You know that changing your thoughts can change your reality. I want to advance the awareness that changing your perspective can add joy to that reality.

I was reminded of this perspective recently.  A cool little consulting assignment I’ve had for some time changed the amount I am paid.  My first reaction was a little anger at the “unfairness” of it; fear about the reduced revenue; and quite frankly, feeling undervalued.

Here’s what’s interesting.  For several weeks, I have been intently and consciously practicing what we preach (of course, by saying that, it does make it seem that I don’t always do this).  I very quickly began to focus my thoughts on what is the best view of this situation: I have said I want to find similar contract work and this is the incentive. My client’s decision is a valid business one. It’s not personal.

It was taking me a little too long to have this perspective actually come alive energetically so I walked down and told Cathy the news.  Her instant reply – well, you have said you wanted to find similar contract work. Now’s your chance. That’s the difference between having cellular learning and still practicing.

A few years ago, I heard from a client several months after he left one of our retreats.  He said that we really should call ourselves perspective changers.  When he left his retreat he thought one of the changes he wanted in his life was to get a divorce.  After several weeks of focusing his thoughts and doing what really energized him, he began to see the positive in every situation.  Then he discovered the problem with his marriage wasn’t his wife – “it was me.”

Following is a great demonstration of perspective from Intero Real Estate Services blog on perspective – http://interomojo.com/2012/05/14/monday-morning-mojo-the-tiny-black-dot/.  Thanks to Jon Terry for sending this.

     “If I were to make a little black dot on an 8 1/2 x 11″ piece of white paper and show the sheet to a group of people and ask them what they see, the majority will say that they see a black dot. The majority will say that they see a black dot. Very few, if any, will tell me that they see a white sheet of paper with a tiny black dot.  
      We tend to look at our lives in very much the same way. We have our health, enough food to eat, a job that pays the bills and allows us some leisure activities, but we don’t focus on that. We don’t appreciate that.
      Instead, we concentrate on the tiny black dot – the 10% in our lives that we don’t like or the things we wish we could change. By concentrating on the 10% that represents our problems or things we don’t like, we develop a negative attitude and feel lousy. Plus, there’s a universal principle that comes into play: we attract what we think about most.  By focusing on what is lacking in our lives, we create more experiences of scarcity.”

In order to be able to change your perspective, you need to keep your thoughts, actions and behaviors above-the-line (positive). Focusing your thoughts on what enlivens you – in this moment – gives you the opportunity to see everything from a more energizing and effective perspective.

Fun stuff – perspective.

Gary