The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

by Andy Andrews

“I am a noticer,” he said. “It is my gift. While others may be able to sing well or run fast, I notice things that other people overlook. And, you know, most of them are in plain sight.”

“I notice things about situations and people that produce perspective. That's what most folks lack — perspective — a broader view. So I give them that broader view

Think. Learn. Pray. Plan. Dream. For soon … you will become.”

experience is not the best teacher. Other people's experience is the best teacher. By reading about the lives of great people, you can unlock the secrets to what made them great.”

That's why we read. To learn from other people's experiences.

“Your vision, my boy. It is incredibly cloudy at the moment, but I am certain we can clear a pathway from your head to your heart and into your future.”

“Here, for you, young man, is a law of the universe — one of many, to be sure, but one that is especially applicable to your life at present. Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases.”

“When you focus on the things you need,” he went on to explain, “you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have — and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose … But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life.”

“A life filled with opportunities and encouragement finds more and more opportunities and encouragement, and success becomes inevitable.”

When a person is negative, complaining, and disagreeable, other people stay away. And that person receives less encouragement and fewer opportunities — because no one wants to be around him. And we know what happens to a life without opportunities and encouragement …”

Ask yourself this question every day: ‘What is it about me that other people would change if they could?’”

I can see the benefit of asking yourself this question once in a while, but by focusing on it every day, aren't you focusing on what you're not? And, as a previous quote in the book states, whatever you focus on increases?

“The question wasn't about you in the first place. The question was, what would other people change about you if they could?”

Man's Search for Meaning.

Great book

eventually more than two hundred other biographies, I had begun to move my life in a forward direction.

I said this last year, but I need to read more biographies.

unconsciously identifying seven things that these great people all had in common — seven principles they had all employed. And I wondered, What would happen to my life if I harnessed the power of these seven principles?

My life today, the well-being of my family, and whatever success we have enjoyed have been direct results of the power of seven simple principles. Several years ago, I shared these principles with the world, in a book that became a New York Times Best Seller and has since been translated into more than twenty languages. The Traveler's Gift

“Most folks figure a true friend is someone who accepts them as they are. But that's dangerous garbage to believe.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “The kid who works the drive-through at your local fast-food restaurant accepts you for who you are — because he doesn't care anything about you. But a true friend holds you to a higher standard. A true friend brings out the best in you.”

“A best friend,” he said softly, “will tell you the truth … and a wise best friend will include a healthy dose of perspective.”

all lives — are either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or headed for a crisis.

It's time to stop letting your history control your destiny.”

“Well, that's why smart people get tripped up with worry and fear. Worry … fear … is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us. Because we are smart and creative, we imagine all the things that could happen, that might happen, that will happen if this or that happens.

What you must do — to defeat bad logic with good — is to deflect your subconscious from calculating possibilities. Instead, direct your mind to calculate the odds.

Most people spend so much time fearing the things that are never going to happen or can't be controlled that they have no energy to deal with the few things they can actually handle.”

I want you to list things in your life that you are grateful for.

Start a gratitude journal!

focus on what can be controlled. And you will no longer be sad or worried. You will be grateful! After all, the seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart.

“One way to define wisdom is the ability to see, into the future, the consequences of your choices in the present. That ability can give you a completely different perspective on what the future might look like.

with a degree of intelligence and a hint of wisdom, most people can tell the difference between good and bad. However, it takes a truly wise person to discern that oh-so-thin line between good and best. And that line, my friends, is the line that separates a roll of the dice about your future, from a sure thing … from trying, as the Bible says, to ‘see through a dark glass’ and having a perspective that allows you to see clearly the long-term consequences of your choices.

A leaf is an indicator. One can walk through the forest and never look up. But you can pick up a single leaf and know all sorts of information about the tree you are under. By examining a single leaf, you can tell the season of the year, whether the tree is large or small, whether it is poisonous or has fruit that you can eat … yessir, you can tell a lot about a tree from a single leaf. “You can tell a lot about a person from the leaves they drop as well. You don't have to be around someone a long time to know what their life is about. You can just examine the occasional leaf they drop. Believe me, that'll tell it all.”

“While it is true that most people never see or understand the difference they make, or sometimes only imagine their actions having a tiny effect, every single action a person takes has far-reaching consequences.

“No matter your age, physical condition, financial situation, color, gender, emotional state, or belief … everything you do, every move you make, matters to all of us — and forever.”

“you can do whatever you want to do. You can accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. You are never lacking funds. Neither is the calendar your enemy. When you need most to accomplish something great in your life, you are only lacking an idea. Time and money, my friend, are also a matter of perspective.”

Because life is like a game of Monopoly. You may own hotels on Boardwalk or you may be renting on Baltic Avenue. But in the end, it all goes back in the box. The next generation will be getting out all your stuff and playing with it or fighting over it.

“Most people think it takes a long time to change. It doesn't. Change is immediate! Instantaneous! It may take a long time to decide to change … but change happens in a heartbeat!”

Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you. ‘I intended to bring you flowers, but I didn't.’ ‘I meant to finish this work on time.’ ‘I was going to be there for your birthday …’”

Forgiveness is about the past. Trust and respect are about the future. Forgiveness will be in the hands of others and can be given to you, but trust and respect are in your own hands … and must be earned.

you must become a person that others want to be around! This is far and away the greatest success secret in existence. A man or woman who has become someone others want to be around holds the world by the tail.

if you ever want folks to believe in you, then it really helps if they like you.

Studies have shown that to the majority of people, it makes no difference at all which way you answer. But there is a significant percentage — for the sake of argument, let's say 20 percent — who feel that adding the ‘sir’ or the ‘ma'am’ is much more respectful.