How Do I Get 1% Better Today?
The Answer: Clean Your Window
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to find fault in someone else?
A woman had a daily ritual. Every morning she would make herself a cup of tea, sit at her kitchen table, and look out the window. Across the yard, her neighbor would hang freshly washed clothes on a clothesline. Day after day, the woman would shake her head and think, “She never gets those clothes clean.” She even shared her opinion with friends, convinced her neighbor simply didn’t know how to do laundry.
One morning, a friend stopped by for tea. As they sat together, the woman pointed toward the clothesline and began criticizing her neighbor once again. Without saying a word, her friend stood up, grabbed a cloth, and wiped the kitchen window. Suddenly, the laundry looked bright, clean, and fresh.
The clothes had never been dirty. The window was.
That story has challenged me for years because it reminds me how often our perspective shapes our reality. We all have “windows” through which we view the world—our experiences, assumptions, emotions, insecurities, and expectations. When those windows become clouded, we begin to see people through a distorted lens. We assume motives, magnify faults, and miss the good that has been there all along.
Leadership always begins with the person in the mirror.
Before we criticize someone else’s attitude, we should examine our own. Before we become frustrated with another person’s effort, we should ask whether we’ve clearly communicated our expectations. Before we assume the worst, we should pause long enough to consider that maybe we’re not seeing the whole picture.
Jesus addressed this very idea in Matthew 7 when He asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” His point wasn’t that we should ignore problems. His point was that clarity begins with humility. When we clean our own window first, we gain the perspective needed to help others with grace instead of judgment.
This week, I want to challenge you to clean your window. Maybe that means replacing criticism with curiosity. Maybe it means giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it means looking for what’s right before pointing out what’s wrong. You’ll be amazed at how differently you see people when you choose to look through a clean lens.
Sometimes the greatest change doesn’t happen in the people around us. It happens in the way we choose to see them.
Never Stop Getting Better.
John Perry