Perspective Alignment

What is perspective? It is viewpoint, because viewpoint is necessary for perception. So are there different classes or orders of perspective; distinct viewpoints from which we perceive and experience our World? Yes. NLP defines FOUR distinct perspectives and unless you exercise conscious choice over which perspective you assume in any particular situation, you stand a very good chance of operating in a perspective, unbeknownst to you, that may not serve you best.

Perspective One: Personal. Your experience is from the viewpoint of your own physical senses, from the position your body now occupies. You see as thru your own eyes, hear thru your own ears, smell thru your own nose, etc. In this perspective, we are completely associated with ourselves within the experience.

Perspective Two: Empathetic. In this perspective, we allow ourselves to experience the viewpoint of the other person, usually for the expressed purpose of creating better understanding. In Perspective Two, we are disassociated from ourselves, but not the situation. Our focus shifts to see thru their eyes, hear thru their ears with the idea of experiencing their reality from their position in time and space. A conscious and willful shift to the Second Perspective is how we increase our rapport and understanding with others, but can also work against us as unconscious identification with another at the expense of our own individualism and integrity. Cults are full of people hypnotized into switching and confusing Perspective One for Perspective Two, usually thru identification with a charismatic leader who seems to have all the answers they seek.

Perspective Three: Objective. This perspective offers the advantage of a viewpoint without being actively engaged or emotionally invested in the situation. You could say it is, "the impartial, third-party perspective." You view and experience sensory information as thru the senses of a non-partial, observing, neutral third party. In this viewpoint, you experience disassociation from both the personal perspective and an active role in the situation. It's like you become "a fly on the wall." The most prominent attribute of consciously assuming this viewpoint is objectivity; the ability to experience and process information from a completely unbiased, neutral position. Often, our best insights about moving forward come when we are free to perceive without  influence of bias and emotional preferences. Likewise, if you constantly feel a "disconnect" in some area of your life (a job you just can't get into, a task you lack motivation to complete, or a relationship to which you feel totally unable to commit), you might want to check if you are unknowingly operating from the Objective Viewpoint when you could be much better served operating from the Personal. Do you see things about the situation as if thru your own eyes in the location you now occupy? Do you hear thru your own ears, etc.; or, are you stuck a detached, disassociated, third-party perspective? If so, make the conscious choice to shift back into your Personal Perspective. Such a shift can make a real difference.

Perspective Four: Collective/Divine/Universal.       

This perspective orientation is without a doubt, mostly unfamiliar to the majority of inhabitants on this planet. It is  unusually unique and powerful because it assumes there is much more to you than you know. It is both simultaneously completely associated and disassociated. It is the viewpoint of the "Big Picture," and strives to take into account everything in regard to the situation in question. Most of us are too focused and pre-occupied with the details of our daily existence to consider frequent use or advantages of this perspective: however, there is great flexibility here when we access the tremendous power, resources and energy this perspective makes possible.

Now we have four different classifications of perspective and a workable model. How can you actually apply this information to improve life? Simple, Step One is condition your mind to take conscious note of the perspective you operate from at any given moment. With some practice, this will happen quicker than you think. Step Two: once consciously aware on a regular basis of your operational perspective, evaluate the current situation to see if it can be improved or your interests better served by shifting to a different perspective. Ask yourself, "Would this be less stressful if I stopped taking it so seriously and stepped back?" (shift from Personal to Objective) etc. 


When you hear negative or critical self-talk, do you notice the personal pronoun you being used? "You always mess things up. You should have said something, why did you keep your mouth shut?" There is LOTS of negative emotional content floating around in most of our mental landscapes, embedded by parents, teachers, authority figures, popular culture, etc. at a time and place where we probably weren't conscious enough to discern the negative impact. If most of your negative self-talk is phrased in the Second or Empathetic Perspective, shift it to Personal so you can listen to the criticism thru your own ears phrased with "I." You may be surprised to discover what you endure inside your head, now seems totally "off" because when experienced from Personal Perspective, you finally understand "I" would never tell "myself" such things.

How much of your unhappiness, glibness, lack of motivation, negative and/or critical self talk do you think can be traced back to misaligned perspectives? It only takes  a little  extra conscious examination to determine our operational perspective; and, whether the pictures and messages are truly ours. Often only a shift of perspective will bleed them of  power and the unfavorable influence they weild over our lives.