Shine With Grace

In a seminar with more than 3,000 people, a 30-second video, in which two teams of youngsters, dressed in white and black respectively playing basketball, was shown. The audience was asked to count the number of passes made with the ball by the team dressed in white. In the middle of the video, a man dressed as a gorilla slowly walked into the frame, beat his chest at the camera and sauntered off. When the audience were asked whether they noticed the gorilla, less than 10% raise their hands and most people’s response was: What gorilla??? The audience were taken aback watching the play back – how could we missed something so obvious? This infamous “Did you spot the gorilla” psychological experiment, indeed, reflected one (sad) reality: that we miss many “gorillas” – the unexpected but vitally important opportunities in our lives…

Is there a cure? One proven solution is relaxed attention – for when we are too focused on one thing, we miss many other (sometimes more valuable) opportunities.

Prof. Richard Wiseman has written extensively on the topic and his interesting discovery can be found in “Did You Spot the Gorilla” and “The Luck Factor”. You can also visit his website at: http://www.richardwiseman.com/ to find out more.

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