At work, at school, at home, and in all of life, we are better served if we maintain a big-picture perspective.
What follows are at least four reasons why. (I have shared a couple of these thoughts in this space before, but they are definitely worth mentioning again).
1.) It keeps us from looking only at ourselves. At work, do you try to see things from the vantage point of the entire company or the entire business? Or are you focused only on your small part of that world? The most valuable members of any organization have a desire and an ability to look at the overall.
2.) It keeps us from focusing too much on minor details or on those things that, in the end, don't matter very much. Richard Carlson, author of the 1996 best-seller "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff," wrote, "Often we allow ourselves to get all worked up about things that, upon closer examination, aren't really that big a deal."
3.) It reminds us that our current circumstances aren't really as bad as we may think. Randy Pausch, author of the 2008 book entitled "The Last Lecture," told of his complaining about having to take an excruciating test while working on his PhD. His mother placed things in their proper perspective, simply saying, "We know just how you feel, honey. And remember, when your father was your age, he was fighting the Germans."
4.) It helps us do a better job of seeing the task before us. One of the best illustrations of this comes from, believe it or not, former football star O.J. Simpson. (While Simpson is no longer deemed a good role model in any sense of the word, he was among the very best at carrying the football. So when he once told of what he was thinking when he ran, it was valuable information with some practical applications for life).
After his playing career Simpson said on any given play in which he was carrying the ball, he surveyed the field and made decisions on how to get past tacklers.
"I knew I was going to get past that first or second tackler," Simpson said. "I was looking ahead to the third and fourth guy and figuring out how I was going to get by them."
Then he added, "Later in my career when I wasn't as fast, I noticed that while I was looking down field and figuring out how to get past the third and fourth guy, that often the first or second guy was making the tackle and bringing me down."
So what are the lessons here for us?
In life, as in football, you have to be able to deal with immediate issues and to also envision potential obstacles down the road. And you usually have to make adjustments on the run.
If you don't have that kind of vision - if you cannot see the lay of the land and navigate your way through it - you may never have lasting success in any profession.
So a healthy perspective is vitally important. It will keep you from being selfish and self-centered, it will keep you from getting bogged down in the little details, it reminds you that things usually aren't as bad as they seem and it will help you be more successful in any worthwhile undertaking.
If you catch yourself in a situation where everything looks bleak and you are disheartened, maybe it's time to recalibrate your perspective. It's worth a try.
David Wilson, EdD, is the associate principal at Jefferson City High School. You may email him at [email protected].