Straight Talk from Dr. Nido Qubein: Perspective changes everything
Dr. Nido Qubein
Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Opinion
Up close, the earth looks flat. From outer space, it's round. The difference is in perspective.
On the ground, the Andes look impassable. From a jetliner flying at 40,000 feet, they shrink to a manageable size. From a space shuttle, they're hardly noticeable. The difference is in perspective.
When we see things in perspective, we see them in their proper relationships as to value or importance. Different people have different perspectives. People in their 70s see time in a different perspective from those in their 20s. A multi-millionaire sees a $300,000 home in a different perspective from a salaried person earning $30,000 a year.
A person planning to drive to the next block may see the potholes in the street from a perspective quite different from one who plans to drive across the continent.
People often fail to look at their lives in perspective. They are so concerned with immediate things that they don't bother to take the long view. That's because they don't expect to go very far.
Acquiring perspective enables you to respond realistically to the events in your life. The student whose sweetheart has just found another love may be distraught, convinced that romance has died forever. The parent, looking at it from the perspective of years, knows that the next "true love" is just a wink and a smile away.
The person without perspective will go through life making erratic decisions. Salespeople without perspective will make major changes in the presentation after each rejection, and those never stick with an approach long enough to know whether it really works in the long run. Managers with perspective will keep their staffs in confusion, often taking emergency approaches to problems that will work themselves out, given time. Entrepreneurs will try one enterprise after another, interpreting each setback as a failure, never sticking with one effort long enough to achieve success.
Patience is the balance between boldness and prudence; between rashness and wisdom. It is illustrated in the fable of the golden goose. The goose produced a golden egg each day, but that wasn't enough for the impatient owner. He decided to slaughter the goose and harvest all the eggs at once. The result: no more goose and no more eggs.
On the ground, the Andes look impassable. From a jetliner flying at 40,000 feet, they shrink to a manageable size. From a space shuttle, they're hardly noticeable. The difference is in perspective.
When we see things in perspective, we see them in their proper relationships as to value or importance. Different people have different perspectives. People in their 70s see time in a different perspective from those in their 20s. A multi-millionaire sees a $300,000 home in a different perspective from a salaried person earning $30,000 a year.
A person planning to drive to the next block may see the potholes in the street from a perspective quite different from one who plans to drive across the continent.
People often fail to look at their lives in perspective. They are so concerned with immediate things that they don't bother to take the long view. That's because they don't expect to go very far.
Acquiring perspective enables you to respond realistically to the events in your life. The student whose sweetheart has just found another love may be distraught, convinced that romance has died forever. The parent, looking at it from the perspective of years, knows that the next "true love" is just a wink and a smile away.
The person without perspective will go through life making erratic decisions. Salespeople without perspective will make major changes in the presentation after each rejection, and those never stick with an approach long enough to know whether it really works in the long run. Managers with perspective will keep their staffs in confusion, often taking emergency approaches to problems that will work themselves out, given time. Entrepreneurs will try one enterprise after another, interpreting each setback as a failure, never sticking with one effort long enough to achieve success.
Patience is the balance between boldness and prudence; between rashness and wisdom. It is illustrated in the fable of the golden goose. The goose produced a golden egg each day, but that wasn't enough for the impatient owner. He decided to slaughter the goose and harvest all the eggs at once. The result: no more goose and no more eggs.
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