How wide is your field of vision?

There are certain issues and problems in our lives that may not have immediate effect in the present, so we choose to cross that bridge when we come to it. Rather convenient indeed, yet we sometimes eventually wish we had "thought of this earlier" upon arrival. This bridge-crossing perspective affects the outcome as it influences our thinking.

The world is built by people who "crossed bridges" in their minds long before anyone else did. Words by John C. Maxwell that explain great minds and what makes them different. To anticipate a situation is one thing, and to prepare for it is a different game.

What goes on in the minds of good chess players is that they not only think of what move to play but also possible moves that could follow. They try to find the best move to play, then also evaluate the next possible move of their opponent and what to play afterwards. It goes on for as long as the player's mind is capable. That would mean that a good chess player had already thought of the move he plays before the time to play it.

Now put such a chess player with one that only crosses the bridge when he comes to it. Surely, the prepared one would always have the advantage. The game of life is the same. And it explains why waiting to figure out what to do before the situation arises is often a better move.

You can only see what's in the range of your sight, however. For humans, the angle of vision is about 180 degrees. Anything that is not within that field of vision is practically invisible to you. You can't say the same for an eagle or dragonfly with at least 340 degrees. In essence, our mind's eye won't see beyond what it is capable of.

The greatest chess players, footballers, scientists, and engineers—name them all—are only able to achieve greatness by expanding their mind's eye of vision. They crossed the bridge in their minds before they came to it. They had to expand and reach potential to do that.

You see, when I was in secondary school, I admired a certain classmate, Obi. To me, he had the biggest mind in our set and regularly sat among the top scholars. I always wondered how he effortlessly ate problems in physics like a piece of cake. On the other hand, I wouldn't even see a problem, let alone the solution. So no cake for me.

Obi must have been born with a gift and a really big brain, I often thought to myself then. There was no other explanation to me why he was just that good at physics, and I was, well, let's not finish that sentence. What I never really saw was that this boy studied regularly, and that was the real difference. Of course he would have a much bigger mind and ability to solve those problems!

The narrative changed for me many months later after I began to do the same thing. I began to study hard and learn from Obi and other big minds around me. Soon enough, I reached that level. I began to effortlessly solve physics problems, too. I then became more capable of recognising problems and also solving them. I would then go on to do well in other areas of my studies because of that foundation.

"Nurture great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thoughts." - Benjamin Disraeli.

Before you rather choose to cross that bridge when it comes, think about that choice. Perhaps playing the mental game before hand could put you a step ahead. How far ahead you get depends on your field of vision, so how are you expanding it today?