Get Up On the Balcony
The ability to rise above the din, to see the bigger picture, to hear the bigger story, is more important than ever in our disrupting, accelerating world. Being your own drone lets you see over the horizon. With this view, you have greater vision, deeper self-observation, and wider discovery. Like a drone, you can observe, hover, move forward or backward or sideways at will. You can train your Conscious mind to see connections, interdependencies, and where change. It is truly the way to Think Big, one of four practices that create the path to becoming more conscious and aware as described in my new book, Conscious: The Power of Awareness in Business and Life.
Be Both Participant and Observer
To empower yourself to Think Big, you need to simultaneously be an engaged participant and a wise observer. Step off the dance floor onto the balcony and become a participant observer. Metacognition – understanding your own thought processes – allows you to see yourself and others more clearly than ever before.
Think about a time in your life when you were too obsessed with yourself, when you lost perspective on what was important and risked a job, a customer, or a relationship. If we live without a bigger perspective, we only learn of our obvious blunders through the 20/20 vision of hindsight.
If you are capable of rising above yourself, of being your own drone, you’ll no longer need to see your mistakes through the lens of regret. Activating your drone, and thinking about your thought process, is the key to seeing emotions, events, and relationships as data that inform how you make your next move.
The Daily Lift
Most of us struggle to see the world from our drones. Our short-term, short-sighted lives on the ground keep us from seeing at a distance. We are limited right from the start in recognizing just how vast our horizon really is. Our mind plays tricks on us, too. Fear of the unknown stops us from imagining the future. Too much humility undermines our confidence to take risks. Being too biased in our thinking keeps us locked in a box. All of this gets in the way of big thinking.
Tips for Conscious Living
- Practice being a participant and observer at the same time. While in a meeting, become an observer by noticing how you are showing up – your impact on others’ emotions, the quality of your listening and presence, how much talking you are doing, your body language. Notice the dynamics in the group. Join the conversation as you make real-time adjustments to your behavior.
- Move constantly between the balcony and the dance floor. The speed of change requires you to be constantly adapting, so get on the balcony and get a new perspective, then step back on the dance floor to put the plan in action.
- Understand your external environment and context. Getting on the balcony is about understanding your customers’ needs and your competition, as well as industry, political, technological, and social trends and how these might impact your business.
Think Big is one of the four practices of becoming more Conscious. The others are Go Deep, Get Real, and Step Up. You can learn more about how these steps can help you become more Conscious at home and at work in my new book, Conscious: The Power of Awareness in Business and Life.
