Tunnel Vision

There is something I reckon is really important I differentiate between. One to me is good, while the other is to be avoided. They are being single minded and tunnel vision.
Why I reckon tunnel vision is not a good look, is that tunnels tend to exclude anything else. The nature of the tunnels I have been in is they tend to be dark, confined and shut out anything else. To me they are good for what I use them for in cutting the distance between one place and another, but they are not good for a big picture view. If I want to know the lay of the land a tunnel is not the place to get it. I have nothing against tunnels, and I reckon they are great. In so many ways they are positive. Tunnel vision on the other hand, I see as negative.
I sorta think the international fashion model, Gigi Hadid was on the right track when she said “I've learned that if I only put my mind to one thing that I can get tunnel vision. Then I may not be as open to other opportunities because I'm so focused on one thing. I think what's worked better for me personally is I have three goals every day: be nice, work hard, and make friends.”
They are great goals. I do like that she says I can get tunnel vision. I do think however that focusing on one thing is important, and I see that as being single minded. The motivational speaker Simon Sinek describes a more single-minded view to me when he states “Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options.”
There is a Canadian journalist called Carl Honore who is the head of something called “The Slow Movement.” He said something I like. “Research has shown that time pressure leads to tunnel vision and that people think more creatively when they are calm, unhurried and free from stress and distractions. We all know this from experience.”
Personally, I have no problem with time pressures. In fact, one of the things that set me apart at work is I would always ask my boss when something needed to be done by. They were always reasonable in the time they set. On the other hand those with tunnel vision can be unreasonable. I saw a video of a boss giving something to someone for the first time and saying they needed it by Monday (they didn’t and it was Friday). The person being addressed picked up the phone and said to the boss “well you ring my wife and tell her why I can’t go to dinner tomorrow night like we were planning to.” The boss refused to ring and set a more reasonable time.
I have found this sort of thing so important in my personal life. There is heaps I need to do without neglecting the other things. Even well-meaning people can be unreasonable to us if we let them. It is too easy to get caught up in one thing and neglect just as important things. Without compromising my goal, I would rather be able to respond to what is around me, then to be so buried in my task that I miss other opportunities - be they life changing or making a kid’s day by being interested.