Gaining A New Perspective
By Michael Angier
Have you ever watched an artist paint a picture? He or she works close to the
canvas, painting small sections at a time in the process of bringing the whole
creation into being.
But every once in awhile, the artist must step back from their work and look
at the whole picture. Only by stepping away from what we're working on can we
gain the proper perspective. The proper point of view is crucial to the end
result.
It's no different for any other creation. Whether it's a business, a project
or your life, you need to step back occasionally in order to get it right.
From a distance, you can see things you can't see when you're up close and
personal. The difference is in working ON your project instead of working IN it.
It's all too easy to plug away at something but miss the important distinctions
needed to create an elegant result.
Stephen Covey calls it "sharpening the saw". It would be foolish to
keep sawing away without stopping from time to time to make your tool more
efficient. But unfortunately, that's what too many of us do.
Just as in music, we need spaces between the notes in order to create the
melody. A continuous collection of notes with no spaces is not harmony … it's
noise.
You may need to take a vacation--to get away from it all with no work or
study. At other times, it's best to take a course or attend a conference to
harvest some new ideas. Sometimes, it may be better to take a complete break; to
go away and just do something totally different … take on a volunteer project,
build a house for Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy cause.
The important thing is to take the breaks. Without them, we lose our creative
spark. We don't enjoy our work or our life as much. Our stress increases and
both our work and our health suffer.
We need breaks in our days, in our weeks, our months and our years. Try
taking mini-breaks during the day … a 10-minute meditation, an exercise class
at lunch. Even a 60-second, stand-up-and-stretch break makes a difference.
Just like we need to sleep to rest our body and our conscious mind, we need
interruptions in our routine. We need a change of pace in order to keep pace
with our best.
Be sure to schedule your time off and then take some spontaneous breaks as
well. Orient your life so it becomes easier and affordable to do it on a regular
basis.
People in the academic world are expected to take a sabbatical … a year off
every ten years. Why should business people or those in other occupations be any
different? Just because you've never done it before doesn't mean you can't, or
you shouldn't. Step back from your masterpiece of choice and gain a new
perspective. Get a new attitude. Reap some breakthrough ideas. Put some spaces
between your notes.
You, the people around you, and your work, deserve it.
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