July 29, 2021

The Power of Choosing Your Perspective

by Angela Legh in Perspective0 Comments

Recently, I was interviewed by Yeukai Kajidori of the Yeukai Business Show, the #3 business podcast in the United Kingdom and one of the top 3% of podcasts globally! One might wonder how is it that an author of children’s fairy tales gets called to be a guest on a business show. I know. . . I wondered!

After the conversation with Yeukai, I understood how I have any relevance in speaking with business leaders. As many of you know, I work with feelings, perspectives, and emotional triggers. It turns out that what I teach in these areas can be very effective tools for business leaders.

Our conversation focused on several areas:

  • The power of choosing your perspective
  • The importance of feeling your feelings from a space of neutrality
  • How to become neutral to your emotional triggers.

These are the things I teach to children in my fairytale series, The Bella Santini Chronicles. It is also what I teach to adults in my online course, Live! Love! Laugh!

 

Choosing our perspectives

Our perspective is an amalgamation of our experiences and things parents, teachers, ministers, and other adults taught us. These were individuals who had the intent of forming us into respectable people. However, the Talmud states, “We do not see the world as it is; we see it as we are.” When we step back and view the “helpful” advice of the adults through this filter, we realize the truth. Their words revealed more about who they were than they ever revealed about us.

For example, my father said that I wasn’t good enough to paint a picture when I was a little kid. Before I understood about perspectives, I took his words to heart. I wasn’t good enough, and I would never be good enough.  Now, I know about perspectives. When I view this through the filter of the Talmud statement, I can see that his words revealed his shortcomings as a father. His words said much more about who he was than they said about my talents.

Further, as an adult, I can look at the situation knowing it was the words of an alcoholic father; said to his five-year-old daughter. I am no longer five years old; I have grown and developed my talents. There is now a wealth of talent and skills at my disposal that he couldn’t see in me at the age of five. Holding onto his perspective does not serve me; I do not have to make it my own. This is the power of choosing my perspective; I can consider the circumstances and how the speaker views the world and ask, “Does this perspective serve me, as I am today?”

 

How does this apply to business?

So, how does this pertain to business? Have you taken to heart criticism provided by an employee, boss, or competitor?  Knowing that they see the world as they are, does what they said have to become your truth? Can you step back into a space of neutrality, take responsibility where appropriate, and let go of the pain of their judgment, knowing that what they said reveals how they see the world?

We have the ability to shift perspectives, to choose the one that most serves you in your current situation. If you have been feeling unworthy of success, it may be a perspective handed to you by someone with a bleak view of the world. Do you actually need to hold onto their perspective? Must you hold onto their perspective as the only truth, or can you choose a perspective that speaks to your needs? Fortunately, we can choose what perspective that we embrace. So, how are your perspectives serving you?

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About

Angela Legh

Angela Legh is the author of the Bella Santini Chronicles, a children's book series that plant seeds of emotional well-being. Each book of the series takes children on a journey of self-discovery.

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