Change perspective, change fate

Those who work in the field of media and marketing must know the story of Robert Taylor, an American businessman. There are many versions of the story, but it can be roughly described like this:

In the 70s of the 20th century, the whole world still knew only one type of soap: bar soap. One day, when washing his hands, Robert Taylor was annoyed because the bar of soap left a layer of foam and a layer of slime on the washbasin, completely different from the clean and fragrant image that companies often took advertising photos of. He held the bar of soap in his hand, looking at it and thinking: What can I do to make it better? What if the soap was not in solid form, but in liquid form? And... eureka, Robert Taylor thought of a way to make liquid soap - the predecessor of today's shower gels, with a cylindrical bottle and a convenient pump, ensuring cleanliness, neatness, and economy when used. At that time, Minnetonka's liquid soap - Robert Taylor's small company quickly dominated the cosmetics market share of the United States in particular and the world in general with that breakthrough initiative.

Another story is about George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, who found zippers, a common material at the time, on some clothing or footwear designs a bit inconvenient. One day, while walking in the woods, he bent down to remove thorns stuck to his pants.

After many times like that, George held a few thorns in his hand, held them up to the sunlight and looked closely, he suddenly realized: the miraculous nature had created for the small thorns an absolutely uniform ratio of hooks, with rough material that could grip firmly. Hurrying home, George de Mestral took a microscope to examine carefully, then decided to focus on researching and manufacturing a material to replace zippers - which is the popular scotch tape today. George de Mestral later joined the ranks of billionaires from that small scotch tape.

What do we see in the story of Robert Taylor and George de Mestral? That they changed their perspective, and thereby changed their destiny. Someone once said, roughly: Small minds are interested in extraordinary things, great minds are interested in ordinary things. Robert and George practiced the same: Look at the ordinary things before your eyes, but look to find the difference.

We often bind ourselves with self-created prejudices, that if it is one way, it cannot be another way, if everyone has accepted this concept, it cannot be defined differently. People also often unconsciously reject what is unfamiliar. That limits their imagination, creativity and the urge to change society. However, when we change our perspective, the familiar world will appear through a completely different lens. Changing our perspective can lead to breakthrough discoveries and initiatives at work - like Robert Taylor and George de Mestral; finding open opportunities in life; freeing ourselves from the tangle of doubt and presumption; and for many people, changing their perspective helps them discover their hidden potential, thereby changing their destiny.

We often praise today's youth for having very new perspectives. That's because perspectives are often associated with personality. They don't look at life from the perspective of the world. And the secret of successful people is to think about things that others don't think about. So what must be done to have a different perspective, to think differently? First of all, be brave enough to leave behind things that are considered certain and existing principles. Because life is always developing, knowledge is constantly increasing, nothing is certain forever. Yesterday's advantages can be today's disadvantages. Principles can help us get things done easily but also limit our vision. Finally, to repeat the advice of James Allen - author of the famous book "When people think": Where you stand today or tomorrow is guided by your own thoughts!