3 Things to Shift Your Perspective

3 things to Shift Your Perspective 

One of the easiest things to do in this life is to keep to what we know and how we see, experience and process things. On the journey inwards, through self-awareness, we get the opportunity to take an objective view of ourselves and acknowledge things that may be limiting us in the moment.

Having an open mind is not always easy, comfortable or welcomed. Often, our response to new things and different or opposing views is to shun and dismiss them. Which then hardens the outer shell of our mind even more, making it more difficult to have those breakthrough moments with a healthy experience of a new idea.

It’s not what you see but how you look at it…

Photograph by @iam_anih via Unsplash

Why is it important to gain a new or different perspectives anyway? If your current one hasn’t caused you any hurt and you feel like you’re doing well in life then what’s the point?

Well, the world is constantly changing, and unless you plan on being stuck in the past then it might be something you want to try at least once . To be able to navigate life and its challenges, we have the opportunity to understand it in as many ways as possible – this creates more empathy, compassion and eventually peace of mind.

So, here are three things I feel  are super important to enable you to take a different view and maybe gain a new perspective.

3. The 3 Gates

The famous scholar and poet, Rumi, said that there are always 3 gates (of speech) that we can use to help us in any moment.

At the first gate we ask ourselves the question, “Is it true?”.

At the second gate, we ask ourselves, “Is it necessary?”.

At the third gate, we ask ourselves, “Is it kind?”.

I’d like to think we can also use this for the way that we are looking at things and forming our judgement, opinion and overall perspective. These simple questions open up the door for new ideas to enter without the false, unnecessary and maybe damaging perspectives we hold.

2. A New Narative

In line with the 3 gates, we also have the opportunity to notice the stories that we are telling ourselves. The stories about how we should be treated, how the world should be, the things we are supposed to be feeling, the ways in which the world should respond to us etc.

What if we changed our story? What if you were no longer “this person with this problem” but rather the “person who can overcome a challenge”… a simple example but it’s a small shift that could bring so much value. Changing the things we tell ourselves is a proven way to shift our perspective. We take control back and take action!

1. Decide to become a student first

There are going to be so many people, places and things that challenge your existing opinion and persepctive.  Before engaging in an ego-driven argument or debate, what would happen if we first decided to become a student? Be curious instead of judging and be open instead of dismissing.

This really allows us to receive so much more thana moment of “feeling better than” the next person becasue you’ve insised on your way being the only way. When we open ourselves up to continuously learning, we can make much better informed conclusions of what adds value and what doesn’t. We get rid of the need to label peopleor other ideas as “wrong” and we just thank them for the opportunity for learning.

I hope you found some value in this. If you’d like to continue this as a discussion please feel free to send me an email or a DM on instagram and I’d love to explore it more with you!

Have an awesome day!