Ok, so I’ve ranted about this, but I think Mo Willems has a fantastic angle.

Here’s a brief take on Mo’s angle:
Willems is obsessed with why adults don’t draw — and he wants to do something about it.

“One of the interesting things about cartooning and doodling and drawing,” Willems tells Michele Norris, “is that people stop when they decide they’re not good at it. Nobody stops playing basketball when they realize they’re not going to become a professional. The same thing should apply to cartooning.”

Willems says just sitting and drawing a character brings out empathy in people, and that’s something the world could use more of right now.

One of the biggest reasons children stop drawing is that they see that adults don’t do it, Willems says.
When he goes into classrooms, he says, teachers often ask him to get the kids to draw. But when he does, many of the teachers don’t participate.

“Well, now the kids realize that this is just a baby activity,” he says.
He reminds us that parents are actually cool in kids’ eyes — for a while — and kids want to imitate what they do. “If your kid comes home from school and you say, ‘I’ll be right with you; I’m just finishing a doodle,’ the kid’s going to go, ‘Dude, I want to do that, too!’ ”

He suggests doing what his family does: have a family draw. His family gets a large piece of paper, picks a theme and then everybody draws. They went so far as to paint a wall with chalkboard paint.

Full Interview and Audio at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103818071

You’ll often find people who say they don’t learn well via audio.
That they need to read a transcript instead to understand something better.

That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

And there are three reasons why.
1) The way in which we process audio separate from reading.
2) The way in which we ’sit down’ to listen to audio.
3) So-called ‘audio learners’ find reading as well as audio just as easy.

The way in which we process audio separate from reading.
Till very recently there was this crazy myth that we somehow mishmashed the data and stored it in our brain, no matter if it was audio, or video, or text. That information was information, and it just got stored in one area of our brain. Modern research (because of better measurement tools) have shown that different areas of the brain light up when we listen to the exact words in audio, and another part of the brain lights up when we process video. And then quite another when we process text.

The brain actually creates ‘brain maps’ that make richer connections when it can process greater depth and range. So instead of one source of information, the brain accesses many sources almost simultaneously. And those that stubbornly stick their ‘I’m a reader’ not a listener, are just losing out for their stubborness factor.

But how do we know they’re being stubborn?
Because we know how damaged brains work. So in autistic children for instance, the brain does learn better via audio than learning. But most of us don’t have damaged brains.  We have biased brains. This means we’re not willing to push our brains outside our comfort zone, and hence the brain will do what you get it to do.

The more you avoid audio, the more your brain favours text. It indeed makes you faster at processing text, but gives the text a single dimension. So that which you gain in processing power and speed, you lose in dimension and depth.

Which takes us to the second point: The way in which we ’sit down’ to listen to audio—and is flawed from the core!

The way in which we ’sit down’ to listen to audio is exactly the way we read
When was the last time you went for a walk or dusted furniture while reading? You’ve been trained since you were a child to sit in one place and read. So like an obedient 40-year old you sit in one place and listen to audio.

Well, guess what?

Audio is not a medium that is kind to listeners who sit in one place. The brain is able to process words in speech faster than on paper. So when it has to sit in one place and do nothing else, it gets ‘bored.’ You feel sleepy, restless and of course, you sincerely believe audio-learning is not for you.

Audio learning requires movement and action. That’s why we get bored and tired after listening to speakers (even good ones) drone on for two-three hours. The best speakers know the way audio is processed, and hence get you to do stuff, or take breaks. Or whatever.

But I digress.

Because the third point is coming up quickly.

Have you noticed that audio-learners aren’t quite as stubborn?
They’ll happily read a book. Or a document. They don’t need you to take your book and turn it into an audio file. They may prefer audio (because they’ve worked out what we’ve discussed in Point 2), but they have no overwhelming desire to get everything in audio.

Compare this with ‘readers’ and you’ll see a marked difference. ‘Readers’ are militant about transcripts. They’re militant about books. They don’t want to go near audio if they can help it.Yet they have conversations and listen to the radio without any problem. When was the last time they wrote to their radio station or tv station asking for transcripts?

This is why I’m calling ‘readers’ stubborn.
They are so comfortable with speed, that they miss out on true learning.

The point I’m making is that you’re equally capable of learning via audio as text.
And it’s not going to be easy to get outside that comfort zone. Because your brain will resist the move.

So do me a favour. Read that book anyway. Turn your Kindle on, anyway.

But also strap on that iPod and go for a walk and listen to the very same information in audio.  It will do your biased brain as well as your stubbornness a whole lot of good. And keep you both mentally and physically fit!

Did you know that your brain operates in two different modes when it’s going through a learning experience?
A brain in learning mode is completely different from a brain in application mode.

So how is it different?
In the learning phase, the brain is able to take in a complete overview without needing to know specific details. But the moment it switches to application mode, it needs more than just concepts. It needs immediate steps.

So let’s take an example:
E.g. You want to learn to say ‘goodbye’ in Swahili.

Well, you may have heard someone saying ‘goodbye and see you soon’ in Swahili several times. So when you hear the sound, and the sequence of words, your brain already knows that ‘goodbye’ is being said. And the brain knows the meaning of the words being said.

But if you don’t know the meaning of the words, then you simply notice that everyone’s smiling and crying. And you can’t figure out why. When you understand the words, you are now not only understanding it, but able to comprehend it.

But are you able to say it?
No.
Because you still have to work out the pronunciation at the very least.
But a brain that is in learning mode is different from a brain in application mode.
In the learning phase you can take in three days of talk in a seminar (even if you don’t remember it all). But in application mode, you want the most immediate steps.

This is why people don’t learn quickly
They expect to read a book, or listen to an audio and get the concept instantly. But your brain isn’t working like that at all. It’s first taking an overview, then slipping into application trying to decipher the steps.

This is why I will listen to the same thing over and over again
I’ll learn languages by listening, or doing the same thing over and over again. I’ll listen to the same audio five-seven times. And I’ll read as well as make notes of a book, often going back to it to read again. Because I understand my brain.

Do you understand yours?
There’s more efficiency in reading one book five times than there is in reading five books.
There’s more efficiency in listening to one audio several times than listening to ten audio files.
Repetition isn’t for repetition’s sake.

Repetition is meant for the brain to first get an overview, then apply.
So now, read this article twice, will ya?

Then apply it to your reading, listening etc.

Ok, so it’s a big question.
Because there are loads of elements that make a person a super-genius.

But there’s one thing that is guaranteed to stop you from becoming brilliant.
That one thing is the inability to take feedback.

Feedback as in brutal feedback
Feedback as in things you don’t want to hear.
Feedback as in ‘things that make you feel like crap’.

Super-genius is built on such crappy moments
The stars in any field are those that shut up when feedback is being given.
They don’t defend themselves. They just listen. They take notes. They then sit back and do an analysis of what’s being said.

They feel crappy just like you do when you’re being criticised. 

But super-geniuses are super, because they realise that the people giving the feedback aren’t petty.
That the feedback is actually a mechanism to help the genius go up to another level.

So super-geniuses tend take the feedback.
Then they do something that most people don’t.
They correct their actions.
They self-correct.
And they seek more feedback.

But the average-Joe is average because they live in ‘testimonial’ land.
They want people to say nice things about them.
They’re not really interested in feedback.
They’re not really interested in hearing stuff that makes them feel like crap.
And even if they do listen—which they almost never do—they never implement the self-corrective measures.

And so they stay where they are.
Stuck. Unsure. Disheartened. Unwilling to take the brutal feedback.

Brutal feedback is um, brutal.
If you want to become a super-genius, you can’t duck, or weave.
Take the punch. And then self-correct.

Ok, I’m back after my extended ‘vacation’.

And here’s a biggie: I’m amazed at this book. And if you’ve ever wondered about the factor of getting old (and stupid), or wondered how we learn (and unlearn stuff), then you need to read this book. I intend to take snippets of the information and put my own spin to it over the weeks and months to come. You’ll understand all of that information so much better, and how it relates to talent—if you read this book.

If there was one recommendation I’d make for Feb 2008-Feb 2009, it would be this one.

The Brain That Changes Itself

Do you know the story of the Rosetta Stone?

You do, don’t you?
You  know how archaeologists couldn’t make head or tail of hieroglyphics.
And it’s not like they didn’t try. They just weren’t able to figure out what those nice little pictures on the Egyptian monuments really stood for. And then of course, in mid-July 1799, these scientists and archaeologists ran into this massive rock, which they dubbed the Rosetta Stone.

What was so dramatic about the Stone?
The drama was that there were three translations of one passage carved on the Stone. Namely Demotic, Hieroglyphic and Greek. And since the kind folk who found the stone knew Greek, they were able to ‘de-code’ the Hieroglyphics.

But what has this got to do with your learning?
I’ve been trying to learn Spanish since I was in school. I first tried to learn under some Spanish Jesuits. Then I bought a Harrap’s Audio. Then raided the library more than once to borrow some Spanish CDs or tapes.  And no it doesn’t stop there. I went for Spanish classes for a whole year.

And what bugs me is that every three year old in South America can probably speak better Spanish than I could, despite all of this trouble. But then I ran into a language series called—ironically—the Rosetta Stone. That’s when I first started to decode the language. And got much better at learning words and phrases. But I still wasn’t having fun, till I ran into Coffee Break Spanish.

I’d found my Rosetta Stone
In a matter of days, I was not only learning Spanish, but having fun. So much fun that I decided to learn Spanish and French at the same time. Like the original Rosetta Stone, I was deciphering two languages simultaneously.

For some people, their Rosetta Stone is reading.
For some, it’s listening to audio.
For some, it’s being in groups and working in a live workshop.
For some, it’s working alone.

Whatever the method, recognise there is a Rosetta Stone.
It’s not that  things are too hard to learn, and you’re not talented.
All it actually means, is that you haven’t found your Rosetta Stone.

Yet!

¡Hasta pronto!

Just 5 minutes drive from where we live. The splendour of Rangitoto - a now dormant volcano.

Most people don’t take breaks.
They see it as counter-productive.

They’re wrong.
Breaks, when planned, are what makes your work productive.
And we plan our breaks every year, so our brains can boot down, and come back refreshed and renewed.

As I wrote in 5000bc:
I learned this from a friend, Julia. She books all her vacations in advance. Long before she knows what’s going to turn up in the year. Then the vacation becomes non-negotiable. I thought that was a cool idea. We’ve been doing it almost every year since 2004.

I found that vacations are not a nice-to-have. They’re a crucial part of relaxing the brain. The years when I’ve not taken a break, I’ve achieved less. And earned less.

Have a good break.

We certainly will. 

You may not have heard of Paul Wolfe.
You may never hear of Paul Wolfe.

But someday soon Paul Wolfe will grow his business.
And by the time we finish with the year 2012, Paul will be extremely successful.

So what is this prediction based on?
You see Paul doesn’t have many subscribers to his website (At last count he had less than 20).
In fact, he just started doing YouTube Videos a while ago (Maybe a month or less).
And those videos have bad lighting. And aren’t something magical.

But the magic isn’t in the videos.
Or the subscriber list.
It’s in the daily routine.
You see, every night before he goes to bed, Paul writes down what he’s done every single day.
And the achievement for the day.
And every single day he’s doing a little bit more. And more. And even more, as you may expect.

Which tells me one thing.
I don’t care how talented Paul really is.
I don’t care if his videos never improve.
I know that he’ll succeed.

Because the DNA of successful people is exactly the same. They keep at it. They do stuff every day, and keep at it relentlessly.
Which is why this is my prediction for 2012.

Paul Wolfe will be running a reasonably successful business.
Despite the recession.
Despite the blah, blah.
Despite everything you hear.
He’ll do it.

Watch this space.
Or watch his videos.
http://uk.youtube.com/user/howtoplaybassdotcom

And here’s the reasoning why: http://www.psychotactics.com/artmastery

You may not follow baseball.
I don’t.
But there’s a really good baseball player called Alex Rodriguez (often called A-Rod).
He was always headed to be a good player.

But he did something different than most of us.
He decided to be great.

So how do you get to greatness?
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/how-did-a-rod-get-so-good/

Yes it should be. Because we learn best when we’re relaxed.
But most learning isn’t fun at all.

If I told you that you have to learn how to learn the new version of a program, would it be fun?
If I told you that you have to learn the chords to a new song would it be fun?
If I told you that you had to drive to a new part of town, would it be fun?

In most cases, it’s not fun at all
In most cases, the brain has to literally go into a focus mode, because the learning is new.
And that put enormous strain on the brain.
The more complex the activity, the more the brain needs to work out the steps and master them one by one.
And learning becomes difficult. Even tedious. Because you’re making so many mistakes.

Twyla Tharp is a world-famous choreographer and the author of the book: The Creative Habit.
In the book she talks about the fact that talent is created by habit. And that while habit doesn’t have to be routine, it has to be prepared for with routine.And routine often means doing the same thing over and over. And over again. Always tweaking. Always improving. But always aware that the fun begins once you’ve stopped making squillions of mistakes.

Of course this is a contentious topic
Because learning can be designed to be fun. And you can have lots of fun learning a new skill. But most learning isn’t fun.
Because most teachers/trainers/coaches take themselves so darned seriously. Which means there is the boredom factor. And you will run into that boredom factor. And if you can get over the boredom factor, you’ll get a factor of mastery.

And that’s when it will truly be fun.

P.S. When I learn a new shot in badminton, it’s not much fun because I have to learn two-three things to get that shot right. But as I master one thing, then the next, and then the next, I get more control; more mastery. And then it becomes fun. Of course what’s really a lot of fun is simply going into the game and winning all those points playing the shot well. 

First you be disciplined. Then you be talented.

When I started playing badminton about three months ago, all the old ladies (who play crappy badminton) were giving me advice. Yes, I was playing so badly. And I paid attention, but only barely so.

You see, you have to know whom to listen to, and whom you have to nod your head to. So instead of taking too much advice from the old ladies (and believe me, no one but that batch was giving me advice) I started working with a coach.

So first we worked on:
1) The grip: 900 times x same shot.
2) The overhead shot: 900 times x same shot
3) The shuffle to the net: 900 times x same shot.

Then something happened.
I only knew three shots. But those three shots improved my game dramatically.
Within these three months, I’ve gone from being beaten in every game, to literally dominating the game no matter whom I’m playing with.
What’s interesting is that we have grades: I’m in the C grade.
There’s the A grade and the B grade.
And I’ve had a chance to play with the B grade.

And play decently well.
And the old ladies get beaten a lot, so they don’t come up to give me advice any more.
But something interesting has happened. The B graders give me advice.

The other day this Chinese guy, Ken Lui, came up to me and said: You’ll be good. But you must be disciplined.
Go down there. Take this shuttle and hit against wall for half hour.
I watch from here.
Then you become better.

So I took the shuttle and like wax-on and wax-off I hit it against the wall and practiced my reflexes.
I’ve been doing the same freakin’ thing every chance I get.
And guess what?
My reflexes are improving.
Now the B players are coming up to me, and saying: Hmmm, you’re getting better.

But the problem with efficiency is always the same.
You need to know what you’re doing wrong, to fix it.
Just looking at things unfolding means nothing. You can watch a game or hundred games, but you need to play.
And you need to make mistakes over and over, and over and over and over. And to make mistakes you have to do the same freakin’ thing or something similar, every darned day. You can’t do it now, and then sit on your you-know-what. You need to do it and do it and do it.
And make the mistakes.
Make them.
Over and over (Am I clearer?)

And you need a coach that points out the mistakes.
And helps you fix them, one by one.

Three important points:
1) You need to implement: Learning is crap by itself.
2) Mistakes must happen. And someone must point the mistakes.
3) Fixing the mistakes is to be done ONE by ONE. (Not altogether).

Most people simply learn.
That’s stupid efficiency.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
They’ll go from one course to another. One coach to another. And get all sorts of advice.
They spend so much time flitting that there’s no time to learn.
They feel good about flitting.
Ah, I’ve learned so much.

Crap!
You’ve learned.
Learning is fine.
Implementation is important.
Mistakes are important.
If you’re not making mistakes you’re wasting time.
If someone is not around to point out the fixes, you’re wasting time.
You’re an idiot.

So how do I know this?
It takes an idiot to know one.
It’s what I did.
Then I found one person: Jay Abraham.
I studied everything I could for three years.
I bought all his courses. I got better.
I even paid for consulting with Jay’s right hand man ( I couldn’t afford Jay at $5000 an hour).
I paid $500 for the consulting (per hour).
Did it hurt me?
You bet it did.
Try paying $500 for advice per hour and see.
Especially when you’re earning $3000-5000 per month.

But I wanted efficiency.
And most people don’t.
They flit from coach to coach.
They flit from trend to trend.
They’re idiots.
And they wonder why they don’t have time.

It takes time for you to work out whom you want as a coach.
It takes time for the coach to work out who you are.
This is a lot of time that’s spent in getting to know each other.
Once you find someone you trust, spend 2-3 years with them.
If they are always ahead of you (Jay wasn’t — he lost the plot when it came to the Internet) then keep following.
Keep learning. But the real efficiency is in implementation. In making mistakes. Double your rate of mistakes and you double your rates of success.

Efficiency is important.
And it doesn’t come overnight.
It took me three months so far.
I’m in in for the long haul.

I want to beat them all.
The old ladies.
The C graders.
The B graders.
The A graders.
Mark my words. In a year, I’ll win the trophy.

Mark those words. I’m serious about getting efficient. And I’ll make it.
Are you ready for efficiency yet?
Depends on if you’ve found a coach, eh? And if you’re willing to hit the same shot 900 times.

Most people aren’t talented because they think it’s some magic trick.
Yes it is. Go do the same thing 900 times and get a coach to watch you do it, and help you fix it.
That’s the trick.

Note: Since I wrote this post, I qualified to be a B player. I had to play three other B players and get enough points to be within five points of the average (it’s too complex to explain). Let’s just say that in the qualification round, I not only came within the average, but beat the average by 5 points. And was second ranked in a group of four (yes, it is confusing). But there you go. I’m on my way, despite the aching back and knees. :) 

Here’s how I learn.

I read. Or listen. Or watch.

I make a note.
I discuss it with my wife.
I bring it up with my clients.
I post it in my forums.
I post an expanded, detailed version in my blogs.
I write an article for Psychotactics.com
I write four-five angles of the same topic in even greater detail at 5000bc.com

Then it sinks in.

Then I implement.

Any fool can create profit.
It’s the smart ones that can create time.

So first to create time, you have to want to create time.
Yes, you have to want to create time.
Just moaning and groaning about how busy you are, isn’t going to create time.
You can moan and groan, but nothing’s going to change.

So you create time like you create a vacation
If you wish for a vacation in Japan, you don’t get a vacation in Japan.
You have to create it. You have to decide where you want to go.
Buy tickets. Change currency.
But most important of all, you have to make time for the vacation.

So we decided that we’d take 3 months off way back in the year 2004
We didn’t know how.
Or what we’d have to do.
But first the decision must be made.
And the action must be taken.
So we started with one day off on Sunday. No work on Sunday.
Then we took one more day off on Saturday.
We’d soon reclaimed the entire weekend.

This meant that we had to finish what we needed to do by Friday.
We had to. No choice. So when compression occurs, then you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
And therefore you find things that make you inefficient.
Pretty soon, we were taking three days off.
Then we’d take three weeks off.
Then slowly but surely, we edged to one month. Then two. Then three.

And here’s the most interesting part of all
What’s interesting is that we made more profit in the years we were away, than the years we stayed home.
What’s interesting is that I got more work done in the years I made time, than in the years I just stayed home.
Compressing time forces you to be smart. Compressing time forces you to be efficient. Compressing time forces you to become more and more talented at what you do.

And suddenly you’re able to learn more about photography, badminton, cartoons, websites, writing, travel (and yes, I’m talking about myself and what I do with my time). And I’m adamant about the fact that putting away fixed time is more important to you, me, and every one. You can’t hope for time. You have to make it.

Most of you will shoot down this idea.
You’re too busy to create time, you’ll argue.
But this post isn’t for most of you. It’s for people who understand that once you create time, you create time.

But you also create greater profit.
You now have time to learn.
You now have time to become skilled in your art.
You now have time to think (when was the last time you did that for a day or more?)
You now have time to not-think. And think of nothing. And help your brain relax.

And from all of the above comes profit.
But I’m sure you have no time for profit.

And so you work harder than before.
You see you don’t need elves to help you out. You can be your own best elf.
If you can make time.

But can you?

The poster for the the movie “Elf”

Now I don’t want to boast, but this is what I do.
I run blogs at:
http://www.psychotactics.com/blog
http://www.brainaudit.com/blog
http://www.spidersecret.com/

Less frequently at:
http://www.cavechronicles.com
http://www.stickybusinessbooks.com

Write articles, per year:
http://www.5000bc.com (about 100-300 a year)
http://www.psychotactics.com (about 50 a year)

And monitor no less than four to five forums:
On the Psychotactics Courses forum, just this year, the tally is 4000 posts (This includes reviews of articles/websites/and detailed answers to questions which may take as long as twenty minutes per post to answer). On 5000bc, you can find 7000+ posts (we lost about 5000 of my earlier posts when 5000bc crashed in 2007).

I write two courses a year at the very least
Each course has about 200+ pages of notes/graphics (these take a lot of time–the graphics)
There’s audio.
I also present these courses live (which means the Keynote/Powerpoint slides have to be created as well).

I will often do mini courses or mini products.
e.g. The re-write of the Brain Audit book.

On top of this there’s assorted stuff like:
Full colour cartoons for the blog.
Audio files for the blog.
And other assorted requests like Vanishing Reports in 5000bc. etc.
And in the past I’ve created the entire website design, HTML, graphics etc.
I still do the graphics and website design for any new website or revamp (e.g. new Psychotactics and now 5000bc revamp in Dec 2008).

And then I respond to every email for every subscriber (yes, every subscriber).

The question is when do I sleep, let alone go on vacation or anything.
Just reading this list should make you tired.

But here’s what’s happening.
In about 25 minutes I’m off to play badminton.
I’ll be back in 3 hours.
Then have lunch.
Probably go to the cafe.
And that’s the end of the day.

How is this possible?
It is. And there are ways to do all of the above, because though it seems like there’s an army of elves doing all of the above, there’s just Renuka and I. And she likes the trips to the cafe as much. Plus she takes her parents out twice a week, so those days are half-days for her.

How does this all happen?
Where are the elves?

Aha, you didn’t think I’d give the answer so easily, did you?

My wife Renuka, sniffled.
She sniffled. She sneezed.
Achoo!
Achoo!
Achoo!

For thirteen years she sneezed.
Her eyes would get all red and puffy.
She tried all types of anti-allergy medication.
It would work for a while, then it was back to achoo!

Incredible as it seems, the problem was in her brain.
Your brain reacts to allergies with a code. And that code has a ‘virus.’ So when you run into dust or pollen the virus kicks in. It says: Execute command, and the virus starts rolling out.

How do we know it’s a virus? And not a program instead?
We know it because most of us don’t sneeze with pollen. Or dust. Or after drinking wine. But Renuka’s brain had accumulated a whole bunch of viruses. And to try and subdue these viruses, she’d take anti-allergy medication. But anti-allergy medication simply stops the virus from executing. It can’t erase the virus. And frankly, erasing the virus is a waste of time.

All we need is to re-wire the brain to stop running the program in the first instance. The brain needs to have a completely different code written to deal with dust. Then it stops sneezing.

Which is what Renuka did
She visited an anti-allergy clinic. Or should I say allergy-elimination. But were they able to prevent dust or pollen from entering her system? No they weren’t. But they were able to write a new program onto her brain. A program that ignored the dust, pollen, etc. A program that was fresh and didn’t have any viruses.

And so it is with talent and learning.
Trying to fix the problem with medication (more courses; more training) isn’t going to help at all. Instead all the brain does is replicate the anti-allergy syndrome and pretends to learn. But eventually the virus kicks in and you’re back to where you started. If you truly want to learn a new skill. If you truly want to develop a talent, you’re wasting time trying to eliminate the virus.

What you need to do is write fresh code.
Code with no viruses in the first place
And the achoo goes away forever!

Note: Renuka doesn’t sneeze. She can enjoy her wine, go out amongst the flowers in spring, and dust away to her heart’s content. And it was all done with no pills, no medication and simple re-writing of code. (It’s actually a simple system of re-wiring and no wires are involved–just in case you’re wondering). 

Read Part 1 of How To Bypass A Brain Virus

Most people can’t draw.
There’s a reason why.
They have a brain virus.

Here’s what happens when someone asks you to draw.
Your brain runs a program.
The program says: Execute program. Draw, you silly fool, draw!
And the program starts to execute. But even as it’s executing the lines of code, it runs into a virus.

The virus crashes the program.
And you can’t draw.

A client of mine (let’s call him Jon) was on an article writing course
And he did the entire course.
But he couldn’t get down to writing an article.
So here’s what he did.
He read more on the topic.
He even did another course.

But every time Jon sits down to write, the same problem occurs.
The ‘article writing program’ kicks in.
And then the ‘virus that’s linked to the article writing program‘ kicks in.
And his ‘article writing program’ crashes.
No matter how he tries to write articles, he’s going to fail. And fail forever. (No, I’m not kidding)!

So how do yo get rid of this brain virus?
Actually you can’t.
Your brain has thousands of viruses running around. And trying to get rid of them is a waste of time.
It’s easier to write a fresh program for your brain instead.

So how do you write a fresh program?
In Jon’s case, he has to stop writing articles.
He has to do a completely different activity.
e.g. Make a movie instead.
e.g. Describe how he met his wife.

When he does this activity, the virus can’t kick in.
Because the virus is embedded in his ‘article writing‘ inability.
So now Jon’s having fun. He’s talking about how he met his wife, and how he goofed up on the first date, and how they went to the cafe down the road. And Jon doesn’t know it yet, but he’s writing an article.

The next step is to put structure to Jon’s story
Step 1: How did you run into your wife to-be?
Step 2: Where did you go for your first date?
Step 3: What were you nervous about on your first date?

When Jon answers these questions his brain is relaxed.
He’s having fun.
And he’s not accessing the ‘article writing program’ of his brain.
As we put structure into his story, he recognises that the structure is from the ‘article writing system’, but because he’s not running the exact ‘article writing program‘, the virus doesn’t kick in at all.

This means that Jon is now able to get started on a whole new program.
A program that uses new code. Plus some borrowed code from the old program.
As he advances, he’s able to learn how to write articles, even though it was an impossible task before this very moment.

In effect, he’s bypassing the brain virus.
And that’s what you have to do to learn a skill.
If you’ve struggled to learn Spanish before, you have a virus embedded in the ‘Spanish learning program’.
If you sit down and try to learn it, you’ll fail, because the virus already exists.
But if you sing a song in Spanish like: ‘Ensalada, de fruta fresca’ and see ‘fresh fruit salad’, you’ll learn Spanish while having fun.
The fun part is important, but not critical (Essentially fun only allows you to relax. Relaxing the brain is critical).

The critical part is bypassing the virus.
Albert Einstein was reputed to have once said: “You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.”

What he means is:
Your existing program has a virus.
You have to bypass it.
Or you’ll never really learn no matter how many times you try!

I was sitting at my favourite cafe in Takapuna with Renuka’s niece, Marsha.
Marsha was only three and half years old at the time, and happily drinking her um, ‘coffee’, when she looked upwards (as most kids do), and noticed a black object on the glass.

“What’s that?” she asked.
“Fungus,” I said.

“Fungus,” she repeated about three-four times.
Then promptly she forgot. And asked again.
Of course I told her it was called fungus. And she nodded happily.

When she went back home to her mother, she ran through the door and said “Mama, I saw a bungus.”
Of course confusion reigned till I stepped in to clarify that it was a fungus.
And Marsha was delighted to correct herself and say the word correctly.

Most adults don’t act like Marsha
They’re defensive. Incredibly defensive.
They’re attacking. And it gets a bit scary how they fight back at times.

They don’t want to make a mistake.
They don’t want to appear in a bad light.
They are insecure. Because if they weren’t insecure, they would have no problem making mistakes. Or letting the world know about mistakes.

Most of us want to appear perfect.
We don’t want to make mistakes.
We don’t want others to learn that we’ve made a mistake.
In effect, we’re dolts.

Even a three and half year old knows better.
In fact the reason why kids have an enormous learning capacity is because they follow a very clear pattern of:
1) Learn
2) Talk
3) Implement
4) Make mistake.
5) Go back to start.

Most kids are smart because they’re professional mistake makers. They live in a world of ‘conscious incompetence’. Most adults are dolts.

They learn less not because they don’t have the time. Or because they have no talent.
They learn less because they can’t be like Marsha.

This isn’t a learner sign: It’s a ‘I’m going to make a mistake’ sign

Think of anything you’ve ever learned.
Anything.
Ever learned.

And the only way you’ll have learned it is by making a mistake.
Look at the act of learning the alphabet.
Speaking; walking; running; talking; dancing, and just about anything.
And you’ll never be able to point out even one instance in your entire life that was learned without making a mistake.

This idea of willfully making a mistake scares the heck out of most people.
It literally means that you have to make mistakes—and that if you don’t make mistakes you can’t learn. If you can’t learn, you can’t acquire a new talent. If you can’t acquire a new talent, you remain exactly where you are.

Are you scared?
You should be.
Because the younger you are, the less you’re afraid of making mistakes. The older you get, the more you tell your brain it’s bad to make a mistake. The older you get, the more you feel you have to learn something quickly, and correctly the first time.

Yet that’s not the way the brain learns at all.
The only way the brain learns is through actively making mistakes. The brain’s most powerful tool is to make the mistake, recognise the mistake, and then try to remember the mistake. This is so that it doesn’t make the mistake again, or doesn’t create mistakes of an equal intensity.

This process needs time and effort.
The smaller, and simpler the task, the quicker the brain is able to eliminate mistakes. The more complex the task, the more time and effort is required to make the mistake, recognise it, remember it and finally correct it.

And yet the correction factor is almost never 100%.
So let’s say you’re learning a new dance step for instance. The brain has to first goof up. Once it has goofed up, it has to recognise the goof up, or it won’t improve. Once recognition sets in, all your neurons have to fire in the right sequence to memorise this mistake.

The more you muck up the dance step, the more your brain has to work out what’s wrong. And with every mistake, it eliminates only a percentage of the error. It’s only when it eliminates 100% of the error, does it then get that dance step right.

What’s interesting is that you’re never learning one step at a time.
You’re learning several steps. And the brain has to go over this whole sequence of making the mistake, recognising it, memorising it and then fixing it.

And it has to do this entire sequence for every single mistake.

Luckily our brains have enormous computing power.
And they’re able to process these mistakes and make corrections in a matter of milliseconds—if we are willing to make the mistake, that is.

The biggest reason we don’t get talented is for a simple reason.
It’s because we can’t bear to make a mistake.
And as you can now tell, that’s the biggest mistake of all!

Note: During this lesson I had to go through this exact process, because I was trying to learn how to insert an ‘em-dash’. On my PC, I have to press Alt + 0151 on my keyboard to get an ‘em-dash.’ On a Mac, it’s different. I have to press  Shift+ Alt + - to get the same result. I learned how to create the ‘em-dash’, and then promptly goofed it up. I had to go back several times to learn it. And now I think I have it. Or do I?

This is a song by John Mayer.
It’s a love song.

Read the lyrics of the song (till you can stand it), and then scroll to the bottom.

Back to you. It always comes around. Back to you. I tried to forget you. I tried to stay away. But its too late.

Over you. I’m never over. Over you. Something about you. Its just the way you move. The way you move me.

I’m so good at forgetting. And I quit ever game I play. But forgive me, love. I cant turn and walk away. Back to you. It always comes around.  Back to you.  I walk with your shadow. I’m sleeping in my bed. With your silhouette.

Should have smiled in that picture. If it’s the last that I’ll see of you. It’s the least that you. Could not do. Leave the light on. I’ll never give up on you. Leave the light on. For me too.

Back to me. I know that it comes. Back to me. Doesn’t it scare you? Your will is not as strong. As it used to be.

This is our love song of failure.
Every time we fail, a similar song plays in our brain.
And we go back to the behaviour that causes us to fail. It always comes around. Back to you.

But it could also be a song of success.
The same lyrics that bring you down, take you to overcoming the silly hurdles.

It depends what you’re in love with.
Failure or success.
Making excuses or making things happen!

If you have a cancerous growth, how long would you wait to remove the growth?
If you had a cancerous thought, how long would you wait to remove the thought?

Most people let the thought cancer grow.
Then they say, ‘I’m not really talented’.
They say, ‘I wasn’t born talented.’
They say, ‘Talent is in-born, you can’t learn it.’

Ah, the cancer ‘groweth.’
Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow*

*(sung to the tune of  ‘let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’).

Do we come into this world as conservative thinkers?
Or are we born with a radical bent?

Not surprisingly, we aren’t born with a blank slate.
We come into this world with Version 1.0 embedded in our brains.
So if you look at the most isolated to the most populated places on the planet, you’ll find we’re born with the same core Version 1.0 software.

And yet the software gets a sort of ‘virus’.
Some of us turn extremely conservative. We detest radical thoughts.
And some of us turn extremely radical. We in turn detest conservative thinking and actions.

But showing contempt for the other side is crazy.
Because everything on the planet, including talent, is a matter of structure. Structure is conservative.

Talent is also a matter of art. Art is radical free-thinking.

Creativity and Talent do not exist in thin air. They need structure.
Structure is boring without creativity. It would make our lives drab and doom us to boredom.
Creativity without structure would lead to complete chaos.

Both must exist side by side.

Our iPhones, our cars, our houses, our computers: everything is based on someone’s ability to transcend their radical or conservative virus, and use both sides to create something new.

We can live with a virus that forces us to be ultra-conservative or ultra-radical.
Or we can understand that they’re like yin and yang.
That one cannot actually exist without the other.

The day you learn how to use the conservative as well as the radical part of your brain, that’s the day you’ll learn faster than ever before.

But can you do it?
Can you actually step over to the other side?

Try it. You’ll be amazed at what you find there!
(Watch this video by Jonathan Haidt as well: You may need to be online to watch it)

Catherine’s painting: Click to see big picture

Here’s an interesting story about ‘creativity’.
It’s so interesting that I’ll reproduce it verbatim.

What’s even better is that it’s about a painting.
And how the painting linked to article-writing?

You’re dying to know, huh? Well read on.
This note is from Catherine Marechal, who lives in Italy and whose first language is French.

Happy Birthday Sean!
I want to thank you and let you know of an unusual result of the article writing course.  I have been painting a lot with my left hand. I always had difficulty just finding the time to paint. Now I just do it almost every morning and have no problem finding the time…. and my painting is very different from my right hand work!

What is the link with article writing?
As you know I had problems with keeping only one idea in my article outline. After a conversation with Leah, when I told her I thought my problem was because I was mostly right brain. She asked me if I was left handed. I said no,  and that as a small kid I was ambidextrous but the French school system decided that I would be right handed. and I became right handed.

After talking with Leah, I decided to do my article outline handwriting with my left hand. In fact it worked, you said that you could not see any change to do in my article.

My friend Celeste Varley (the painter and teacher) who I have been encouraging to take your article writing course, suggested that I try to paint with my left hand rather than doing with both hands (but mostly my right hand was predominant) after I told her the story.

So here is my birthday gift, one of my left hand painting
Catherine

Incredible, huh?
That a mere shift of the hand not only made her article-writing a whole lot better, but that Catherine is now painting frequently, and with great confidence.  And that is indeed the power of the brain when it decides to achieve things, rather than just back away and pretend that about a lack of ‘talent’.

You don’t think of serial killers as creative, do you?

They go about killing people, while all the time following a very creative pattern.
And detectives are able to figure out the serial killer based on the killer’s creative pattern.
Once the detective works out the pattern, it’s not hard to track and throw the serial killer away forever.

Your brain has a serial killer too.
It’s called the ‘I can’t do that’ syndrome.
And like a serial killer, it sticks to the pattern, killing the chances of learning a new talent.
And there’s no detective to put that serial killer behind bars.

So your brain’s serial killer runs rampant.
And the older you get, the more you get set in your ways.
With every passing year, you decide that you’re beyond help.
You bolster yourself with silly lines like ‘You can’t teach an old dog, new tricks’.

And quite the opposite is true.
Your brain has a hundred billions neurons.
All waiting to be lit.
But instead they lie dead.
Killed by the serial killer.

The killer of talent.
It’s not some outsider.
It’s your own brain cells that are killing the other ones off.

If you want to stop the killer, you have to be more ‘creative.’
Take up activities like music, or dancing, or learning a new skill is crucial.
Even playing a game like Scrabble once a week will immediately boost your creative skills.

Turning on the lights in your brain.
And scaring the killer off for good!

Well, I don’t! But often they remind me of business owners with no focus at all.

Look at this spammer’s email.

He’s only after ‘men’ and ‘women’.
And through some wonderful typo, he also addresses all mothers as ‘ma.’

Enjoy and guffaw.
Then stop trying to appeal to everyone, when you market your business!

And do you have any examples of funny spam? Send it to me Or post the text here in the comments section.

Sir Robert Winston has done more research on the human body and brain than your cousin.

Yet most of us believe our cousins, our friends, or others who know close to nothing about their brains.
In an ongoing study of the human brain, Sir Winston studies children.

Children and creativity

You may find this brief report interesting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/tv_and_radio/child_of_our_time/progguide_series7prog3.shtml

Bird’s eye view or ground level to learn a new skill?

There’s little doubt that layering is critical for learning.

But how does one go about layering?

Should you learn small chapters of information and keep repeating them several times?
Or should you go through an entire body of knowledge and then repeat it several times?
Should you take in a birdy’s view? Or get to ground level?

There’s no easy answer to the question.
Because layering may be caused at one level, by learning everything from one end to the other. And layering may be caused by repeating one action over and over.

Let me give you an example:
I go for badminton, and am coached to improve my game. And for the entire hour of coaching, I hit one shot over and over again. So I’ll hit the same shot maybe 300 times or more in an hour. Or a variation of the same shot with subtle improvements.

But then I go and play 6-8 games in a row. And then I have to play a whole variety of shots, and deal with a variety of opponents. Some who are so good, they drive you up the wall. And some who are so bad, they drive you up the wall.

The good ones, because they make you think and move quickly.
The bad ones, because you have to force yourself to concentrate despite the silly errors that slow the momentum. So the layering happens at various levels. Both through intense repetition. And then through actual duration of play.

And at both levels, there’s a distinct improvement. So not only does the next coaching session improve as a result of the game, but the next game improves as a result of the coaching practice.

And this brings us to an understanding of what’s happening in the brain
At first the brain is all flustered. What it needs is a matter of stability. Some people get that stability by reading the entire material and then digging through the specifics. Some people need to focus on the specifics to move ahead.

So how do you decide?
You can’t.
You have to do long periods of repetition (as I do in my coaching sessions).
And short bursts of multiple learning (and I do in the game).

Alternating between the two allows your brain to learn and apply at different levels.
And speed up learning like never before.

See that bridge. That’s a ‘bridge of pain’ or ‘no-pain.’ Find out how your brain deals with creating permanent pain.

I play a lot of badminton these days.
And after running on the courts for two hours, I’m fine.
But the next day, my knees are sore.
I find it difficult to bend my knees. And have to use some sort of pain-relieving balm.

So I decided to use my brain as a balm instead
And drive resources from my brain to make sure my knees are not sore any more.
So all I did was focus on my knees not being sore.
And believe me, I’m no magician.

Incredibly, they’re not sore any more.
Now this sounds bizarre, doesn’t it?
Probably as bizarre as learning a new skill.

When you learn a new skill you’re in extreme pain.
And of course, you have all those naysayers saying, “You’re not talented.”
So there’s a lot more than mere extreme pain. There’s discouragement too.

But the brain can rise above all of this pain to create permanent success.
You see the brain works on the system of synapses and neurons (wait, don’t glaze over, because I’ll explain)

Think of neurons as two sides of a cliff.
Neuron 1 is one side of cliff.
Neuron 2 is the other side of the cliff.
There’s a wide, deep ravine in between those cliffs.

To cross over, you need a bridge
That bridge is the synapse bridge.
When we learn something new, the brain keeps building a bridge between the two cliffs.
All the time, as you go through your day, your brain is building new bridges.
The more you repeat a learning or action, the more the brain works on strengthening the bridge, because it recognises the bridge as important.

So you can create a bridge of pain.
And the brain will keep working on that bridge so that your synapse (bridge) is one one of pain.

Day after day. Week after week. Month after month.
Pain and more pain.
So that a once rickety bridge becomes a steel structure.
A structure that’s permanent, and can take on even more loads of pain.
Thus increasing your pain manifold.

Really talented people recognise the failure and the pain
But they rise above it forcing their brain to remember the joy and achievement.
The excuse-makers find a way to focus the brain on the pain and failure.
And the brain gives us exactly what we want. It creates a stronger bridge of pain or joy—depending on what you choose.

So do you want to fix muscular pain?
Or creative pain?
Get your brain to swing into action. And see how it fixes the so-called problem faster than you think.

Apple has been bugging Microsoft forever.
And finally Microsoft takes the bait.
Yup, it’s bait!

They fight back with an ad that looks remarkably like Apple.
Microsoft tries to be cool.

And yet, Microsoft can never be cool.
This isn’t a stupid ad issue. And who fights whom. It’s a branding issue.

If you own a space in the customer’s brain, then that’s the space you own. You can look at Macs any side up, and they represent ‘cool’ or ‘hip’ or ‘trendy.’

That’s their brand.
That’s their advertising.
That’s who they’ve projected themselves to be, and the consumer and paying customers have bought into the cool image.

Ok so what does PC stand for? PC doesn’t stand for cool. But PC stands for the ‘ability to tweak stuff.’ I’ve owned PCs for twenty years. And I can tell you that PCs are tweakable. There’s loads of hardware and software ‘tweakability’ for PCs. Macs aren’t like that at all (and I have to say I love my Mac more than my PC, but it drives me crazy often enough).

On a PC, I can find software to do what I struggle to do with a Mac.
For example, Macs will put in Matsushita drives that won’t let me play legal DVDs. And trying to find software that allows me to make my DVDs region-free is a nightmare. So I switched to the PC. Created a region-free disc, disc image…the works!

With a Mac, I can’t put in more hard disk space. And Apple decides if I need a Blu-ray or not. And so it’s very ‘un-tweakable.’

The word for PC is ‘tweak.’

No matter which way you look at a PC, their branding stands for ‘tweakability.’
The Mac on the other hand stands for ‘cool’. I can do cooler presentations on the Mac, than I can do on a PC, and believe me, I’m very, very capable of doing top quality presentations and delivering them. And so there are cool things I can do with my Mac.

What I’m saying is that I use both PCs and Macs. I have four PCs. And one Mac. And trying to convince me that a PC is cool, is a waste of Windows’ time.

Understand your brand’s uniqueness
PC= ‘Tweakable’.
Mac= Cooooool.

Then use those advantages to dominate your market.

See the silly videos below. Apple has it right. Microsoft has it wrong.

This equation could be memorised. But with layering, you’re more likely to remember it seventeen years from now

Does the brain learn through memorisation?
Most people would think so.

And those people would be partially wrong.

Of course, you don’t have to believe me.
Because we’re going to do a simple test of memory.

So you studied for your examinations in school right?
And you had a hated-subject, but you also had a favourite subject.
Now let’s take your favourite subject (whatever it was).
And let’s give you that exam paper to write once more.

You know what happens next, don’t you?
Your memory is going to fail you. Yet, if you step back into your memory, you’ll sure as heck remember a picnic. Or a day at the zoo. Or some incident. And what’s amazing is that you’ll remember it with a decent amount of detail.

So what’s really happening here? Is it that school was too boring, and the zoo was more exciting?
Or is there something else at play?

There is something else, and it’s called layering.
Layering works in um, layers.
Like a movie it rolls out in your brain, enabling you to build one layer over another.
And memory forms the crucial role of remembering what you learned yesterday, and the day before, and the year before. But without layering; without that movie running in our heads, the memory is just a bunch of bits and bytes. It has little intrinsic value.

And a combination of memory and layering is what causes talent.
So as a child, you learn how to write the letter A.
Then you remember it.
Then you layer the letter A with an object. e.g. apple, or aromatheraphy (just kidding!)
The association is the factor of learning. And develops a talent for writing the letter A.
By itself, the letter A has no value. But with memory and layering, that letter enables you to create words, sentences and a lot more.

The brain depends heavily on memory.
But without layering, that memory becomes useless.
As useless as the information you learned in school, and promptly forgot after the exam.

So where does this take us when we’re developing a talent?
Talent requires layering.
So if you’re learning a skill, you have to learn a bit about drawing.
Then a bit about physics. Then a bit about woodworking. Then a bit about badminton.
And relate it back to your memory of drawing.

It’s when you put all these layers together, that you start to become an outstanding artist.
Or an outstanding singer.
Or an outstanding whatever.
Memory has its role. But layering, ah now that’s quite something else!

Watch this video: It’s quite fascinating…and very well made! (You’ll need to be reading this post online to see the video).

How much is 3 + 3?
You know the answer already, don’t you?

That answer is embedded in your brain through a factor of repetition.
Time and time again, you were called on to remember random numbers.
Then you had to add them up, multiply them and eventually they formed a memory.

Your brain has a storage point for all these bits and pieces.
And talent works on memory. But depends far more on layering.

So if you were to listen to Clay Shirky on collaboration (see video below), you’d learn about collaboration in groups.
If you were to listen to Clay Shirky a second time,  you’ll learn something quite different about collaboration in groups.
If you were to listen to Clay Shirky four or five times, you’ll learn something quite different every single time.

How do I know this?
Because I went for a walk to the beautiful Milford beach, near my home.
And during that one hour walk, I listened to the same audio five times over.
Each time my brain remembered something from the previous hearing, and layered a new learning over it.
The more I listened, the more I learned.
It wasn’t just repetition.
It was literally a bunch of new ideas that were popping in my brain with every repetition.

In effect, I was layering.
Then I took that layering, and added some more information.
I listened to Deborah Gordon and how ants use collaboration (see video below)
Then I spoke to my wife, Renuka about how collaboration could be used on our websites.
Then I brought up the concept of collaboration in a client call.

With every layer, my understanding of collaboration increased in leaps and bounds.
I now understood collaboration like never before.
What my brain is doing, is creating a whole bunch of amazing links.
Links that help me learn.
And get more talented in the understanding of collaboration.

Compare this with 3 + 3.
No matter how many ways you look at it, it’s still 6.
Which brings us back to the question of superiority. Which is more important? Layering or repetition?
Without a doubt, layering is what helps us become talented.
Memory merely helps us remember those layers.

Memory isn’t superior than layering. And neither is layering superior to memory.
Both are needed to learn and sustain a skill.
But if you really want to become a genius at something you can’t depend solely on memory.
Memory by itself is just a bunch of 3 + 3 situations.
Layering is what causes genius.

More on this later…now that I’m back thanks to a nudge from Stew Walton
For now, watch these fascinating videos on collaboration.

Six times of course!