Something difficult? Redefine your view

“Sometimes shifting your perspective is more powerful than being smart.” — Astro Teller, CEO of X

The very thing you see as boring or tiresome is something other people love.

You may hate math, some love it. You may despise politics, some love it. You may fear coding, some love it. You may shun marketing, some love it.

And that’s fine.

But when you need to do something you don’t normally do to get the things you want, your personal like or dislike will stand in your way.

You can let it, and accept it as a limitation. Or you can fight with it on daily basis. Or you can shift your perspective.

The last is the best.

If you can redefine math as seeing the causalities in nature and use the pieces of it that you need in something practical like data analysis or visualization, you may find yourself liking math after all.

If you can redefine politics as a set of beliefs people hold based on emotions and facts plus some personal greed and vendettas, you may begin to see how the tides of opinions form public discourse and what it means for anyone living in a modern society. Fascinating.

If you can redefine coding as automating the tedious and creating something concrete and useful from an inkling of an idea, you may begin to fall in love with it.

Lastly, if you can redefine marketing as ethical persuasion leading to an exchange of genuine value (which you offer) and serving others for money, you may begin to see every single post on social media as an opportunity to help someone, instead of a chore.

A perspective shift unlocks the realm of possibility.

There, anything is allowed.

Think about a thing you find difficult. What’s the perspective shift needed?