40+FAB Blog

What do you see?

The human mind has been designed in such a way that allows it to absorb knowledge quickest by means of observation. Personal development
researchers say that we learn 83% through sight, 11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1.5% through touch and 1% through taste.

Observation gives birth to thinking and learning. If one can hold observation for long enough, thoughts that produce dividends of applicable knowledge will surely crystalize. From the stats above, it appears that experience is not necessarily the best teacher as only 6% of what is learnt about the world around us is by experience (touch, taste and smell).

Environment is very important to observation. If you are in a positive environment, you will observe positive things and therefore think positively. The same is true if you happen to be in the wrong environment, your thinking will eventually be all wrong. The outcome of observation then is almost synonymous with the environment in which it happens.

I keep reminding myself that my greatest learning comes from my ability to hold my observations. I also assess the kind of environment I am exposed
to as this influences what I eventually learn. I can change my environment – if not physically, then through the stories of others spoken in conversation, written in books or recorded in multimedia. This makes me discipline myself to change my environment from time to time by the various means mentioned to ensure that I am putting things into proper perspective as the world is much bigger than my personal view of it.