Gaining Perspective on Your Perspective

From the perspective of Olga M BergstromMay 17, 2014

Know Thyself…An Ancient Greek Adage

Thales of Miletus (c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Many regard him as the first

philosopher in the Greek tradition.

“The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.”

When asked about the easiest: ”To Give Advice.”

Perspective

○ What is a perspective?

○ Why is it important for us to assess our own?

○ How do we go about diving deeper?

Each person’s perspective is as unique as a fingerprint…and evolves over time.

Quick Definitions

○ A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

○ True understanding of the relative importance of things; a sense of proportion.

○ Physically: Vantage point. Vista.

The Importance of Self-Knowledge

○ It is good to know how and why we think the way we do.

○ It is good to search for where we belong and what we are meant to do.

○ It is good to understand how and why we relate to others the way we do.

Why do we care?

“Never explain yourself. Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.” - Ziad K. Abdelnour

Not true. Your friends are the ones who really want to know.

○ Communicate

○ Empathize

○ Build community

○ Grow through compromises

○ Grow your overall knowledge

○ Be more gentle with yourself and others

Subjectivity

Normal

Smart

love

poor

RICH happy

Weird

Does anyone share the exact perspective?

Assessing Yourself

Common Denominators:○ Personality Tests

○ Work style Assessments

○ Books, Movies, Shared Activities

Find a common understanding to better interpret the similarities and differences in one another.

½ + ¼ = ?

Reviewing your own perspective: Going Big to Small

What does it mean to you… ○ …to be part of the planet Earth?

○ …to be human?

○ …to live in North America?

○ …to live in the US?

○ …to live in California?

○ …to live in your current location?

○ …to be from the place where you grew up?

○ …to have lived in your household?

○ …to have siblings? How many? Where were you in the birth order?

Reviewing your own perspective: Personal Responses & Characteristics

○ What would you say are your most positive influences? Why?

○ What has affected you negatively? Why?

○ What do you find fascinating?

○ What brings you joy?

○ What do you find repulsive?

○ What do you find easy?

○ What do you find difficult?

Is your view of the world affected by all of these things?

Life as a Bell Curve

Conclusion

○ Question yourself.

○ Question what you take for granted.

○ Talk to others about their perspectives.

You are worth the research.

You are unique and special …just like everyone else. ☺