Mouse View/Eagle View: Whazzat?

It's that time of year. I'm sending invoices, finishing projects, meeting deadlines. It's time to see what worked well in 2012 and what might help me be more successful, however I define that, in 2013.

As I start winding down -- or winding up, depending on whether I feel clock-like or thread-like, I guess -- I find myself thinking a lot about mouse view and eagle view.

Here's how the basic concept works: Mice see things at ground level. Eagles see things from a higher perspective. Mice see blades of grass; an eagle sees a meadow. We live at mouse view; we dream and set goals at eagle view.

Of course I didn't invent the concept -- I first heard it at some corporate training something-or-other back when I went to those things. Here's an explanation of how you could apply those two perspectives at work. . Getting Things Done, summarized here, talks about runway view, 10,000-foot view, and up to a 60,000-foot view. 

Whatever the name, mouse view/eagle view is a concept I find particularly useful. Lately, I've noticed myself applying it in contexts other than life planning and goal setting (though there, too). Stay tuned.