I can’t help but to laugh at myself sometimes; what a crazy world we find ourselves in. I left at the end of December for a short break and returned only to find that our electrical supply is in utter shambles and daunting predictions about an almost apocalyptic wave of crime that is about to hit us. Talk about a bucket of ice water down one’s spine!
As I felt my chest tighten and my concerns of last year return, I also thought calmy (surprisingly) and contemplatively about, not only our current situation, but the state of the global economy at large. Fortunately, Ian Williamson, Old Mutual’s CEO, gave a refreshing rundown of the past World Economic Forum held in Davos, which brought me much needed respite. According to Williamson, it’s not just us! What a relief, and what a strange thing perspective turns out to be!
Having taken a deeper dive during my first two weeks back at the office, on some of our current internal matters and also looking beyond to what is currently driving a number of our global concerns, I again came to the conclusion that we need to pay special attention on how we interpret what we see, read, hear and experience. How we see the world, determines how we feel, and to an even greater extent, how we react.
Forgive me if I sound a bit like I am playing psychiatrist, but here’s why I think perspective is the one thing we need to keep in check, if we wish to be successful and prosperous in this coming year.
WATCH OUT FOR THOSE HEADLINES
I love a good headline, some are funny, some are scary, but let’s be honest many really don’t deliver the punch they promise. How often do we start reading (mostly out of fear) only to find that the headline was actually a bit misleading.
I will give you an example. BusinessTech published an article (State Disaster Declared in Gauteng). For someone unaware of the current heavy downpours, it’s easy to think the reason for the emergency is due to incidents of crime of vandalism (purely based on our perceptions of crime in the province), when it is in fact due to unprecedented torrential rains.
All publications, either in print or online, are on the hunt for eyeballs – it relies on your fear to click and read the article, your click represents money, don’t forget that. Headlines are seldom an honest representation of the facts.
INFLUENCE VS CONCERN VS CONTROL
One of my old-time favorites is Stephen Covey’s famous circles of concern, influence, and control. In short, our lives play out in three circles. The outer most circle (known as your circle of concern), a second circle inside the outer circle (known as your circle of influence) and a small circle right at the centre (known as your circle of control).
Your circle of concern contains a wide range of general things you don’t control (economy, war, weather). Your circle of influence contains the things you can do something about (your energy levels, your diet, how you spend your time). Your circle of control are the things you have a direct control over (how much you sleep, your weight, your attitude).
Perspective comes when we keep ourselves busy with those issues we control and have an influence over, but to also let go of our concerns as these are things, we can do very little about. Spending time on our concerns are just exhausting and leave us feeling depressed and powerless.
BALANCE CAN TIP THE SCALES
In 2010, famous actress Julia Roberts featured in a Sony Entertainment movie called Eat, Pray, Love. A story about healing and discovering the important things about our own lives. What I think we often lack is a sense of balance between working, living and being ourselves.
Instead of making huge commitments like I am going to run a marathon or do the Cape Argus cycle race (not that there is anything wrong with that!), try for small victories such as eating better (less coffee, no sugar), getting a good night’s sleep and getting a little bit of exercise. Success is not found in the big things, but in the small daily wins. Adjust your sights to achieve more of the small steps each day. Soon those small wins starts to add up!
FIND A CAUSE
One of the reasons I think we feel so utterly frustrated with many of the problems we experience, is that we feel powerless. Like we can’t do anything to change it. No democracy can survive without an active and participatory citizenry.
Find a cause or a project or something you feel very passionate about and start making a difference in people’s lives. If you like reading, go to your local library and see if you can assist with anything. If you like cycling, see if you can’t get one other person to take up cycling as well.
Like gardening, how about adopting a neglected corner or park close to where you stay and beautifying it with your neighbors. The list goes on; we are social creatures, and we need to live lives that have a sense of meaning. Making money and being successful is important, but giving of yourself for the love of it, brings about a very special sense of purpose to our lives. Find your cause!
HALF FULL; HALF EMPTY OR NEITHER?
We are who we are; research confirms that our personalities start emerging between the age of 3 to 5, and from there on, we are pretty much set in our ways, as they say. So, whether we see the glass half full or half empty isn’t so much a case of relevance as it is a case of personality.
Some of us are tense and high strung by nature; some people just never seem to get upset about anything. Some of us can stand up and speak openly to a group of people, others might have an immediate heart attack at the mere thought of public speaking! Whatever the nature of our personality, we need to learn how to work within the framework of who we are.
Be aware of your assumptions; make sure you have all the facts. If you know you are an over-thinker and that your mind can run away with you; is it a good thing to run through your twitter feed just before you go to sleep? Learn how to be kind to yourself and remove the negative elements from your life that interferes with your perspective and clarity.
CONCLUSION
If I can believe our ancestral stories, then we all used to live in caves and small groups and food was scarce. Our instincts were programmed to make us believe that it was a case of eat or be eaten! Fear is an essential by-product of that era. But fear unchecked, can also disempower us, make us freeze with in-action, and thus, what is supposed to protect us, actually leads to our demise.
Let us all help each other to see the good and the positive in this coming year. Let’s plan, but also celebrate and enjoy; let’s save and be prudent, but let’s also allow the sun to shine on our skins; let’s work hard this coming year, but let’s also remember that we can be better tomorrow.
Good luck in overcoming all your challenges this year, let’s improve our perspectives, together!