The Power of Perspective

What do you believe about the world? Humanity? Yourself?

Do you believe that the world is a tangled mess and one single life will have no impact on changing it? Or do you think that everyone has an exponential amount of potential to make a difference in the world within their lifetime? Or maybe you believe something in between.

What we believe has an incredible effect on how we choose to live our lives. In fact, it sets the entire course of our life. That alone is enough reason to give our beliefs a good, hard look and see where we land and what could be adjusted to possibly achieve a different outcome for the future.

Merriam Webster defines belief as a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing; conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence.

So, I think it’s safe to say that our beliefs about others, the world, and ourselves are based on what we’ve gathered from our life experiences. And if that is true, then we have the power and ability to look at the good and bad beliefs we’ve acquired along the way and agree with them (solidifying them further) or dispute them (with a clearer understanding of truth).

For example, if you made a financial investment as a young adult and the investment flopped, causing you to lose your money, your experience might tell you that investments are too risky and you will lose your hard earned money. However, you can look at this experience and rationalize that while investments do take a level of risk, if you consider the elements and make savvy decisions, all investments will not cause you to lose your money. In fact, many investments will do exactly that opposite and that’s why they are so popular!

We have an opportunity to grow beyond our experiences; to believe something because we choose to instead of letting our experiences dictate our life truths. By combining the knowledge we have gained from our experience and using rationale to decide what we will believe, we leave ourselves open to a much broader perspective. And with a greater perspective we can live our life with more focus, adventure, success, and fulfillment. We have the choice to forgive ourselves and others of the negative experiences and grow a little wiser having been a part of it. But we could also choose to avoid all related experiences in an effort to not be disappointed again. We have the power to choose.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can’t always control what happens, but you can control how you react?” You can apply this idea in reference to choosing what you will believe. We get to control the perspective we will have on business, religion, family, people, and our environment instead of letting them control us.

So, why all this talk about beliefs? If we want to dream big, set goals, take steps to achieve them, and live a life we choose, we’re going to need to make sure our beliefs are on point. Our beliefs must point in the direction we want to go, otherwise we will be fighting against ourselves in a losing battle.

Take some time today to examine the beliefs you have surrounding your dreams. Is there insecurity? Why? Where did it come from? What is true about it and what isn’t? Dig into any bad beliefs and face them. Then you can mold a new, stronger belief that will support you in chasing the life you want to live.This is a powerful exercise for good beliefs too. As you examine their roots, you will find confidence and solidify your perspectives.

Don’t be afraid to take control of what you believe and live a little freer!