“When in doubt, zoom out” is a great old saying.
A slightly modernized take I love comes from David Allen in Getting Things Done, where he reminds us that you rarely solve a problem at the same level it shows up.
The point here is that a perspective change is often essential to finding solutions. Whether a misunderstanding with another person or spinning in the overthinking cycle in your own head, often we need to stop and zoom in or out to find the solution.
I thought of an interesting analogy on this recently: often we’re so closely staring at (and hopefully admiring) one giant California redwood that we forget we’re in a forest of these massive beauties.
It’s easy to lose sight of progress, accomplishments, how others may view the situation differently, where we have common ground, and how hard we’re all trying to survive on this spinning ball in space. When we change our perspective, especially when we broaden it, we see how small and unimportant many of the annoyances really are. We also often find that we, and others, are doing much better than we think in the heated moments, and, thus, our gratitude increases.
The next time you’re frustrated, arguing, or worrying, ask yourself what a change of perspective might show you. Zoom in or out and see if you can relax just a little. Then start to make that a habit with more things and in more relationships.
And, if you need to hear it, you’re doing a whole lot better than you probably realize!
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