Your Power is in Your Chosen Perspective

I’m reading “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday right now.

The first couple chapters are all on our ability to perceive.

How we may use this power of perception objectively, or subjectively.

It’s the beautiful thing of having choice.

When obstacles inevitably show up in our lives, we have the choice on how we will respond.

And yes, this sounds straightforward and simple.

But, when it’s happening to us, we struggle with the objective…we lean on the subjective.

It’s why you can give your best friend great advice with their problems compared to when they are our own.

For example, when a friend is stressing over whether they should tell their partner the relationship is over, you can be objective without the emotional baggage that your friend has.

Your friend has memories, feelings, a life wrapped up with this person.

They (we) dance around the obstacle. They feel all the emotion they know is coming and it gets really scary. They lose sight of what’s beyond the obstacle as the emotional weight of it becomes too much.

So, they do nothing at all. Because that’s the best we’ve got in dealing with obstacles: learned tolerance.

You see things much more objectively.

You see that they deserve better, that it will be hard at first but doable. You sympathize with their plight, but you have no confusion about it.

You have objective clarity, not subjective worry.

When you are unsure, worried, or over-analyzing things, consider your perspective. How can you control the emotions and be objective?

Because this is the stuff that will keep us from taking action. Whether it’s leading in our business or personal life, our perception is our choice.

How can you turn this obstacle into, the way?

“There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.”

– excerpt from, The Obstacle is the Way

Originally published at https://www.karyndanielle.com on August 13, 2020.