This morning I decided to try something different, just to change things up a bit. Little did I know I was in for a different experience to see things differently, from just one small change.
Let me back up and then come back to that thought. The last few years have been really challenging for my mom. We all hit that point as we head into our “golden years” but for my mom, they’ve not been as golden as she had dreamed. Long story short, medical issues forced her to retire from a job she truly loved. These medical issues have compounded in the past few years.
As far back as I can remember she’s shown time and time again how hard work and determination pays off. Life threw her a challenge she pushed through. These past couple of years it’s getting harder as her body isn’t what it used to be.
And it’s that fact that gets me to where I am now.
Knowing the health struggles my mom is facing has me making changes right now. Health changes, financial changes, etc. My thinking is if I get in better shape I can enjoy more of my life in the golden years. I’ve gotten serious about my physical health by trying to eat healthier and get more exercise, by walking several miles a week. As of today, I’m at about eight miles +/- and it’s only Wednesday.
So back to this morning…
With my walks I’ve been going the same direction through my neighborhood. I know which routes to take to achieve the mileage I want to get in for that walking period. But this morning I decided to do it backwards and go in the opposite direction. My normal target spots for each mile were not there. I knew in the end what it would be, but it’s those mini goals that help motivate me. Today I took the path for four miles. It was a good walk!
With that one decision, (to change direction) I saw things that I don’t normally see. It was the same neighborhood, about the same time frame, but I was looking at it from a different perspective.
This set off a whole line of different thinking for me. Along the way I pass a lot of different houses. I enjoy looking at the architecture, the landscaping, etc. In changing direction, I saw the other side of the houses and noticed things I hadn’t yet seen.
It also put me at different parts of the neighborhood at a different time which means I saw different kids and parents heading off for school or work. It also made me be more aware of a whole new set of lawn sprinklers going off at those times—LOL.
This got me thinking about my normal day. If making one di- rectional change allows me to see things differently in my daily walks, how could that benefit my daily successes in work? Would I see things differently? Would my perspective change? Maybe I would cross paths with new people. In doing so, how would that change me or them?
Something else I noticed during this change in my walking path is that the inclines were different. There are two different major hills in the neighborhood. By switching paths, I found that the largest hill was easier (okay, more comfortable) going up than go- ing down. The other hill that declined makes several plateaus over a period of time.
Simple little changes…
By making a similar change in our daily lives what “mountains” could we approach differently? We keep doing the same thing be- cause that’s the way we’ve always done them.
By making different choices or trying new things, we may find we get better results and achieve more.
Frank Deardurff III
I think we need to learn to see things (and people) differently. When I was working on a marketing project for my iMakeBookCovers.com service, I stated that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we do. Everything from the font used for the title to the background colors. They invoke a feeling to us whether we realize it or not.
We do the same when it comes to people. We should look at every single person we cross with another perspective. I have always thought that we should treat the janitor just as we should the CEO. Each position is important—each person has a job to do. We have the viewpoint that the CEO is more important because they make a lot of important decisions. But what if we looked at it a bit differently.
How successful can that CEO be if the janitor wasn’t doing the skill that they have learned? Imagine the CEO preparing for a million-dollar presentation and the client arrives at a building with windows you can’t see through. On the way to the meeting room, the smell from the bathroom lingers out into the hallway, the waste baskets are overflowing, etc. You see where I’m going with this? Each position in a company is important. When learn to see things from a different perspective, this makes so much sense.
In high school I had a manager at my job that would often say, “if you don’t want to do a certain task, I’m sure we can hire someone that will.” That greatly changed how I saw things. Before he said that I thought I was pretty safe in my job, but he changed my viewpoint about every position I’ve held since. I am replaceable no matter what I’m doing. If I don’t provide the results for a client, they will move on. So, I try even harder than before simply because I see things from that one change in my perspective.
I guess where I’m going with this is, that as we go through our day, we need to pause and take a moment to be aware of the world around us. There is something to be learned if we just pay attention to the things that affect us or how we affect the things we interact with.
