Differences
The Window
- Perspective Outward: A window lets you look outside yourself. It’s about observing the world, other people, opportunities, and realities that exist beyond your immediate space.
- Discovery & Curiosity: Windows invite curiosity. They’re about learning, seeking, and understanding what’s “out there,” the unknown, the future, possibilities.
- Separation: There’s a boundary, a pane of glass that keeps you apart from what you see. You’re a spectator, not always a participant.
The Mirror
- Perspective Inward: A mirror reflects you back to yourself. It’s about self-examination, self-awareness, and facing your truth—flaws, strengths, and all.
- Honesty & Intimacy: Mirrors don’t lie. They force you to reckon with what’s real inside you—your motivations, wounds, dreams, and shadows.
- No Separation: There’s no “other side.” What you see is YOU, up close and personal.
Similarities
- Both Reveal Truths: Windows reveal truths about the world; mirrors reveal truths about yourself.
- Both Require Courage: It takes courage to look out the window and see the world for what it is, messy, beautiful, sometimes harsh. It takes just as much courage (maybe even more) to look in the mirror and see yourself clearly.
- Both Can Distort: Dirty windows or cracked mirrors can warp what you see. Your biases, fears, and stories can cloud both your external and internal vision.
- Both Offer Opportunity for Growth: Whether you’re peering out or gazing in, each can be a starting point for transformation—if you’re willing to really see and acknowledge.
When the Mirror Becomes the Window to Your Soul
Looking into a mirror isn’t just about seeing your face; it’s about seeing through your face, into your essence. When you truly engage with your reflection, the mirror becomes transparent. It’s no longer just a surface; it’s an opening—a window—into your soul.
How?
- Radical Self-Honesty: When you move past surface-level vanity and confront your deepest self (your fears, desires, wounds, hopes), the mirror stops being just a reflection. It becomes a portal to self-understanding.
- Self as Universe: Sometimes, what you find in the mirror is the same complexity, beauty, and chaos you see through the window. The world outside and the world inside aren’t so different. Both vast, layered, and worthy of exploration.
- Empathy & Connection: The more you understand yourself (mirror), the more you can connect authentically with the world (window). Self-awareness breeds empathy, which turns the window into a bridge, not a barrier.
Window vs. Mirror: The True Test of Leadership, Legacy, and Self
When was the last time you stood at that proverbial “fork in the road?” In that moment, it’s quiet, it’s sharp, and it’s brutally honest when you find yourself standing between two choices.
How often do you look out the window, watching the world exist? Watching what you think is the competition outperforming you? Wondering, why isn’t that me?
Or do you stare into the mirror, confronting the truth within?
This isn’t just philosophy. This is about endurance, strength, and fortitude. Every leader, every change-maker, every person who’s ever dared to dream bigger than their circumstance faces this choice, again and again.
I know this crossroads well.
I’ve stood there, in Ohio, in Greece, and even in Alaska, in the tension of transitions.
And I’ve seen too many get stuck, staring endlessly out the window, waiting for something to change, and, at the same time, avoiding the mirror because what’s reflected is too raw and too real.
But here’s the truth: Growth—real, lasting, transformational growth—demands both. You need the window. And, you need the mirror. Most importantly, you need the courage to know when to use each.
Let’s break it down.
Part I: The Window – Looking Outward
The window is vision. It’s curiosity. It’s the yearning for something more.
When you look out the window, you see the world as it is and as it could be. How well do you see opportunity and challenge? How often do you see the challenge as an opportunity? How often do you see the competition? More importantly, how often do you see the competition envy, or maybe with inspiration? How clearly do you see the legacy you want to build, the lives you want to touch, the impact you ache to make, the significance you want others to feel?
The window is where we should:
- Scan for Opportunity: What’s out there that I haven’t tried? Who’s doing what I want to do, and how are they moving?
- Measure the Landscape: Where are the gaps? Where do I fit? What’s missing in the world that only I can offer?
- Dream Bigger: The window is where you let your imagination run wild. It’s where you see the horizon and dare to believe you can reach it.
Now, here’s the catch:
The window is seductive. It’s easy to get lost watching other people’s stories, chasing trends, or comparing your behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.
You can spend your whole life looking out, waiting for the world to give you permission.
How many times have you felt stuck, frustrated, or overlooked—watching others move, while you’re seemingly standing still?
That’s the trap of the window: it will turn you into a spectator of your own life, if you let it.
Part II: The Mirror – Looking Inward
The mirror is brutal honesty. It’s self-awareness. It’s the place where the stories we tell ourselves meet the truth.
When we look in the mirror, we see ourselves—not as we wish we were, but as we are.
We see our scars, our gifts, our patterns, our pain.
We see the cycles we keep repeating, the dreams we keep deferring, the greatness we keep hiding because we’re afraid of what it would cost to step into it.
The mirror is where we should:
- Face Our Truth: What am I avoiding? What stories am I telling myself that keep me small?
- Own Our Power: What have I survived? What strengths have I built in the fire?
- Confront Our Shadows: What patterns am I repeating? What wounds am I carrying that need healing before I can lead?
The mirror is brutal. It’s not for the faint of heart. But it’s also where freedom begins.
How often do we avoid the mirror? …numbing out, staying busy, blaming others—because we’re afraid of what we’ll see?
That’s the mirror’s challenge: it demands radical self-honesty.
Part III: When the Mirror Becomes the Window to Your Soul
If you’re brave enough to keep looking—past the surface, past the fear—the mirror transforms.
It stops being just about your reflection. It becomes the window. Your window to your soul.
This is where you find:
- Purpose: When you know who you are, you know what you’re here to do.
- Clarity: When you see your patterns, you can break them and choose a new path.
- Courage: When you’ve faced yourself, nothing outside can intimidate you.
The leaders who build legacies, who change lives, who leave the world better than they found it. These are the ones who turn the mirror into a window.
They see themselves, and then they see through themselves—to the work that needs doing, the people who need leading, the legacy that needs building.
The Day I Chose the Mirror
This is irony in motion. I chose the mirror, but I have to choose it continually. For lack of better words, this is one of my continuous struggles.
When our business stalls. If our message isn’t landing. We may start watching others—out the window—winning, while we feel stuck on the sidelines.
We can blame the market. We can blame timing. We can blame everything outside the window. But the real shift comes when we sit down, close the laptop, and look in the mirror.
We must ask ourselves hard questions:
- Where am I playing small?
- What am I afraid to say?
- What pain am I avoiding by staying busy?
It hurts. But in that pain, we found our power.
We can see how our fear of being “too much”—too bold, too raw, too unapologetic—can keep us from reaching the very people we were called to serve.
When we embrace our full truth, our brand will find its rhythm. Our voice gets sharper, deeper, and more resonant.
Clients will start finding us—not because we were watching them, but because we finally see ourselves.
That’s how the mirror became our window. And that’s how I want you to experience this work, too.
The Legacy You Leave
The window and the mirror aren’t opposites. They’re partners in your growth, your leadership, your journey. Look out. Look in.
Then, move boldly, unapologetically—toward the life, the impact, and the legacy you were born to build.
Stay bold. Stay true. And remember: the world is watching, but your soul is calling.
Which will you answer first?
Practical Application
- Leadership: Leaders who only look out the window may miss their own blind spots; those who only look in the mirror may become self-absorbed. The magic happens when you use the mirror to check your soul, then use the window to act with clarity and purpose in the world.
- Personal Growth: Journaling, meditation, and honest self-reflection are mirror work. But growth also demands you step to the window—take risks, connect, and engage with life outside.
- Legacy: Your legacy is built at the intersection—when you know yourself deeply (mirror) and pour that truth into the world (window).
Reflective Prompt for You:
When was the last time you looked in the mirror—not just at your face, but into your soul? And what did you see that changed the way you show up in the world beyond your window?
