Yesterday I wrote about why we are not here to be average.
You can read that post here if you missed it.
In that post, I shared a list of five ideas that help support the big idea that being average is nothing to aspire to.
The first idea on that list is this:
The rarest thing in the world is a strong point of view.
If you don't want to be average, developing a strong point of view will be part of that process. I'm not talking about having strong opinions about things.
I'm referring to developing and refining big picture thinking, aka perspective.
Opinion vs Point of View
What's the difference between an opinion and a point of view?
An opinion is what someone thinks or believes about a particular subject. An element of judgment is present. Opinions don't have to be based in fact. They are subjective. They often have a thick air of heavy emotion surrounding them. They can be and often are fleeting.
Example: That dress she wore to the party last night was so ugly.
A person's point of view is their general attitude about something, or the way they look at things. It's broad. Big picture. It's often deep and robust. Another way of thinking about point of view is perspective.
Example: The author John Gray wrote about men being from Mars and women from Venus.
The two terms are closely related, but they are not the synonymous. People can have strong opinions and lack perspective. People with perspective will most certainly have opinions, but they don't define themselves through their opinions. Point of view precedes opinion and is the default mode.
It's easy to have an opinion.
It's not so easy to develop and commit to a point of view.
This is one reason why having a strong point of view is rare and elevates those with one into a different strata above average.
The Fake News Era
Why might it be important to develop a strong point of view?
For starters, the Internet has made it far too easy for anyone with an opinion and a Wi-Fi connection to spread their opinions. Sometimes these opinions snowball. For many years in the twenty-teens, we witnessed an avalanche of opinions decimating critical discourse, not to mention thinking.
When everyone and anyone was posting whatever they wanted to post online without any accountability or validity, one effect was what I call the "Fake News" era.
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook grew robustly as a result of people sharing everything and anything they're thinking regardless of its merit, use, or value. In many cases, real people weren't even behind the fake news -- artificial intelligence was.
Until enough sound-minded people called bullsh*t on the trend, these platforms morphed into ball pits of nonsense.
This proliferation of opinions led to a lot of turmoil. Thankfully, a subsequent cracking down on content that can't be verified or validated was established. Violations of the new rules about what kind of content is allowed and what's not cause content to be removed and in some cases, accounts to be shut down.
This isn't a bad thing. It points to another key differentiator between opinions and points of view. Opinions tend to be of the moment. Topical. Short-lived.
Points of view are in it for the long haul.
The Pay off of Developing a Strong Point of View
Committing to a way of seeing the world, a way of showing up to life, a way of being can be powerful. Opinions can change on a whim. Points of view are developed over time and tend to remain stalwart. I'm not suggesting points of view can't change. They can -- and as we grow, they will.
However, the change is often a refining of what already exists compared to the chaotic nature of opinion flip-flopping that leads to living in more chaos. The world is already uncertain enough as it is.
Learning how to develop a strong point of view can protect us from the chaos and let us sleep soundly at night.
It can also lead us to rewarding personal and professional opportunities. With a strong point of view in hand, we can make decisions quickly about what fits us and what doesn't. Job searching, business building, and romance seem to work out well for those with a strong point of view.
Those who are driven by their opinions often find themselves empty-handed and alone at the end of the night.
What Is Your Point of View?
When we know what we stand for, we aren't as likely to fall for the flavor of the moment. Or get caught up in fake news. Or take a job that isn't aligned with who we are.
Chances are good that you have already developed a foundation for your point of view. You may be aware of it, and you may not. I recommend spending 10-15 minutes writing down your answers to the following questions as an entry point into thinking about what your point of view is:
- What values are you unwilling to compromise no matter the situation?
- What do you believe is true about why you are here in this lifetime?
- How are you different from other professionals in your line of work?
Start here and see what you discover.
The rarest thing in the world is a strong point of view. Like a diamond or a pearl, it needs time and attention to develop. Stick with it, though, and one day you will have that precious and rare jewel that is truly yours and yours alone.
[…] in line with what I wrote in the previous post, having a strong point of view in business is essential for long-term […]