Maybe it’s the wrong angle?
I am sure you have probably seen those optical illusion pictures where you look at it from one angle and you see an image and then you look at it from another angle and see something completely different.
That is life.
The end.
That would be such a simple blog if I left it there but in all seriousness, I want to dig into this a bit further and talk about the responsibility we each have to ensure we are taking ownership of shifting that perspective and changing the angle when required.
I imagine that at some point in your life you have heard someone say something along the lines of, “X happened but IT’S NOT MY FAULT.” Now the statement might be true, in life things do happen to us that we have zero control of such as losing a loved one, getting ill, being made redundant, how other people treat us (only if that is NOT influenced by how we have treated them), being knocked down by a car or any other appropriate example you can think of. There will always be things that happen that may not be your fault or your responsibility initially, but your response and what you do next IS your responsibility.
When we default into, “not my fault mode,” we remove our opportunity to learn, we also remove our ability to choose how to respond as we have already responded by defaulting into a losing or in some circumstances victim mindset. We need to look at it from a different angle, we may even need to change our position before we respond.
Next time something happens that is beyond your control I would like you consider:
What can I learn from this situation?
Emotionally I feel “X” but practically I am going to do “Y”, don’t allow your emotions to fuel your next step. You may feel slighted in someway, and it may even be justified, but that feeling won’t change the angle or your perspective.
How can this situation help me to grow?
What opportunity has this situation highlighted for me, do I need to go out and do some more learning? What has it given me that I didn’t have before?
What do I gain from defaulting into a losing or victim mindset? Could I get those gains more positively elsewhere.
Take some time out to consider a response before responding.
Action and getting things wrong is better than doing nothing at all.
When situations occur it is easy to allow our emotions to decide what happens next, especially if we feel them intensely. It is also easy to relinquish responsibility and do nothing. Maybe you aren’t seeing the whole picture and it is time to look at it from a different angle.
