John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Personal Success

Idea 36: A sense of perspective

All the troubles of life come upon us because we refuse to sit quietly for a while each day in our rooms.

Blaise Pascal, French philosopher and mathematician

For some people a time of quiet and reflection is a daily necessity. As Peter Walker, a former British Secretary of State, points out, one of the benefits of reflective thinking is a sense of perspective:

At some stage during the day, often during the evening, I make time for an hour's meditation. I sit in an armchair, perhaps with a glass of whisky, and consider what's going to happen tomorrow. I think of what the importance of it all is. I think of family things.

What it does is to put life into perspective. Something which at 10am seemed a terrible worry ...