Perspective vs. Perception: Embracing Diverse Points of View

Life by Design

Jessilyn and Brian Persson explore the topic of perspective versus perception in this episode. How different is perspective from perception and how does that affect us and our relationships? Perception is how we view the world as individuals. Our perception of things is fairly stable. Perspective, though, can change at will. We can choose to see the world from other points of view. Which one helps us better connect with others? Jessilyn and Brian have that answer.

Using very relatable personal examples, Jessilyn and Brian share times when their perception was limited and how challenging perspectives opened them up to greater expression and connection. They walk us through three takeaways that can change how we connect and move through our lives: 1. Failure is only a matter of perspective, 2. Perspective is a powerful tool, and 3. Growth requires different perspectives. The lessons and insight explored in this episode can lead to more authentic relationships, personal growth, and a way to see failure as part of greater success.

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Transcript

Jessilyn Persson: [00:00:09] Welcome to the Life by Design podcast with your hosts, Jessilyn and Brian Persson. We help couples create the wealth they desire by sharing our stories of how we broke through the barriers to create our wealth.

Brian Persson: [00:00:19] We are also the creators of the Discover Define Design framework, which supports you in resolving conflict and communicating better. We also recently created a branch of that teaching we are calling Riches Relationships and Real Estate. We have a lot of experience, and there is a lot of demand from couples who want to get on the same page so they can powerfully invest into real estate.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:00:41] Our topic today is perspective versus perception. So what do we mean when we say perspective versus perception?

Brian Persson: [00:00:50] So perception is how we as individuals view the world. Our perception of things, I would say is relatively stable. It can change as we learn new ideas and modify our perception of the world, but the new perception is still relatively stable. Perspective, on the other hand, can change at will. You can choose to see the world from different angles. We'll talk more about how perspective is a very powerful tool for connecting with others later on in this podcast.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:01:19] So why is it important?

Brian Persson: [00:01:22] I would assert that most everyone has a fairly narrow perception of the world, so imagine only understanding what you perceive. It would be very difficult to connect with a wide variety of people, because the large majority of people would not have your same perception. You guys would miss each other. I would also assert that this is why people feel most conversations are shallow, as they're only connecting on where their perceptions match. This makes perspective critical. To be able to change your perspective so you can view things from other angles allows you to get into another's world.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:01:59] Yeah, I can definitely relate to that. I do a lot of networking as I'm a part of many different women's groups, and in the groups there are a lot of people come and they're there because they want business, which that's kind of the point of networking, is to meet people and eventually grow your business. But there are people who show up and I think just expect to get business on the first day they show up. And so when, you know, I talk to them and they'll tell me everything about what they do and I'm sitting there going, okay, but you never asked me what I do. You haven't made it relatable to me. And I get it. I mean, back in the day, I'm sure I was probably similar, but a new style of how I like to network is where I'm going there not for business, if I get it, fantastic. But I'm going there to help serve other people, help them, and it's not even necessarily about their business. Like I'll go to a networking group and I'll meet some lovely ladies who I may not do business with, or maybe not at this time, but I may be able to help them if they're looking for a babysitter or a certain support with one of their kids for their teams. So it's about how I can help others as opposed to how can I get business, which is very shallow.

Brian Persson: [00:03:07] Yeah, yeah, there's always a way to get into somebody else's world and understand how to help them out. And through doing that, you can really get some powerful sales and powerful networking happening around you. It was two years ago, I think, from now that I landed a fairly large client and, how I did so was just getting into their world. I asked a lot of questions. I got into the organization. I figured out, like, what problems they were trying to solve, how I could get in there and help them out and just really, like, see behind their eyeballs and see what they're seeing. And after I was sitting down one night and I realized I hadn't given them a lick of technical background on me. And it was a website client. So you'd think that a website, you know, someone looking for a website would want to actually know that you can do websites. And they knew nothing about my technical background, but they knew because I got into their world and I got their perspective that they could trust me because I understood them.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:04:19] Yes, absolutely. So our first takeaway is that failure is only a matter of perspective. The concept of failure is subjective and hinges on one's perspective.

Brian Persson: [00:04:31] Yep, a lot of people view failure as a bad thing.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:04:34] Yeah.

Brian Persson: [00:04:35] And a lot of successful people view failure as actually a pretty good thing.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:04:41] Yeah. Especially because if you look at it from what did I learn from this failure, you're always growing.

Brian Persson: [00:04:47] So even from just that kind of 10,000 foot view of what, how you should view failure, it's really obvious that from us, especially with, you know, the number of different successful people we've met, you got to take failure on and you got to switch that perspective. You can't perceive failure as this thing that's trying to kick you down and and keep you, keep you beat up.

Jessilyn Persson: [00:05:12] Yeah. And like you say when you look at it just from your point of view, it can be very negative. And so if I take, you know, being a mom, for example, a career mom, if you will, I remember feeling like I was a failure as a mom.

Brian Persson: [00:05:28] Yeah.

Jessilyn Persson: <...