(Distinctions are subtleties of language that, when gotten, cause a shift in a belief, behavior, value or attitude.)

Closet engineer? Guilty as charged; one of my majors was mechanical engineering so I admit to a deep undercurrent thrum of logical and linear thinking. Now opened to feelings, inspiration, creativity, and intuition, the major influencers in my present life; still, the old inner engineer arises. Signal and noise are engineering terms, but have a life application.

If you have ever listened to an old technology radio (pre-digital), you’ve heard some static when the radio was tuned a little off the main frequency. The static was the noise, the music and voice from the transmitting station was the signal. You wanted the signal so you fiddled with the dial until you minimized or eliminated the noise.

So it is with your current world. Much is being transmitted to you disguised as signal when it is really only noise. Discerning the difference is an important skill, one which affects the level of your happiness.

To determine the signal/noise mix expand your awareness of the context. Within it, the content is being transmitted. Content contains both signal and noise. The greater your awareness of the context, the more the noise will be ‘dialed out,’ leaving a clearer signal.

Coaching Point: What clear signals are you receiving? How do you know they’re not noise? What is the context of that which is being transmitted?

Copyright 2017 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.