Perspective

Looking back, most of my experiences that stand out to me are those that changed my perspective on something. Maybe it was my perspective on empathy, friendship, or computer science. Maybe it was on business, art, or culture.

The neat thing about learning a new perspective is that often times it is something we were completely blind to. A personal example is when I learned the power of empathy—the ability to see the world through someone else's lens, what bothers them, what motivates them, and what makes them happy. For a long time, I perceived the world as being largely driven by I.Q. rather than E.Q.; I was wrong. Listening to a podcast with Chris Sacca, he opened my eyes to how important empathy is when designing products. Specifically, one must empathize with the user of a product to define the product's feature set and recognize its pain points. For me, learning about things like dance, business, and social analytics enabled me see from different angles.

I've found the best way to do this is to learn about subjects outside of your domain or pick up a book of a different genre. If you're an artist, consider reading about physics. If you like nonfiction, try reading fiction.

You might just develop a new perspective.