Look closer. Everything's interesting.

I'm having a fleeting feeling of ambition today and trying to contain it in hopes that I make things happen. Apologies in advance for the rambling on of this particular blog post. My way of making sense of things is to first make them more complex and then try to oversimplify. It's inefficient and senseless but it works for me.

I read a really interesting article this week that was focused on 'encoding advertising in consumer's minds' but I think can really be applied to other facets of life. The idea is that associations aided by familiarity provide a point of leverage.

"The storage of memories is often based on the degree to which the information is associated with or linked to what else we've already retained. That's because people are inherently lazy and what they already know and have retained works because it's easier and ties to what they have already deemed to be important."

Okay, if I'm boring you, keep reading I promise I have a point. What I find really fascinating about this (besides the fact that I'm a huge nerd and get off on advertising articles) is essentially what this is saying is people don't like to learn or do things differently. The one thing I don't like about this article is that this is a really negative way of thinking about human behavior. My takeaway (and a more positive spin) would be to say, if you take the time to learn something, it will intuitively become more interesting to you and you will be better because of it.

For example, let's say I'm at work and I'm learning about something super technical that I don't get at all. It's easy to just say "oh I'll skip over this, I don't really need to know this", but if I take the time to get to know it, it automatically becomes more interesting. I'll actually pay attention when the subject comes up because I can contribute and feel smart!

This same idea can be applied to relationships and personal life. People naturally flock to those they are already familiar with, who they already have established relationships with. The hardest part of any relationship is the beginning, when you put in the most effort of getting to know the person, wanting to make sure you always say 'yes' when a new friend asks to make plans in fear they may not ask again. Acting super interested in everything they have to say (apologies to any new friends reading this blog, I really do care about your sick dog/mom/boyfriend...).

In thinking of things through this angle & taking advantage of feeling extra ambitious today, I'm recognizing that beginnings require effort, of all magnitudes. And I'm challenging myself (and each of you!) to work through the initial hurdles of learning something new.  We'll all be better and more interesting because of it. 


Signing off with a picture of some people who inspire me every day :)

My team!