You’ve probably been through enough experiences to have learned that perspective is important. The way you view a situation greatly influences your emotional and practical reactions to it, as well as how effectively you can create results as close as possible to exactly what you want.
This brings up an interesting perspective on perspective, because while many situations carry with them a fairly well-defined viewpoint – for example: a medical operation is always serious, an investment always requires sober analysis, new romance is always exciting, and so forth – many other situations are fairly open and leave room for you to choose from a variety of possible perspectives.
For example, suppose you’re facing a situation like one of these:
- You are required to give an important presentation,
- Your results on a particular task or project will be evaluated in detail,
- You are offered an opportunity to take on a new task or project,
- You must spend time in a new location, not of your choosing,
The mindset you bring to the upcoming situation will obviously have a major impact on your feelings, your choices, and your performance.
That’s why it’s helpful to be comfortable with a number of generally useful mindsets so you can consciously apply one that’s going to help you get the best from whatever you’re about to experience.
Here are a few mindsets you should experiment with to help you maximize results, particularly under adverse conditions:
Excitement Outperforms Fear
We all know fear and prefer to avoid it. We recognize this unwanted feeling by some of its symptoms, including:
- Increased heart rate,
- Faster breathing,
- Shortness of breath,
- “Butterflies” in the stomach,
- Digestive changes,
- Sweating and chills,
- Trembling muscles.
But these can also be signs of excitement.
Wouldn’t it be nice to learn to reframe these and other symptoms of fear as indications of excitement? If you can make this perceptual shift, instead of trying to avoid the “fearful” situation, you could look forward to it as an opportunity for some highly stimulating experiences.
A Chance to Show Your Abilities
Demanding or challenging situations can easily provoke trepidation, or some form of worry that your performance in the upcoming situation won’t meet some expected standard.
Wouldn’t it be great to reframe upcoming demands and challenges as opportunities to showcase what you can do: your skills, knowledge, experience and – after you’ve gained sufficient practice – coolness under fire?
If you can make this perceptual shift, instead of worrying about meeting or exceeding a high bar, you could revel in the opportunity to demonstrate your current level of competence.
Laugh Your Way Forward
It’s very difficult to feel anxiety or dread when you’re having a good time. That’s why I’m grateful for a long-term friend who very early on taught me the advantages of laughter.
It’s easy to laugh when a situation strikes you as funny. With a little practice, however, you’ll find you can laugh almost as easily when it doesn’t. There’s very often something you can learn to laugh at: the absurdity of the human condition, the pressures we put on ourselves, the empty threats posed by certain situations, and just the pure pleasure of being alive and having an opportunity to enjoy upcoming moments.
A few moments of laughter will generally ease whatever tension you may be feeling and set you up for performing at or near your best.
Teach Others
Difficult situations become easier to navigate when you stop focusing on your possible inadequacies and instead take on the challenge of helping others understand what’s going on and – if the situation permits – how they can better cope with it.
When you cast yourself in the role of “teacher,” you reduce the perceived need to solve the problem or perform the necessary operations. Instead, you make it appropriate and helpful to step methodically through the various required tasks, slowly, clearly, in a logically correct sequence.
No Way to Fail
Perhaps the best all-around mindset to adopt for difficult situations is one that recognizes the benefits of simply taking appropriate action, analyzing the results, and gaining the benefits of the experience.
When you adopt this mindset, there is no way to fail. Even when you don’t obtain the desired outcome, you will have learned something useful from the attempt. In many cases, you will also have altered the situation enough to make the next attempt more likely to succeed.
Of course, mindsets like these, and others just as useful, may not come naturally. You may have to work at developing them, and practice using them in situations where you’d naturally take a bleaker view. But with time and effort, you can learn to apply the most beneficial mindset to even the most challenging situations, and thereby boost your productivity and your success in both your work and your life.
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