Perspective – The Bigger Picture

You know that feeling when something you were looking forward to, suddenly is off the table?

 

In the past few weeks I’ve missed out on a couple of projects, even a really big one I was sure of, and it sucks. But that’s it. What more is there to it? Okay, I did probably complain about it a little and I’m bringing it up again right here, but it happened to coincide with me getting some great advice just for situations like this.

 

I follow a guy online who’s a really succesful entrepreneur. You might know him or maybe not, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is refreshing as hell and brutally honest. His name is Gary Vaynerchuck. He said something in one of his videos the other day that really stuck by me:

 

“Every day I convince myself, that a major tragedy has happened to me. At some point today I may pretend that my children got hit by a bus and died. I know it’s weird, but I want to feel it because coming in (at the office) and loosing a client, having a great executive quit or something completely different, it doesn’t matter! It becomes secondary.

 

When you are grateful for what you have instead of being worried about what you don’t have, you are in a totally different mindset.”

– Gary Vaynerchuck

 

Being a father myself, it is truly horrible to try and imagine that happening to you. But it could be anything really. Maybe your own good health or someone else close to you. These things in life means everything and yet it’s so easy to take for granted.

 

One step further

 

To put your life further into perspective you might enjoy this article by Ali Binazir M.D., M.Phil.

It goes over what the chance of you even being born is. There’s a great infographic here and he sums it up like this:

 

“So what’s the probability of your existing?  It’s the probability of 2 million people getting together – about the population of San Diego – each to play a game of dice with a trillion-sided dice. They each roll the dice, and they all come up the exact same number – say, 550,343,279,001.

 

A miracle is an event so unlikely as to be almost impossible.  By that definition, I’ve just shown that you are a miracle.

 

Now go forth and feel and act like the miracle that you are.”

– Ali Binazir

 

That is insane! I’m even typing this out on a high-end computer, in my own home, with the lights on, radiators pulsing, nice and comfortable, I had good meals all through the day and earlier I walked out with my family to buy a god damn Christmas tree. All of this without even fearing for their or my own safety! Put together all of that and the odds are even crazier.

 

Your 3D software might crash and set you back. Clients come and go. You can’t go to some event because of this and that. Your toilet is leaking and causing damage to your hardwood floor. And our bitching goes on and on. I’m guilty of this too!

 

There’s so much stuff we constantly complain about. It seem’s like we are just wired that way. The negative weigh heavier than the good stuff. That’s why Gary’s quote above makes sense. Scary as it may sound, it really puts all of your “problems” into perspective.

 

I’m going to be get better at seeing all the good things in my life that I already have and take for granted. Stop complaining and take responsibility for every situation. No one else will. I’ll work on my patience and continue working towards my goals.

 

This is not my new years resolution. Fuck that. Why would I want to wait for 2017 to begin before improving my life? My mindset is already starting to change and if you want change, start now!

 

We all know how important perspective is to our drawings/images. Let’s apply it to life as well.

 

So with this small rant, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 😉

 

See you in 2017!

Jens Suhr Andersen - Architect & Founder

If you have any questions or just want to say hi, please feel free to contact me. I'll do my best to answer you as soon as I can.