Have you ever driven through the rain without using your wipers? Weird question, I know, but I do have a point.  And, I am not talking about a downpour, but a nice sprinkle.  Try it sometime, only then will you understand what I am talking about!

The easiest way I have ever found to show a person the art of seeing the big picture is to look through your windshield during a Spring sprinkle.  Without using your wipers, try to look beyond the obvious rain drops that have accumulated on your windshield.  After a period of time, you won’t even notice the raindrops, but you will notice everything beyond them.  This is Seeing the Big Picture!

The reason I believe, as a freelancer, you need to check out the big picture is because it helps you to become a master prioritzer.  The big picture is the most important incentive any freelancer can have for getting out of bed and working.  The big picture is different for everyone, for me it is a stable future for my two boys.  That is why I get out of bed and work.  I choose to be a feelancer because of the flexibility I have with my schedule, which closely affects the way I raise my two boys.

I challenge you to check out the big picture or at least train your mind so that you will look for it or through it.  In the movie Patch Adams, Robin Williams talked about seeing beyond his hand, just another analogy for seeing the big picture.   Really train your mind to look beyond what is right in front of you.  If you like photography tricks, and I do, those funny pictures with someone holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a grand example of seeing beyond what is right in front of you.  Those photos at a European beach of your kids, the ones with the topless sunbather in the background are great examples of not checking out the big picture or looking beyond what is in front of you.

We all get so focused on our lives that we don’t stop to think how this second will affect the outcome of our life. How we affect other’s lives.  The whole six degrees of separation thing is unbelievable, but it is true!  We interact with so many never understanding what kind of impact we have.  Seeing the big picture really helps to put things into perspective.

Putting things into perspective leads to prioritizing which leads to efficient time management.  Efficient time management is a key tool to the success of any freelancer. Check out the big picture and you are sure to look at life in a whole new way!

photo credit: Oracio Alvarado