I’d like to share a personal story with you today.
I was eating my lunch one afternoon, looking out the window at the Brooklyn Bridge. I was a 22 year old kid from London, learning all about marketing the hard way, in my new career in a new country. I wasn’t having a great week and my manager decided to help me gain some perspective.
Here’s what he told me.
“You know Jim, it took over a decade to build that bridge. It was hard, dangerous work and almost 30 people died during its construction. Now, remind me what it is about your job that has you feeling so sorry for yourself today?
Suddenly, the 22 year old me understood that in the grand scheme of things, life was good. Life was great, in fact. I was living away from home on a great adventure, in a country I had been fascinated with all my life. The land of opportunity was there in front of me and it was my job, to make the very best of every moment.
It changed my life completely.
The power of perspective
I never looked at life, work or marketing in quite the same way again. What I discovered was that it often takes a shift in perspective, for us to identify the opportunities around us. A shift in perspective can also help us summon the courage and motivation required, to turn opportunities into wonderful outcomes.
Usually, the business opportunities we need are right there, under our noses. To see them and benefit from them, we simply need to look at things from a fresh perspective.
In short — Just as “old ways won’t open new doors”, old perspectives won’t lead us to new opportunities.