls everything into sharp focus very, very quickly. Suddenly all the noise seems disappear, the things that are most important to you stare you in the face …and so very quickly your whole world of worries, ‘jobs’ and responsibilities is pulled into ‘perspective’.
And if we are to take any lessons from these tragedies, it’s these perspectives that we need to hold onto once the shock disappears…. but I don’t want you to have to wait for some tragedies to happen, instead I want to encourage you to think about what is really important to you. I’ve written about priorities before and this is exactly the same… and you can do it in 2 minutes, promise.
- Take a pen and paper (or some electronic equivalent if need be!) and spend 30 seconds (yep that’s all) thinking about your world…, not just what you’re doing now, but you’re whole world; where you live, what you want to do this year, what you did last year, where you grew up, who you admire, who makes you laugh, where you love to be etc … (you may want to set a timer so you don’t get too lost in dreams)
- And then once you’ve finished your daydreaming (or the timer has gone off!) I want you to write down the 6-8 words which stick in your head from your daydream
- Now order those words in order of importance to you … and ‘voila’ you have your 2 minute ‘priorities’
- Put this list somewhere you’re going to see it lots (fridge, phone, diary) and see how it helps keep your perspective.
Good luck!