Change your perspective to get out of feeling stuck

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

- Wayne Dyer

(Published through Ama La Vida's Words of Wisdom Newsletter - 4/12/22)

I often talk to my fellow coaches about issues I face at work. This time, it was about the meeting notes-sharing process I do for my job. The task is important but feels laborious at times. I tried improving it but got stuck in the mindset that I’d shortchange the recipients if I did anything different. One of the coaches pointed out that I had been unconsciously spending the same amount of time during the meeting on organizing those notes. Essentially, using twice as much time to accomplish one thing. I gasped—I didn’t even realize that!

Caring deeply about the quality of my work is well-intended, but using a disproportional amount of time putting notes together is not a sustainable practice. I dug deeper into the underlying cause and discovered that the problem was not the process but my own expectations. The meeting summary is supplemental, but I treated it like a detailed breakdown of the actual meeting. The reason behind that was to ensure everyone gets the most value out of our time together. After identifying the cause, I challenged myself to seek a healthy balance and be mindful of my own time. I adjusted my view of the process from proving value to adding value. I practiced letting go of the perfectionist mindset to focus on delivering the essential information. Once I changed my perception, the notes-sharing process suddenly felt more manageable and efficient. The task was no longer taxing.

How we view things is often the culprit for getting stuck in a problem. Changing the way we look at things by assessing the root cause and adopting a new perspective helps open ourselves to new possibilities and solutions. The next time you feel stuck, challenge yourself to view the obstacle from a different angle and see what comes out of a new approach. Like Wayne Dyer said: “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”