How to Create Perspective and Get Out of Your Own Way

[00:00:00]

Sam:

Intro

Sam: Einstein said that no problem can be solved by having the same level of consciousness that created it. However, so often when we have an issue, instead of stepping back and getting perspective, we focus too closely on the problem and continue to make the same mistakes.

this episode is all about finding perspective and peeling ourselves out of narrow-minded traps to make life a whole lot easier for ourselves.

Sam has been learning to surf

Sam: So I've been learning to surf lately, and it's going okay. Okay. In the sense that when I'm in the sea, I am tied to a surfboard. And so you could call it surfing because that's apparently what surfing is. at least if you define surfing, is sunbathing and chilling in the sea, mixed with moments of panic clumsiness, and which case it's going brilliantly.

The thing I've been having issue with is looking up. Now, as you try to stand up and steer your surfboard in a wave, you kind of want to know what your board is [00:01:00] doing because you want to stand on it. So naturally you look at your board. Now, the problem is that by looking at your board, Your body leans in the wrong way, and that makes you more unstable on the board.

And so you're not really steering it very well because you're not looking at where the board's meant to be going. You're looking at the board itself and you kind of mess everything up and fall off and or the board will lose its momentum it basically just makes everything terrible. the very thing you're looking at, the surfboard is the act that actually stops you from making the surfboard stable.

you actually need to focus at the horizon and look in the distance point your body towards the distance and the board will like follow once you trust it.

So, By directing your attention towards a point in the distance on the shore, on the left or the right, your body will naturally arrange itself in a more stable position on the board. That makes the board more stable, and you can then steer your board along the wave without actually thinking about the board itself.

And then you are surfing. now that sounds very easy. But [00:02:00] then, In the rush of the moment as the wave hits you, you're trying to catch the wave. You're trying to stand up on the board. You're trying not to fall off while standing up, and you're trying not to feel embarrassed in front of all of your friends that are watching you and they usually fall off because you forget at least one of the five things your teacher has told you.

It's a tricky situation and it's felt by all learners of various things when you're trying to do too many things at once. but. As I was in the waves and it was sunny, I was enjoying myself. I regularly found myself singing things. usually Bob Marley, to be honest, sounds super cliche, but, I couldn't help it.

but then I decided like if I'm always singing things, why don't I try and think of something that would help me remember to just bloody look up instead of falling off all the time and looking at my surfboard.

Don't look up

Sam: And I'd watched the week before the movie don't look up,

Which a few points, has lots of people chanting the words, don't look up. Don't look up. And it's a very stupid movie about. Ignoring an asteroid that's clearly coming towards,to destroy it, it's a very [00:03:00] political thing about like people just ignoring what's actually happening and just getting into silly mentalities.

But anyway, the point was I just started shouting the words don't look up because of, it was just kind of absurd. And it helped me remember that I needed to look up it actually worked. So as I be catch away from like, don't look up, don't look up, and. Obviously on my mind was that I would have to look up and see the shore, and so I did and so yeah, I did actually serve some waves

that really helped me learn the importance of looking up during the wave, but also whatever you're doing, having some more perspective and not being so blind to your situation and that maybe there's some kind of like hack that you can do for yourself to help you find perspective given whatever situation you might be, the problem that you have is usually something that you're trying to focus on and fix, and it's unnatural to try and look beyond that.

Just as with the surfboard, you want to look at the surfboard, but the actual way to fix it is to look at the shore.

and one of the great things about this hack of saying don't look up was because that movie very much spoke to my identity of [00:04:00] who I think I am and who I want to be. And I think of myself as someone that does have rational thinking and does look for perspective and doesn't just want to sit in their own blind beliefs.

And not think about the problems. And so I started looking up

that helped me go from junior class and surfing to the intermediate class.

doing that was super cool.

Surfing is like driving

Sam: this concept actually just really applies in so many other places in the same way, like. When you learn to drive, it's the exact same sort of problem. You know, you're trying to deal with, like steering the car, you're trying to deal with accelerating, you're trying to deal with braking, checking mirrors, traffic, not damaging your car, not killing people, not killing yourself, not embarrassing yourself in front of other occupants in the car.

not running over any children or puppies. And if you're in the UK you might actually be thinking about changing gears. I know in America You all drive automatics, which, is very lazy, but, you know,it's pretty nice. I'll probably end up driving an automatic one day.

and that definitely makes it more complicated and yeah, it's stressful when you're trying to do all these things, and because of that stress, you're kind of trying to get [00:05:00] everything right all at once. But you don't have time to look at perspective of where the car is going.

when they study new drivers are looking at their eyes. They're looking like really close to where the car is, and they're working out how to steer in just very like immediate few meters in front of them. And that leads to like very erratic and jerky, driving with frequent moments of panic as they swerve to avoid things such as puppies and children.

Whereas experienced drivers will just look much further down the road at coming turns and hazards, and they'll anticipate things they need to plan for whilst the rest of the driving happens.

Surfing and driving is just like any sport

Sam: And it's the same with Any sports pretty much like skiing, rollerblading, basketball, soccer. You always wanna be like looking for perspective and like anticipating the things as they happen rather than dealing with it in the second as it hits you because then it's a surprise and you don't know what to do

Life analogy

Sam: it's literally the same for life because when things happen and you just react to them and you're like, oh God, I have to deal with this thing.

It's just very surprising and like everything else that you might be doing with your life or trying to do. We'll just get sidelined and you can't really anticipate or plan for [00:06:00] events. Whereas when you get some perspective on where you're going with your life and what you want to be doing, it's a lot easier to actually sort of work out what is a rational response as you're going along and plan for the hiccups in life and just be a lot more sensible.

Running a business analogy

Sam: the same with running a business. If you're launching a startup, it's just. A really scary, stressful endeavor where you're constantly learning new skills. You're constantly putting out fires and just trying to do everything all at once.

but if you don't look up, if you fail to plan for the major things, then that will kill your business.

now an experienced founder will usually have a more natural ability to keep their eye on the horizon and run their business with intention and build towards where they want to go without having the small hiccups turn into giant things that they can't deal with, cuz.

Being focused on the short term leads to not addressing the things in the long term that will kill a startup. And the biggest things that will kill a startup are like a founder conflicts and founder burnout. Not achieving product market fit, not having the right amount of money when something blows [00:07:00] up in your face and just not building a sustainable revenue model or.

Solving a problem. and so many founders do that because they're just constantly in like the very small minute details of the thing they're concerned about rather than the bigger picture of the whole business.

But once you look up, you can truly start to assess the things and the operations in the business which will lead towards actively executing on the vision for the business and achieving its goals.

Looking up naturally drives your priorities and forces you to rebalance yourself and steer the business towards its goals. Now, I'm not saying that it's easy, just like riding a surfboard isn't easy and everything is hard for the first time and will involve many moments of panic and awkward clumsiness.

Get some perspective

Sam: The point is, whatever you're doing, find a way to ensure that you're always Breaking out of whatever you're doing to get some perspective, whether that's a meeting with someone to help you, such as like with a therapist or with a business coach, or a life coach or a sports coach.

why these people are so important to help you get some perspective on what you're doing and stop being lost in [00:08:00] your problems because, When I was surfing, I needed a surfing coach to tell me, just look at the horizon. That's what you do, cuz of the natural thing is to just look at the surfboard and it's the same with all these other problems, whatever it is that you're doing.

Sorry, I've said this like a million times, but it's just so important and really part of why people fail. It's so much stuff. And so over time you'll find a system that works for you, whether that's like shouting, don't look up at yourself or more sensible things like having planning time, weekly review sessions, engaging with mentors Regular meeting with peers and friends that are doing stuff that's similar to you learning from their problems.

and remember that whenever things feel really hard and you're just really trying to struggle with everything, you really do just need some perspective and you need to look up. when you think about the absurdity of the movie, don't look up where they are.

Literally just choosing to avoid thinking about this asteroid that's coming towards Earth by not looking up. It really is an analogy to whatever problem you are in refusing to like properly deal with it by looking up and getting some perspective, because that's the only way you'll [00:09:00] ever solve your problems.

Now you can use this for so many things in life, relationships, new jobs. Being a parent, travel, just life as a whole, whatever you're doing, having some perspective will always help. So start looking up.

and learn to see things from a different angle, angle.

Outro

It is said that the right perspective makes the impossible possible. And with that, have a blooming great week. And remember that life is to be enjoyed and enjoying yourself. Starts with enjoying today. So be kind to yourself, have some fun, and whilst you're at it, be kind to someone else too. Thank you so much for listening. Go you. Your consistency to reach the end of an episode is legendary, my hero. If you have any ideas or feedback for the show, I'm always interested to hear from you. You're the best studies show. We need time for information to sink in, so I'm going to give you a five second pause, silence to reflect on one idea from the show before [00:10:00] you jump back into your busy life.

Ready and go.