How often do you take a step back? If you've been to an art gallery or hung pictures in your home, or bought clothing, then you'll know the importance of stepping back, in order to gain the full view.
By taking a step back we encourage the whole picture to come into focus. Artists will lean away or step back innumerable times, and the larger the piece, the further back they will go. They survey the visual, but also get an impression and a feeling from the work as a whole. This dance between forwards, up close, and onward, is balanced with backwards, distance and pause.
Stepping back can reveal pieces, possibilities and pathways that are obscured when your nose is pressed forwards, and you're in close.
When you take a step back in your life, you press pause, take a deep breath, wait a bit, change scenery or location or move onto another project or idea. By doing this you accomplish three crucial things:
1. You gain perspective. You see the interplay and interaction between all the pieces in your life, and measure the choices and actions against your values and needs. You'll notice connections and options that are often obscured when you're focused on only one section.
2. Errors and mistakes are easier to see. Mistakes are part of the gig no doubt, and are important, but you can save a few errors, time, energy, money and pain, by remembering that going forwards, sometimes means taking a step back.
3. You see the beauty. You enjoy the process and journey more by assessing where you've come from, and where you're going. All of it is your life, so from time-to-time, relish in the process, obtain a different view and take it all in.
