The Value of Perspective

It has been a little over three months since I left Merit Travel Group in the aftermath of selling the business, and I don't mind sharing that it has been a struggle. A struggle to recover my personal identity outside of "what I do." A struggle to allow myself to move a little bit slower. A struggle to accept that a major passion of mine is now in someone else's hands. This is particularly acute considering I have been associated with one thing for the majority of my life and the entirety of my professional life.

Anybody whom has been in my position knows that there is no shortage of questions asked, including "what are you going to do now?". For the last decade I had not struggled with this question. The answer to me was obvious. Now, it isn't. How could it be? Accepting that has been the main struggle. Uncertainty, not about corporate strategy or investment plans or which project to prioritize, but rather about where to focus your skills or mental power without constraint for as some people say "the rest of your life." This is an unfair question on the best of days. This is even more unfair to answer with when your "identity" is tied up in something that you no longer do. This is not a unique struggle, but the first time that I have experienced it. So I did what everybody says you should do; I read, I reconnected with friends, I spent more time in the gym and the cooking in our house has improved drastically. 

In doing this and in pushing myself to accept that moving slower is allowed, I have started to understand something that I consider important but couldn't truly appreciate: the value of perspective. If you are at all like me, you have one gear: full speed. Perspective is, by definition, a particular way of considering something. When you are moving at full speed your perspective is, like when in a fast car, blurry at best. I have now realized that it is impossible to have perspective while running at full speed. 

Intellectually, I have always understood that taking time away from work is important. That as leaders we should even begin to put specific time in our days with nothing scheduled, where we allow ourselves the time to gain a certain perspective. Until experiencing a forced reduction in speed when I left Merit, I hadn't truly understood the importance of this. I do now. 

Slowing down has allowed me to consider the importance of perspective, of forcing yourself to slow down, even if you think going at full speed is the only way to go. I can tell you that it isn't. I can also tell you that the way that your view on the world will change drastically by just allowing yourself to take a step back on get a new look at something.

I still do not know "what I am going to do next." I am also allowing myself to be okay with that. I'm looking forward to using my newfound perspective to help to answer that question. I would encourage all leaders to slow down, disconnect from the things you think must be done today (most of the time they aren't and they will still be there tomorrow) and use the space to gain a different, less blurry perspective.