We think he stood on a box

One of the positive things to have happened through lockdown one, in March last year – in fact a whole year ago, is having Rodney with us full time.

If you’ve been living under a rock you might not know about Rodney, my daft, fifteen-year-old Jack Russell cross Whippet (we think the Jack stood on a box) who I adore.

This positive lead to another positive which is walking said daft hound every morning. Rain, or shine, hot or cold. It forces us out, it gets us breathing and it wakes me up.

It’s been wonderful observing almost a full season of change as we stroll (he’s old) through the woods near the house. 

Something the past year has taught me is to be more mindful and to take more notice of things, rather than drifting through life, missing everything there is to see around us.

It’s given me a different perspective on things, none more so than what we saw this morning.

I’ve walked past this stretch of trees hundreds of times now without taking much notice of it. Looking at the picture, you may think the same as me.

However, this morning, having walked on a further 10 paces, I looked again. Can you see the difference?

The trees are all in a straight line. They’ve been planted, deliberately in rows to give them space and the best chance of full growth.

Now, this blog isn’t about the growing preferences of trees but about perspective. You see, I’ve looked at both views hundreds of times without truly seeing what I’m looking at. I’ve not taken the time to look at the view from a different angle and therefore gain the different perspective.

 We look at things constantly but don’t really see them as they could be, we only perceive them from our angle, our perspective.

And that’s na?ve, limiting and potentially dangerous.

In our first Mastermind meeting this week, we talked at length about the importance of getting the mix of people in the room right. That it wasn’t about being coached by me but getting the opinions of seven other people who have varying experience, ages, backgrounds, values, and goals.

 Matthew Syed calls it Cognitive Diversity and I believe it to be (one of) the most powerful things you can create in your life and business.

Different perspectives are what give us opinion, allow us to solve complex problems and you might say ‘let us see the wood for the trees’.

 I meet people, business owners all the time who have a narrow and therefore limited viewpoint on their business. Theirs. They are brilliant at making the same mistakes and repeating the same patterns. When you surround yourself with people who think differently to you, you’re gaining an enormous advantage over others. You have the power of a cognitive diverse, compound-based thought process and this can only be good for you, and your business success.

But first, you must see it.

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