I read this quote recently.
"A Lifetime Spent Noticing Begins to Turn into the Ability to See What Others Can't" - Seth Godin - The Icarus Deception.
This is not the first post I've done on The Icarus Deception. Here is another post I did a few months back that covered another quote from that same book.
http://matlokblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/risk-of-sinking-vs-value-of-swimming.html
Bottom line, it's a good book that you should check out!
Noticing and observing is something we all do. Fortunately, this is a skill that we can all strengthen and use more effectively.
I believe noticing things is primarily about making a difference.
I've been consuming quite a few things lately that talk about noticing and observation. Since I have consider myself a person who appreciates the nuances that comes from noticing and observing, I thought I would write down and communicate what I am thinking about this subject.
In the Steve Jobs Biography, by Walter Isaacson, we see that Steve Jobs learned at a young age to have attention to detail. His dad while working on a fence showed him that the part of the fence that no one would see should be just as nice as the side that everyone saw. This attention to detail has defined Apple products ever since.
I read this article about Steve Jobs that I thought was very interesting. It showed how he observed things differently than others, and we all know the rest is history.
Article about Steve Jobs - Observation and Steve Jobs - Article by Joe Navarro http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spycatcher/201309/observation-and-steve-jobs
Another series of books I've read are The Noticer and The Noticer Returns both written by Andy Andrews (The video attached below is older and I hadn't yet read the Noticer Returns when I recorded the video..It is a great book!). One of the main characters in the book "Jones" has the ability to see things that others don't see. His gift of noticing is responsible for him helping people have "Perspective" and as a result changing their life and circumstances for the better.
Another book I've read and training I went through many years ago is "The Art of Profiling" by Dan Korem - This book focuses on behavioral profiling, so that you can better understand the people you interact with. The motto of his system is "I know who you are. Good for me, Better for you." His system helps with reading people right the first time. He has developed the system with the intention of using those skills to help people that you come into contact with. Here is more on that in case you are interested. http://www.ifpinc.com/profiling.htm
The bottom line is noticing is a good skill to have and to continue to learn more about.
The more you see what is unseen to most, the more you will have an edge and advantage in almost every type of situation.
One thing that works against noticing is to be too comfortable in a situation. When we get too comfortable, we have a tendency to stop noticing things. If you find yourself getting too complacent, it may be good to try to observe things from a different view.
One of the best ways to notice things you may be missing is to have feedback from other people. This may mean allowing other people to speak into your life and giving them a voice.
This can be a dangerous thing to do. It can be the type of exercise that demands us to change what we are doing and how we are living.
With that in mind it is wise to be careful whom you let speak into your life.
I have heard it said, that we should be careful whom we get our relationship and financial advice from. A broke person isn't a good person to get financial advice from. Equally, you don't want to get relationship advice from someone who has a poor track record with relationships.
If you have friends whose life is a mess, yet they are quick to tell you how to live your life, you may want to think twice about taking advice from them. If you listen at all to Dave Ramsey, you know that just because someone has a big house and nice cars and lots of toys doesn't mean that you should listen to them when they give you financial advice.
People with the skill of noticing and observation, usually discern and know deep down what is best for them. Don't ignore that gut feeling! There is nothing wrong with purposely putting space between you and people that are not helping you become the person you believe you were intended to become.
Also remember in this social media driven world, people often try to present that their life is great and rope you in to their way of thinking. A close view of people's pictures can often reveal telling things about how things are really going.
Here is a cool test you can take to see how good you are at reading emotions as seen through the eyes-only.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/well-quiz-the-mind-behind-the-eyes/?_r=0
Depending on how well you do with that test you will see that there is a lot more going on than most people reveal in their perfect social media world.
I'm still learning that you have to see beyond what is on the surface. This can be hard to do, but in the long run it is worth it.
The goal is not to have an unfair advantage, or to try to manipulate people. If you use these skills for the wrong reasons, you are missing the point. That should never be the objective.
Like in The Noticer books, this skill is used to be a benefit, and is shared with people to make a difference. Use the skills to build people up, not to tear them down.
The thought for today is, What are you missing?
What in your life is good that you don't see? What in your life is bad that you are missing and ignoring?
Who are you allowing to talk into your life? Positive people, who are doing good? Or are you allowing broke folk (who are broke not just financially, but emotionally and spiritually too), who are jaded and have a chip on their shoulder to speak into your life.
Be careful not to let these type of people to have a voice in your life and influence you, rather do your best to notice and possibly help influence them to improve.
One way we all can improve is by having good people to speak into our life. One of the easiest ways to do this is through reading good uplifting books, listening to sermons and noticing and consuming things that are benefiting our lives, and souls while avoiding the things that are tearing us down.
So we come back to the original quote that inspired this post
"A Lifetime Spent Noticing Begins to Turn into the Ability to See What Others Can't"
I hope this will encourage you to have an appreciation to start noticing things that you may be missing and be able to make a difference in a positive way.
If you would like watch a video version of this post, click this video link below (Unfortunately the video quality is not that great. You will probably notice that I don't have the same attention to detail as Steve Jobs:).
