Book Review - The Noticer

The Noticer by Andy Andrews

Core Idea discussed - Perspective

The book deals with the idea of Perspective and how it could bring about a desired positive change in our life. In life, when we get stuck and are unable to move forward, the key culprit is our perception of the situation. With a slight shift in perception, we could move beyond the roadblock and gain momentum in life. The title of the book, "The Noticer" is derived from what the chief protagonist, "Jones" does best i.e. "Notice" or "Observe". He notices and observes and gets in a new, different perspective to things and situations that hold us back in life; things that pull us down and at times blind us to reality and facts. The book presents multiple stories of different characters where the key protagonist plays the role of a guide/ mentor who helps build up a different perspective for the protagonist of each story. Each story is quite relatable which brings our practical dilemmas that we face in our lives. Jones, the  the key protagonist plays a coach and helps the characters build perspective that's obvious and common sensical but which we sometimes tend to oversee. There's no connection between the different stories and the only connecting factor among these stories is "Jones", who assumes the hat of a sage too, at times, and renders advice to the protagonists of the different stories. At times, the book becomes drab with Jones playing the same card again and again and overdoes of "perspective" but it's still worth the time and effort to read the book for gems of wisdom that it delivers.

Key Learnings/ Interesting bits from the Book

The following are some of the wonderful learnings that i derived from the book

• The description of 4 dialects of love is unique where characteristics of four popular animals/ birds relate to our behaviour patterns in love relationships. The four animals/ birds mentioned are Dog, Cat, Goldfish and Canary

• Describing about Worry, the book again reiterates how just 8% worries are legitimate concerns which we actually need to deal with in life.

• The first 10 minutes after we wake up should be spent on thinking the following
• What i have to do today?
• Who i have to call/ meet/ connect?       
• Things i need to deal with
• mixed with other thoughts like "Things i am grateful for"

• A person could lose everything chasing nothing

• Focus on what can be controlled

• Many of life's treasures remain hidden from us simply because we never search for them

• If your purpose has not yet been fulfilled, then the most important part of your life has not yet been lived

• When you need most to accomplish something great in your life, you are only lacking an idea.

Even if the key protagonist remains an enigma till the end, the book is worth a read for all its simple, practical doses of wisdom !

You may buy/ review the book at http://amzn.to/2BvgzLF