So, what’s with the name, The High Altitude View? Years ago, as I was flying across country, sitting in my comfy window seat, I was fascinated by the view below. As I flew over towns, mountain ranges, canyons and rivers I noticed that I had a completely different and unique, new perspective on the size and scale of our country. In some respects, our gigantic geographical territory is too large to comprehend. But I wondered, how can I connect this perspective to my “ground level”, day to day life?
Flying over the country I could see landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and the Great Lakes, but I also could see how the various highways and small roads all came together to form our cities, towns and communities. Obviously, the reason I was able to see so much is because I was at such a high altitude. That perspective started to give me a truer sense of the big picture.
Some time later I started to think about this in terms of my business. I realized that it wasn’t always just about me sitting across from a client trying to help them solve their problem, or fill a particular need. It was really a lot more involved than that. And once I started taking the “higher altitude view” of my business, I began to see more clearly what was really important. And that was to try and help people accomplish all the things in their lives that they wanted to accomplish. If I was able to do that, then I knew I would accomplish everything that I needed to accomplish. And that became a great way for me to think about looking at the big picture; by taking the highest altitude view in every situation; even, maybe especially, outside of my business.
The way I think about, when I am mentally standing at “ground level”, I can only see the things that are right in front of me. And even as I turnaround, I still have only limited vision from that viewpoint. As I mentally take myself to the “rooftop”, I can see more, and better understand, patterns and flow. And as I go even higher in my thinking, say on a “tower”, or in an “airplane”, I could see things come into focus in a different way. Things make more sense to me now.
So as I’ve progressed through my career and my life, I’ve tried to adopt the highest altitude view possible in all aspects of my life. It helps me to go beyond my own limiting beliefs and assumptions. It helps me to become less judgmental and broaden my own horizons. And that makes me better able to serve others.
So, I decided to name my blog The High Altitude View. As I go forward with this, I will just simply write when the spirit moves, and when I think I have something of value to share. At the end of the day, I hope there is some value to you in reading my blog and that you will join me in taking the highest altitude view in your own life.