Taking Time to Gain Perspective

𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. I saw this beautiful bird while I was out mountain biking yesterday. I think it's a Swainson's Hawk. 

I had just started to ride down from the peak of the hill I had summited when I saw it about 30 feet away. Just gorgeous and majestic and perched on a fence post! I had to stop and just take it in. 

I would guess it was taking a little time to gain 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 from this high point on the hill to figure out where its next meal might come from. The hills around me have lots of little critters for it to feast upon!

We all need to take time for ourselves sometimes to gain 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 to figure out our next steps. 

In some ways, my mountain bike rides give me 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. It's just nice to get out and have a little peace and quiet to let the challenges of the day or week ebb away. 

From a professional point of view, I've been trying to be more intentional to give myself weekly reflection time to gain 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 on what's working and what isn't. I've scheduled that time regularly. Many of the best leaders I've known have made this a habit, and boy is that time hard to hold onto.

I hold my weekly reflection time loosely, but it's been great to have the time on my calendar to force me to remember to stop and look and think about the big picture and where I want to go next.

How about you? What do you do to gain 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲? Do you have any advice or tips for the rest of us? 😊