Perspective

If you have ever studied art, you know how important perspective is. For example objects farther away look smaller but may actually be the same size or bigger than objects which are closer. Similarly, an object may appear to be different shapes depending upon the angle we view it from. 

Our sense of visual perspective allows us to make sense of a bewildering array of shapes and sizes and put what we see into a context for us to make decisions. Other areas of our perspective are not as easy to keep in context. In fact, some common perspective distortions may be undermining your progress towards your dream.

1) Perspective of progress - most people automatically pay more attention to what is happening right now or what is about to happen than what has happened in the past. This is beneficial when you are facing a crisis, but presents a distorted picture when you are looking at how much progress you are making towards your dream. A distorted perspective of progress over time will leave you feeling better or worse than you are actually doing. Both are dangerous. 

You can learn to recognize distortion in your perspective of progress by tracking your progress regularly using a timeline or by cultivating a relationship with a mentor to give you feedback. 

2) Perspective of cause and effect - the further removed in time the effect of people's actions are from the actions themselves, the more difficult it is to link the two. This delay may lead to effects that catch people off guard. You might have heard yourself say that you just didn't see it coming. 

In order to recognize this distortion, it is helpful to consider time frames for change. Ask yourself in advance how long it will take for the full effects of your actions to play out. 

For example, in tight times you might decide to take resources away from the future growth of your dream. Typically you will see a slight improvement in immediate results as you concentrate more on the present. In this short time frame, your action would be seen to be a success. 

However, as you take away resources, you may start to see a reduction in growth as time passes since you cannot continue to produce as much with less resources. In this time frame the success of your initial action may be questionable.  

Finally, over an even longer time frame if you do not replace the resources you took away, you may see an even greater reduction in growth due to discouragement or burn out. From this time frame, the action may be seen to be an outright failure.

3) Perspective of ourselves and others - we tend to compare our insides with the outsides of others. This may play out in two different ways. First, we may conclude that others are more capable than we are because we are aware of our own inner uncertainties or nervousness while we see in others the confident image they project in public.

Second, we may judge other's failures more harshly than we do our own because we are aware of our inner motives behind our actions but we tend to only see the actions of others. 

The answer to this distortion in perspective is to take the lead in being open and transparent with others, while showing curiosity. You will find that others will usually respond in kind and that lays the groundwork for a more meaningful (and honest) interaction. Even if they don't, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you acted with respect and integrity.