The power of observation is profound and challenging.
You can look at something but not observe it.
The challenge of improving observation skills goes as far back as the Bible, where several times it is written, “You will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
If you want to know how to improve observation skills, ask yourself: are you looking or really observing?
Let’s go to the root of the word difference between looking and observing.
LOOK: “Direct one’s gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction.”
OBSERVE: “Notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant.”
The key difference is when you observe, you learn something. When you simply look, you only notice that something is there.