Master The Ability To See Through The Eyes Of Others

On any topic, what you feel to be supremely important may not match the viewpoint of others. You need to be able to understand and express both viewpoints – yours and theirs.

Seeing broadly does not mean only that you open your mind to relative perspective, but it also means you open your mind to the ideas of others. This reflects the fact that an individual who is able to see broadly can pursue, with an open mind, keenly and aggressively, the thoughts and points of view of other individuals. To understand relative worth means to recognize that your viewpoint is not necessarily that of others. The things which you feel to be very important are not necessarily the same things that another feels to be important.

For example, when purchasing a car, your spouse may value color, size, and comfort; while you could be considering the power, cost, and fuel consumption. While it is true that we naturally gravitate towards believing that our points of view are the only relevant ones, another individual feels exactly the same way, despite the fact that they hold a totally different point of view.

Seeing broadly means we can accept that different point of view, work within it, understand it, and if need be come to their point of view. You must work at being able to not only be tolerant of another person’s point of view and recognize that they have a point of view, but also be able to understand it to such a degree that you can express it clearly.

Mastery of this means being able to take their point of view and defend it as if it were our own, without perhaps their personal conviction. To truly see broadly is to be able to present the other person’s point as clearly, succinctly, and effectively as that person could. If we can do so then we clearly do see from their perspective. This gives us the ability to make the best possible judgments – because we can see clearly from both, or all, sides!