Pick Up A Positive Perspective

A technique often used in coaching when resolving problems is to look at things from a different perspective. By using this method, a client can experience their situation from a different point of view and often their own outlook changes.

I fully understood what this meant when I first moved to my new home a couple of years ago. I was daunted by the very steep hill leading up to my home. It is so steep that when you try to walk down it, you end up running and as for walking up, well.....you do it very slowly!

I liked my new home but not the hill that led up to it. I was used to living on flat lowlands, not on the top of a mountain! I was used to speaking to my neighbours in the street, not wheezing as I walked past desperately trying to catch my breath.

However, my perspective changed one spring Sunday morning. I had decided to treat myself to a rare lie-in, but I was woken from my peaceful slumber by the sun which had filtered through the crack in the curtains. Rubbing my bleary eyes, I opened up my bedroom curtains to an amazing sight.

The morning sun shone brightly and there were clouds travelling up through the valley. However, the clouds were below our home and were laid out like a thick blanket across the valley floor. I was above the clouds! I could faintly see the roofs of the houses at the bottom of the hill and yet from my window I could see mountains that were miles away. It reminded me of a landscape picture you often see as a desktop wallpaper and it took my breath away.

In a split second, that beautiful vista changed my perspective of my hilltop homestead. Instead of seeing a mountain to climb when I was going home, I saw a pathway to a peaceful, panoramic view. Being witness to that wonderful morning reignited my passion for art and photography, as I wanted to capture that same awe inspiring feeling every time I looked at a canvas or photograph. It also inspired me to go walking up in the steep mountains behind my home to fully enjoy the potency a change of perspective can bring.

When working with clients who find themselves in a seemingly impossible situation, I regale this story and tell them to take a different perspective on their problem....and they don't need to climb a mountain to do it!