November 9, 2021

Zooming

To miss the forest for the trees is a problem.

But it’s just as problematic to miss the trees for the forest.

Being stuck in one mode or the other reflects a rigidity of focus.

If you don’t zoom in and out periodically to maintain an accurate perspective, your thinking will be either:

too small to make a meaningful impact, or
too abstract to be effective in the real world.

Here’s the thing...

To my pragmatic, detail oriented friends, maybe devote one day a month to zooming out by imagining the impact you’d like to have on the world or what you’d like to be known for or what you’d like your obituary to say.

And to my idealistic, abstract thinking friends, maybe devote one day a month to zooming in by quietly listening to folks who disagree with your ideas in hopes of understanding the nuances of their objections.

Whichever one you need to do, I’d be willing to bet that doing so would make you more effective at reaching bigger goals.

Yours,

—J