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Change Blindness: Seeing What's In Front Of You.


⁉️👀Do you readily notice new changes that occur right before your eyes? I’m sure most of us would like to answer that question with a big fat resounding, ‘Yes, Of course!’ 🤔 Really though, is it true?


I was recently driving home with my daughter. She was on her phone and I was completely in my own zone. So much so, that I drove for twenty minutes before realizing I’d passed my exit and was in a different town.


‼️Although I was aware of my surroundings and driving safely, I didn’t see what was right in front of me. I didn’t see the signs, mile markers or the usual familiar citing’s. I didn’t see anything because I was so much in my head that I honestly couldn’t tell you where I was going. Twenty minutes passed and nothing alerted me that I’d been heading in the wrong direction!


No harm no foul. I simply got off at the next exit and headed home. I’ll be honest though, it startled me. The other thing was, I couldn’t tell you what my thoughts had been so focused on. I was that zoned out! This little incident perplexed me a bit and got me thinking about how,

  1. ‘Could I not see what was right in front of me?!’ 😳 and,

  2. In the work I do as it pertains to female frenemies, “it’s important to not lose sight of what’s in front of you.’

⁉️Do you see what’s in front of you? Or do you experience change blindness?

Change Blindness is when a change is presented and you don’t notice it. It’s defined as,

“the surprising difficulty observers have in noticing large changes to visual scenes."

‼️In today’s world, everyone is busy! Attention is limited, so we have to be particular about what we choose to focus on. There are many other influencing external factors that play a huge role in this, such as expectations and past experiences. Additionally, what we think ‘should’ happen plays a part in how we notice things going on in our world. Or not. Sometimes too, we don’t really see things that our right in front of us, because they’re so familiar that they’ve just become a part of our everyday foggy visual.


My initial thought after reading about this topic was, this VERY much applies to friendships and frenemies! Change blindness not only impacts what we see, or don’t. It plays a huge role in our social interactions and the ability to be vulnerable or impacted by things we don’t actually know, that we’ve noticed.


😳Ponder that for a moment.

⁉️Are you mindful about who you spend your precious time with?


‼️When you’re distracted it’s easier to, ‘not be aware of’ what’s around you. Which leads to ‘heightened change blindness in other areas.’ Being distracted can mean you’re ‘just getting by’ with people, circumstances or situations, that aren’t fully serving you. However, when you focus your attention on something specific, it allows you to ‘bring attention to’ something or someone, you consider to be important, that you need to be present for.

“Sometimes you can’t see what is right in front of you, but when you finally open your eyes, you’ll wonder why you didn’t see it sooner.”

💡This means,

  • ‘Being present’ when you’re with family and friends.

  • Having awareness that those you are giving your precious time and energy to, are doing the same for you in return.

  • Giving yourself permission to realize what or whom, you no longer want to be present for, in your friendship circle.

The ultimate lesson I learned is, to slow down, be mindful, and take the time to really see what’s right in front of me. ⁉️Are you doing the same?

You already are. It’s time TO BE.♥️


P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about how to deal with female frenemies, follow me on LinkedIn! Stay tuned for my blog out next week about bystander effects of female bullying at work.

I say that it’s time to be different. It’s time to talk about female relationships and ‘see what is right in front of you.’

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⁉️Interested in learning how ‘female rivalry’ impacts the workplace? 🎉DOWNLOAD my FREE .pdf guide, ‘5 Reasons WHY Good Women Walk’ to learn more!


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