2008

Think Like A Genius

Written by
www.emailcollege.co.uk and
packaged by Adegbulu Adesoji
James
www.adesojiadegbulu.com
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7/23/2008
Think like a Genius

Lesson 1: Seven principles of Creativity and Genius

Each of us is born with tremendous potential for creative expression. This course is designed to help
awaken that genius within you. Learning and practicing our seven principles can open up new creativity,
intellect, and passion in your life. You'll discover that "genius" is a term you should feel comfortable
applying to yourself, and that the chief requirement for its existence is its careful cultivation. The idea of
"genius thinking" can seem daunting, but it's easier than you imagined. Each lesson will unveil a concept
and explore its role in our lives, how we can be conscious of it, and how to encourage its development.
By the end of the course, you should be vividly aware of the role each principle plays in your life and
which areas need more "cultivation”.

The Seven Principles

Let's begin with an overview of the seven principles for thinking like a genius and how can you apply
them to embrace change and enrich the quality of your life. The seven essential principles for thinking
like a genius are:

- Curiosity

Curiosity is an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
Young children learn at an astonishing rate. If a child is brought up in a home where five languages are
spoken, the child will learn to speak all five languages. Why are children so good at learning? They are
born with profound, unrelenting curiosity. And genius is born when that quality of curiosity continues
throughout life. A Genius is insatiably curious. He or she possesses the openness and energy of a child
combined with the focus and discipline of maturity. In this course you'll learn to strengthen and develop
your natural curiosity and reawaken the childlike openness that can bring more truth and beauty to your
life every day.

- Demonstration

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This is a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and a willingness to learn from
mistakes. In the Middle Ages, it was generally assumed that everything worth knowing was already
known. No one questioned the belief, for example, that the Biblical Flood had deposited the fossilized
seashells in the mountains outside of Milan.

Demonstration through independent thinking

Test things through our own experience and learn from mistakes. Like a baby learning to walk,

- Sensations

The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience. A genius
observes that the average person "looks without seeing, hears without listening, breathes in without
awareness of aroma or fragrance, eats without tasting, touches without feeling, and talks without
thinking!" Our popular culture tends not to encourage sensory awareness and refinement.

- Uncertainty

This is a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty. If you begin to awaken your
childlike curiosity by asking deeper questions, if you commit to independent thinking and start to sharpen
your senses, the result will be more questions! Our world is changing faster than ever before. New
developments in technology, geo-politics, business, science, and medicine are accelerating change and
multiplying uncertainty. As uncertainty mounts, the ability to remain centred and balanced becomes more
important for individual well-being. In this part of the course, you'll apply exercises that will strengthen
your comfort with ambiguity and guide you to smile as you deal with uncertainty, and you'll learn simple
techniques for cultivating your intuitive powers.

- Art/Science

This is about the development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination; whole- brain
thinking. What we call whole-brain thinking i.e. using the linear, logical, analytical capacities of our

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mind in harmony with the more imaginative, colourful, and playful elements. This ideal of balance is
brought to everyday practice through a simple technique called mind mapping (developed by Tony
Buzan). Mind mapping is a simple, easy method for training yourself to think like a genius.

- Healthy Body

This is the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. We now call "the mind-body
connection" where the mind is improved by a healthy body. Your approach to health and well-being can
dramatically improve the quality of your life.

- Connection

This is a recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena; systems
thinking. The ability to see connections that others don't is a hallmark of genius In this section of the
course you'll learn to look at your life vision, values and goals from this holistic perspective so that you
can integrate your highest aspirations into your life everyday.

Homework - Awakening Curiosity: The Path to Your Genius

If you've stifled your curiosity, here's where you unleash it: by using writing, drawing, and journals as
discovery tools. You will do this throughput the course as keeping journals is essential to the genius
process; your first aim is to develop an awareness of the power of curiosity, as well as to become proud of
your curiosity.

Who are you?

Your experiences and perceptions are unique, and in this lesson you'll begin to discover what they are.
You'll explore your genius, your natural capacity for creativity, and original conceptions. Don't worry; it's
not hard. You're an original already. In the entire history of the world there's never been anyone exactly
like you, and there never will be again.

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What Fascinates You?

You're born curious, but by the time you've finished your schooling, your curiosity has been blunted,
having taken on too many "shoulds" and "oughts." Curiosity is the foundation of your genius.

What engages you?

Think about the ways in which you could turbo-charge your own curiosity. Do you limit your desire for
knowledge to those subjects that are work-related or "useful" in some way? When you don't know the
answer to a question, do you shrug your shoulders and give up, or do you make a note to find out the
answer? Don't be afraid to let your curiosity run free. Often you'll find that a subject that started out as
something you investigated for interest's sake alone becomes important to you later. Make a commitment
to follow your passions now and to recover your childlike sense of wonder and exploration.

Exploring Your Curiosity

- Are you less curious or more curious than you were as a child?
- How do you feel your early schooling experiences helped or hindered your curiosity?
- Did you have a favourite teacher who encouraged you?
- What Would You Study if Only You Had the Time?

Make a list of subjects that interest you -- that you want to study "some day." Make the list as long or as
short as you like.

Lesson 2: Discovery Tools

Life happens in the moment. Unless you take the time to record some of these moments, you'll lose your
genius-quality inspirations and ideas. Make the most of your life by recording your experiences.Taking a
few minutes to journal as you go through your busy day has these benefits:

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• It sharpens your mental focus.
• It wakes up your subconscious mind and right brain so that you're using "whole-brain" thinking.
Writing and drawing will stimulate your subconscious so that it sends you a stream of ideas on how to do
things better and faster.
• It gets you in the habit of recording ideas when they come to you (sudden inspirations are like
dreams; they fade quickly unless you write them down).
• It reduces stress.
• It allows you to both plan and review your days more effectively.

How to Start Your Journaling

Writing is a process of discovery. If you've never kept a journal, you might be wondering how to start.
You'll evolve your own way of journaling over time. The easiest way to start your new journaling habit is
to record a slice of life: write down where you are and describe the situation using your senses. What do
you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste? Try it right now. Set a time limit, say five minutes, and force
yourself to keep writing until the time's up. Setting a time limit and forcing yourself to produce ensures
that you don't sit chewing your pen or staring at the computer screen: you'll actually get something
written. You'll be amazed that after a couple of minutes, you'll start writing about something other than
the situation around you. That's great; just keep writing whatever pops into your head.

What's Best for Journaling: Pen and Paper or Computer?

Your choice of journal format is entirely up to you. Here are some tips:
• Keeping more than one journal (one for work, another for your hobby, yet another for a current
project) is confusing. Limit yourself to two journals, and carry them with you everywhere. If you keep
two journals, consider making one a visual journal.
• While keeping a journal on your PC is handy if you're a 70-word-a-minute typist, don't keep your
journal on a computer unless you have a notebook computer or Palm handheld that's always nearby. You
should take your journal with you everywhere.
• Don't share your journal with others unless you're supremely self-assured. You should feel
extremely comfortable writing your thoughts in your journal. If you're worried that others will read it,
there's a chance you'll censor yourself.
• On the other hand, occasionally you may want to share what you've written.

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Free-Writing: Stream of Consciousness
The technique involves deciding on a question or a topic, and setting a time limit (10 minutes, 15 minutes,
and/or half an hour). Then write whatever comes into your head, without taking your pen from the paper,
or your fingers from the keyboard, for that time. Just write, whether what you're writing happens to be
related to the topic or not. You may spend the first minute writing "I don't know what to write," but you'll
be amazed at the quality of the material you produce overall.

Use stream of consciousness writing to explore:

• Problems
• Your initial thoughts on a topic before you write a report
• A decision you have to make
• Goals you want to set

Try These Free-Writing Exercises

Set an alarm for 10 minutes. Then free-write on:

• The happiest day of my life
• My most vexing challenge
• My talents and what I'm doing to develop them

Make Daily Appointments to Journal

Commit to writing in your journal at specific times during the day:
• When you wake up: don't lose those early-morning inspirations, record them.
• At lunchtime: journal in the park or in a restaurant.
• In the evening before bed: this is a good time to review your day or contemplate a question.

If you don't get an answer to your question during your initial contemplation, you may wake up with it in
the morning.

Contemplation and Meditation

Contemplation is a form of meditation. It sounds like hard and serious work, but it's incredibly relaxing as
well as productive. You can use contemplation simply to relax, to come up with new ideas, or to problem-
solve. Meditation reduces anxiety, tension, and stress. You can meditate anywhere, anytime, just by
bringing your attention back to your breathing. No one else needs to know what you're doing. You can

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bring your attention to your breath in a meeting, while you're driving, or while standing at the checkout in
the supermarket. Meditation only has two rules: keep your spine straight and your breathing unrestricted.
Therefore, you can meditate standing up, sitting, or lying on the floor.

Here's how:

Close your office door, and turn off the phone. Decide on a time limit: five minutes, ten minutes, or
longer. There's no need to set a timer, but you can if you wish. Sit on a hard-backed chair with your spine
straight. Keep your feet flat on the floor, and rest your hands on your knees or thighs. Your eyes may be
open or closed; whichever allows you to focus more easily.Take three deep breaths and relax, but don't
slump; keep your spine straight. Listen to your breathing, but don't try to manipulate your breathing in
any way. Simply listen to the breath entering and leaving your body. Place your mental focus on your
navel, the point between your eyebrows, or on your nostrils. As soon as you become aware that you are
thinking, and have stopped listening to your breath, return to listening.

Dealing with Extraneous Thoughts and Strong Emotions - Meditation teachers say, "What you resist,
persists." If you're bedeviled by a rush of thoughts as you still your mind and try to stay with your breath,
be gentle with yourself. When you catch yourself losing your focus, just bring your attention back to your
breath, over and over again.

Meditation is an ideal way to explore your emotions. Indeed, you may even find that over time, you make
friends with your anger, sadness, or fear. The best way to deal with a sudden rush of emotion is to try to
locate where you feel the emotion in your body. Focus on that spot, and breathe into it. Gradually the
emotion will dissipate. If the emotion returns, again locate the area in your body, and breathe into it.

Share Your Thoughts

As you contemplate and meditate, you'll find that you almost always have an interesting insight either
during a meditation period or shortly afterward. Record your insights in your notebook. As you practiced
the exercises, what did you learn?

Lesson 3: Demonstration
Test Your Knowledge via Your Experiences
Do you know, or do you only think you know? In this lesson you commit to testing your knowledge via
experience. And remember: it's not a mistake, or a failure; it's an experiment. You will act and become a

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doer and examine your past experiences for talents and abilities you've displayed, as well as for lessons
you've learned. Finally, in the spirit of Demonstration and experimentation, you'll commit to making
mistakes, knowing that you frequently learn more from your disasters than from your successes.

Act! Demonstrate Your Talents

Demonstration is about learning from experience rather than relying on theory. If you weren’t lucky in
your teachers, or if you find that you're relying more on theory than practice, this lesson will challenge
you to become a doer, rather than a dreamer. You need to test your ideas and beliefs and to commit to
making mistakes with awareness. If you're thinking that this is a lot to ask, look at it this way: all you
have to offer the world is you -- your unique perceptions and experiences. Therefore, the more
experiences you can garner, the more you will learn and the more you have to offer that is uniquely you.
It's unfortunate that modern schooling emphasizes theory rather than experience, because this is the
source of many of our less creative habits.

Do You Value Your Experiences?

The big problem with personal experience is that we usually don't value it enough, or we tend to denigrate
it, thinking that somehow other people (with less experience) know better. In a moment, we'll discuss
creating a fantasy job application. The idea here is to start you thinking of your experiences as being
valuable, and to make this an engrained habit in your thinking. Once you start to think of your
experiences as being valuable in and of themselves, you'll value your mistakes because of what they teach
you about how the world works. You'll stop being embarrassed by your mistakes, because you'll know
that often your mistakes teach you more than your successes. A genius is a doer, not a dreamer; he is
always ready to demonstrate and express his ideas.

Your Fantasy Job Application

In your journal, write a fantasy job application to your dream employer. Approach the task from the
employer's point of view; if you've ever worked in Human Resources, you know that few job applicants
do this, generally only listing their own achievements. Someone who demonstrates that she can solve
problems for her potential employer is a real find. If you like your fantasy job application, why not
rewrite your current CV in the style of a genius?

Test Your Knowledge via Your Experiences

Your experiences have made you what you are today, but they are much more valuable to you if you
acknowledge and value them. Make a note of your triumphs in your notebook. The memories of your

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triumphs give you the courage to attempt more; they also bolster you when you've made an error and are
feeling down. Everyone suffers unhappy experiences and makes mistakes. Examining your experiences
for their value is important: try to do it daily. It only takes a few moments. Starting today, take some time
before bed to describe and assess the day's events. Briefly note:
• Your achievements today
• Any mistakes you made
• What you learned from both of them
Start a daily section in your notebook: "Today's Review." This heading makes it easier to read your daily
assessments when you leaf through the notebook in the months to come. Leave some space after each
assessment so that you can add notes when you reread them.

Assessing Your Beliefs

You act on what you believe, so your beliefs form the framework of your life. However, some of your
beliefs may be incorrect or you may be acting on false information. It's vital that you check your beliefs in
the light of your experiences. You may find that a belief you've always held doesn't match your
experience.

List ten beliefs you hold about yourself. Then assess these beliefs. Are they legitimate, or are these beliefs
based on voices from the past? Challenge any negative belief you hold. For example, you may believe
you're lazy. In assessing this belief, you discover that you're holding down two jobs while raising a family
(and doing this course). Put a broad red line through "lazy" and substitute "industrious and energetic."
Regularly challenging your negative beliefs has a profound effect on your attitude.

Learning from Experience

Do you often make the same mistake again and again? These techniques will help you learn from
experience:
* Analyze your experiences daily
* Admit your mistakes (at least to yourself)
* Try again
* Persist until you get it right (most self-made millionaires have survived a bankruptcy before they
achieve success).

It's Not a Mistake, It's an Experiment

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How do you feel when you realise you've made a mistake? Of course, that depends on the size of the
mistake. Investing your nest egg in a company that promptly crashes and burns is a mistake of a different
order of magnitude from using the wrong fork at a dinner party. You're entitled to feel down after making
a mistake, but tell yourself that this it was not a mistake but an experiment that didn't work.

Do affirmations work? Try this: sigh and say to yourself: "I'm so tired..." Repeat this twice, silently to
yourself. If you're at all suggestible, by the third repetition, you'll yawn. Now, wake yourself up again.
Smile broadly, and say to yourself: "Wow, I feel great!" Repeat this three times. How do you feel now.

Be Prepared to Make Mistakes: Accept Them, Learn from Them, and Move On.
Are you comfortable making mistakes? If mistakes bother you, why not try making a few deliberately?
Tell yourself that whenever you step out of your comfort zone and try something new, you will make
mistakes, so you might as well get comfortable with them.

Do a stream of consciousness free-writing session on how you felt when you made mistakes when you
were a child. Chances are that before the age of eight, you probably didn't know mistakes existed. If you
fell over and skinned your knee, you picked yourself up and kept on playing. Try to recapture some of the
careless exuberance of your younger self on paper.

When you finish your free-write, underline the words that jump out at you and create an affirmation from
these words. Use your mistake-buster affirmation every day.

Lesson 4: Sensations

You experience the world through your senses. Developing your senses of sight, touch, taste, and smell is
an amazing adventure. Sensual. Sensitive. Sensational. To think like a genius, you need to refine your
senses. When your senses of vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell are heightened, you'll know you're
waking up to the world around you. Why bother?" you might be wondering. After all, you want to think
like a genius, right?

Do You See? Become an Effective Witness

When was the last time you really looked at what was happening around you? When you went for your
morning walk? Or the last time you went on holiday? By now, your notebook should be as much a part of

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you as your mobile phone. Take a moment to leaf through your notebook to check how you've used your
sight. How many descriptions can you find?

Most people, unless they're trained like police officers, are inadequate witnesses to the world around
them. Training yourself to become more observant just takes a little practice. You can start training
yourself today by doing these three simple exercises:

• Describe at least three scenes (such as a coffee shop, the park where you have lunch and your
office) in your notebook.
• Select an item from nature to draw in your visual notebook (a flower, a leaf, a stone).
• Choose a stranger, someone you've seen for just a moment or two. Then describe the person in a
hundred words in your notebook. You can also make a brief sketch of him or her in your notebook.

Music for Your Spirit

Most people live in a noisy world. Many of us cope by shutting sound out, rather than inviting sound in.
Music is a brilliant creativity aid, however, and developing your hearing is an essential part of learning to
think like a genius. In addition, many claims have been made about the healing power of music. Music
therapists, for example, treat everything from relationship problems to stress. You can investigate the
healing powers of music for yourself. The next time you suffer from a tension headache; why not reach
for a CD for some musical therapy instead of heading for the medicine cabinet? What a great use for
Demonstration!

You can also use music therapy as a stress reliever before a major event, such as a job interview or a
presentation before a new client. Simply choose music that has a pulse of about 60 beats per minute. This
shifts your consciousness to an alpha brain wave pattern, which relaxes you. It also gives you easier
access to the creative centre in your right brain. Classical baroque music has a pulse of 60 beats a minute,
as does a lot of New Age and ambient music.

More Music, and Silence

Music soothes, energises, and heals -- and every home needs a Musical First Aid Kit. Go through your
musical library and compile your own kit. These are the CDs or tapes that you play regularly, in order to:
• Relax after a chaotic drive home from work
• Cheer you up after a disappointment
• Eliminate the sense of tension after a quarrel with your partner

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• In some way change your mood, or the mood in your home.

If you like the idea of this kit, then think about developing other kits, either for yourself, or as gifts for
others. You can compile musical kits for:
• Study
• Meditation
• Writing in your journal
• Sketching and painting
• Working on a hobby

What would it be like not to speak for an entire day? If you haven't tried practicing the art of silence, start
off with half a day, or just a couple of hours of silence.
Tell other family members what you're doing, or choose a day when you'll be alone.
You'll be amazed at how much your hearing is enhanced after your period of silence. If you enjoy it, then
practice regularly. Make notes of what you experience in your notebook.

Exploring Touch, Taste, and Smell

The easiest way to explore your senses of touch, taste, and smell is through aromatherapy and, of course,
via the humble art of cooking.

Aromas to Boost Your IQ

Aromatherapy's essential oils work directly on your brain and can enhance your confidence, self-esteem,
and sense of well being. They may even boost your IQ. If you haven't experimented with essential oils,
give them a try. Which oil is for you? We're all different, and an oil that may work brilliantly on your
partner or friend may have the opposite effect on you. You can use the oils in various ways: in the bath,
diluted with a carrier oil like almond or olive oil if you want to use them on your skin, or by warming
them in a burner (the oils aren't actually burned; they're added to a small amount of water, which is then
warmed so that the oils evaporate). The simplest way to use an oil is to add a drop or two to a paper tissue
and place it on your desk. Enjoy the subtle wafts you'll get from the scent and pay attention to the
response it creates in your mind and body.

Specific Oils for Specific Purposes:

Memory enhancement
- basil lemon rosemary ginger

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Alertness
- Juniper pine peppermint black pepper eucalyptus grapefruit lime.
Self-esteem
- Sandalwood bergamot ylang ylang rose geranium rose jasmine cedarwood.

Cooking Your Way to an Enhanced Sense of Touch, Taste, and Smell

Cooking is an art that allows you to work on all your senses at one time. So many people make the
declaration that they cannot cook simply because they fear making something that doesn't taste "right."
The purpose of this lesson is to instil the value of Demonstration in you, so it's high time that all of you
with kitchen phobias challenge those fears and start cooking. You may find, ultimately, that cooking just
isn't something you enjoy, but you can't arrive at that decision without trying it simply for the sensory
experience it offers.

The fastest way to learn to cook is to take a course. If you can't find a course locally, learn from a book,
or from a DVD or CD. Expect to make a few mistakes as you learn, and remember Demonstration it's not
a mistake; it's an experiment.

Why Learn to Cook?

Cooking is meditative therapy. If you're a cook, you know that nothing calms you like preparing a huge
pot of vegetable soup, which is wonderful to have simmering right through a long winter's afternoon.
Within 10 minutes of beginning to chop onions, potatoes, carrots, parsley, turnips, and pumpkin, you may
very well find that you anger, jealousy, depression or whatever mood is bedevilling you will vanish. Plus
-- you get to eat your therapy!

Tough Assignment, but Someone's Got to Do It.

Lesson 5: Uncertainty
Let Your Intuition Guide You

How comfortable are you with ambiguity? Are you comfortable not knowing, or do you demand
certainty? Learn how trusting your intuition can guide you through the unknown.
In this lesson you develop your toleration for confusion and uncertainty as Curiosity plunges you into the
unknown. Through understanding and Demonstration, you get comfortable with not knowing. You've
sharpened your senses, so you're ready to utilize your super-sense: your intuition. You'll use all the skills

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you developed in previous lessons, and will extend them, so that you can see through the haze of
Uncertainty.

Explore the Unknown with Curiosity

When you ask questions about your life, you'll get answers you may not expect. The answers may excite
you, but chances are, they'll also scare you out of your wits. Suddenly you're overwhelmed with new
choices -- What? You? Give a presentation at the annual shareholders' meeting? You? Drive through
Europe? Alone? Yes. You. When you start to think like a genius, you'll be bounced out of your comfort
zone. Your reward for battling through the smoke of uncertainty and accompanying anxiety is a priceless
gift: the knowledge that you can always, always trust your intuition.

Getting Comfortable with Not-Knowing

Let's not sugar-coat it: insecurity is not fun. If you've gone through unemployment, divorce, serious
illness, or being a teenager, you already know this. Insecurity triggers immense stress that's hard to
handle. However, to think like a genius, you need to get used to the insecurity of ambiguity, of not-
knowing.

Projection is an interesting psychological process in which we involuntarily project our unconscious

behaviour onto others. When this happens, we believe that the qualities we're projecting actually exist in
the other person. For example, you have a close friend with many lovely qualities, but she's a whiner of
the first order. Although you love her dearly, you wish that she'd stop bitching about trivialities. Some
psychologists suggest that, "we only recognise that which we are." This is the grown-up version of "it
takes one to know one." So in the case of our beloved whining friend, we're projecting our own
complaining nature onto her, because it's too threatening for us to confront this directly in ourselves.
For a weekend, or a week if you like, make notes about what you dislike most about the people you come
into contact with. Include your family, partner, and colleagues. (Be as cruel as you like, because after all,
you're really describing yourself.) At the end of the weekend, make a list of your most-hated attributes,
prefacing each quality with "I am not," as in:
• I am not sarcastic
• I am not petty
• I am not stingy
• I am not a whiner
• I am not chronically late
• I am not mathematically challenged

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This exercise will not automatically enable you to recognise all your projections; it will, however, help
you to see where you're projecting, and it should help to smooth some of your rockier relationships. Now
we've faced our demons, let's get our reward: intuition.

Real-Knowing: Acknowledging Your Intuition

Intuition is a major component of creativity. In fact, unless and until you trust your intuition, you will
dismiss your greatest inspirations. In case you've ever doubted it, be assured that everyone is intuitive.
Your intuition is known by many names and is often referred to as the right brain. Think back: did you
ever think of an old friend you hadn't seen for years, and then run into him at the movies? Or had a hunch
that a horse would win, and told yourself, "Ah, it's only a hunch," and then have the four-legged beast
actually win? When asked how he gets his ideas, novelist Stephen King says that it's a process of
excavation. He digs out the novel he's working on, which already exists, in the same way in which an
archaeologist might excavate an ancient mosaic or an ancient building that has become buried under the
sand and soil of millennia. In other words, Stephen King trusts his intuition.

Uncertainty Self-Assessment
How much do you enjoy the foggier elements of life? Ask yourself the following questions:
• I enjoy travelling alone.
• I know that I will always have sufficient resources to meet my needs.
• I meditate on my death, as a reality check.
• I am comfortable talking to strangers.
• I enjoy my emotions, and am rarely overwhelmed by them.
• I often switch my mobile phone off.
• I welcome anxiety as a sign of creative tension.
• I love jokes and puns.

Intuition Free-Write
This exercise is spooky. You'll be shocked at how many of your predictions are accurate.
• Take out your notebook and a pen, or turn on your computer and start a new file. Write a list of
questions, as few or as many as you please.
• Set a timer for 10 minutes. Play some relaxing music, and burn some aromatherapy oils if you
wish.

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• Close your eyes. For the purposes of this exercise, you are Mystic Mary (or Mystic Mike if you're
male). Visualize an enormous quartz crystal ball on the desk in front of you. The ball, which is half the
size of a basketball, is your gateway to the Other Side. The ball has the answers to any questions you
might want to ask it.
• Breathe deeply, then open your eyes, and start by writing: "The ball buzzes and hums on the
desktop, and as it clears, I see a vision of . . . "
• Write down what you see. Perhaps you will see: a hidden garden, a valley in the Himalayas, or a
deep cavern underneath the earth.
• Fully describe what you see, and close your eyes again. Imagine yourself inside the scene, in the
ball.
• Open your eyes. Start the timer, look at your questions, and start answering them, one after
another. It's important that you don't lift your pen from the paper, or your fingers from the keyboard. Just
keep writing until the time's up.

Moving Forward
Please be gentle with yourself and remember that even taking small steps in the direction of welcoming
ambiguity is positive. Now is the time to learn to appreciate the changes you've already made and look
forward to the ones you'll continue to make.

Lesson 6: Art/Science

Balance the Logical and Imaginative Sides of Your Brain

Are you logical? Or imaginative? In this lesson you'll work on developing whole-brain thinking for super
creativity. A genius's genius stemmed from his apparently effortless integration of his left and right brain,
his logic and imagination. In this lesson, you'll assess your own preferred way of thinking via
Demonstration, and will consciously develop whole-brain thinking, utilizing both right and left
hemispheres. You'll also develop the skill of Mind Mapping, a brilliant tool that forces you to use both
sides of your brain, and will develop some creative solutions using Mind Maps.

Which Path to Genius: Logic or Imagination?

Your aim is to turn yourself into a whole-brain thinker: a person who can think logically, but who also
has an active imagination. Everyone is either right (spontaneous) - or left-brain (logical) dominant. Very
few people (usually the ones we think of as geniuses) use both their right- and left-brain hemispheres

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equally. If you know that you're naturally left-brained and want to become more spontaneous and
accepting of your right-brained side, consciously work on developing spontaneity and a tolerance for
chaos. Try:

• Getting in your car and going for a drive without planning the trip first.
• Act on your hunches, even if you feel silly (no, don't bet a bundle on the horses, but if you get a
hunch to buy a stock and you're not 100 percent sure why, buy some shares anyway).
• Make a note of any insights after your meditation/contemplation sessions, and take these insights
seriously -- think about them rather than dismissing them, and act on them, without demanding proof.

(The issue here is one of trust. Most left-brainers terrorize their right brain to the extent that the right brain
has long given up on making suggestions at all. You need to rebuild trust, so act on your intuitions).

Right-Brain to Left-Brain Thinker

Your challenge is to become more logical and verbal. This may seem impossible, but it's worth the effort.
Try:

• Balancing your account every month.

• Developing a mind map (see Lecture 2) of pros and cons for every major purchase before you
make the purchase. (You'll make fewer impulse buys, and will save money.)
• Cataloguing your CD, book, and software collection.
• Ridding every closet in your home of clutter.
• Having a garage sale.

The last three suggestions may seem to have little to do with logical thinking, but remember that you are
more than your mind. Clearing clutter will help you to think more logically. try it.

Art/Science Self-Assessment
Are you left-brain dominant? Are you right-brain dominant? Try to find out by answering these questions
- I need to work out problems logically. When I don't understand something, I muse about the
problem until the answer arrives. I enjoy analysis, and am detail-oriented. I like to see the big picture first,
and then work out the details. I am verbally facile. I know what I want to say, but often can't find the
precise words. My friends say I am unemotional. Sometimes I get too emotional. I'm not creative. I'm
creative, but usually don't trust the results. When I'm alone in the house late at night and I hear a noise, I

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know it's the house settling/ the people next door/ the dog. When I'm alone in the house late at night, I call
someone, or turn on the radio.

Challenge Yourself to Become What You're Not

Most of us are a mix of right-brain and left-brain tendencies, but one side is usually dominant. Which are
you? It's important to work out in which way your natural tendency lies, because then you can practice
and turn your weaknesses into strengths. Unfortunately, many of us practice our strengths and hope our
weaknesses will somehow magically fix themselves.

What Are You Avoiding?

Invariably, with a course like this, students practice surreptitious avoidance of some aspect of the lessons
in the privacy of their own home. What are you avoiding and why are you avoiding it? Pull out that
journal and make some notes about the activity or lesson that's unappealing to you and exactly what your
feelings are on the subject.

Lesson 7: Mind Mapping

Your Brain Integration Tool

When you're used to other note taking, studying, and planning methods, Mind Mapping may initially feel
awkward. But persevere. The rewards of making Mind Mapping an integral part of your life are great You
need to learn to Mind Map, because it allows you to access both sides of your brain by getting your
brain's hemispheres to talk to each other. Whether you're left or right-brain dominant, you have a
preferred way of thinking. For many people, after years of schooling, the left brain is in charge.
Paradoxically, this is true even for people whose preferred thinking mode is right-brain: they've been
brainwashed by a left-brained culture into thinking that their way of thinking is wrong --even when they
consistently get the right answers.

Don't be intimidated by the gorgeous mind maps you see in books or on the Internet. Your special-
occasion mind maps may well be frame-worthy works of art, but most real- life mind maps are nothing
like that. And everyone mind maps in their own way, so your way is the right way for you. Here's how I
do it. My favourite pens are: a red, green, and blue ink combo, in which one click changes ink colours,
and a purple-ink pen. Using these pens, I scrawl my quick-and-dirty mind maps on anything handy: sticky
notes, old envelopes, the margins of books (if I own the book), and the backs of letters. Mind mapping

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has become so automatic to me that I don't even realise I'm doing it. I've been known to Mind Map on the
back of menus in restaurants.

The Short-Form Mind Map Rules

• Put a heading on the page
• Doodle a centre for the map
• Insert keywords and doodles
• Radiate arms from the map connecting the keywords to the central image
• Continue or stop

At this stage, I leave my map for anywhere from five minutes to five days. When I come back to it, I
either do a second map focusing on what seemed most important on the first map, or I take action: call the
client, write the chapter of the book, write the speech, etc.

Mind Map Your Day

• Doodle/sketch a calendar page or similar centre for your map.
• Write down keywords (things to do, things to remember, appointments, etc.).
• Connect the keywords with radiant lines from your centre doodle.
• Add more colourful doodles, keywords, and lines where appropriate.
• Stop when you've had enough.
Let's go on to the next page and iron out any questions you have about how to do your own mind maps.

The Psychological Benefits of Mind Mapping

Do a "Mind Map Your Day" map. Did you notice that as you wrote and drew and had fun that any
tension, anxiety, or worry about upcoming events dissipated? Did you begin to feel excited and hopeful
and eager to go out and conquer your day? Mind mapping, no matter what purpose you use it for, seems
to carry its own positive energy. Tony Buzan created the concept of Mind Mapping after studying how
other geniuses processed information. To find out more about how Mind Mapping, read Buzan's books,

Develop Creative Solutions with Mind Maps

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By now you should have created at least one mind map, so you've got the idea, but chances are that mind
maps still seem awkward. Your challenge now is: six mind maps in 60 minutes. Did we mention that
mind maps don't have to be pretty?

1. Mind Map a Report or Essay

• The biggest difficulty here might be creating the central image or logo. If you can't think of
anything, do a colourful abstract. It's important to develop an image when you start the mind map because
that puts you in touch with your right brain.
• When you've created the image, place your keywords. Don't take too long at this; it's a free-
association exercise. At this stage, you don't need to know where all the keywords are heading. They don't
even need to make sense. Just put down whatever words come to you, in whatever order, anywhere on the
page.
• Then connect the words with the central image.
By the time you've done this, you're guaranteed to be well on the way to completing the report.

2. Mind Map a Solution to a Problem

You're not mind mapping the solution as much as describing the problem with keywords and images.
Trust the process with this one. Within 10 words, you'll want to put down a word that doesn't seem to fit.
Write that word. Write the next word .
Usually by the time you're drawing lines, a solution to your problem will be evident.

3. Brainstorm with a Mind Map

Use a Central image and Keywords. Place the keywords anywhere on the page. When you run out of
keywords, connect the lines and then start sketching and doodling. The sketching will trigger more
keywords. Keep going for at least 10 minutes. Use plenty of paper.
You can do a brainstorm mind map on notebook size paper, but the larger the paper the better. Tape the
paper to a wall, and start writing down words.

4. Mind Map a Book

You can mind map a book as you read, or when you've finished. Place your central image, and then add
keywords, lines, and sketches.

5. Mind Map Study Notes

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Mind mapping makes preparing for exams easy. Read through your study notes, and mind map as you do
so. You can also create mind maps in lectures or seminars, as an alternative to boring note taking. Try it.
You'll be surprised to find that when you mind map, you retain more of the material.

6. Mind Map a Field Trip

Central image. Add keywords for locations, flora, fauna, or whatever you're studying on the trip. You'll
probably go through many sheets of paper. When you get home, create a presentation-quality mind map
from your field mind maps.

Lesson 8; Healthy body

Develop a Healthy Body and Get Fit for Life

In this lesson, you'll learn that your mind isn't just in your brain -- it's in your body, too. You'll develop
your own plan for lifelong fitness, including a diet that you enjoy because it makes you feel wonderful.
You'll cultivate ambidexterity, knowing that when you balance the body, you balance the brain. If you
have any negative feelings about your body, these will fade. You'll appreciate your body for the marvel
that it is.

Did you grow up with the idea that smart people don't need to be fit: after all, we use our brains, rather
than our brawn, right? Remember the ultra-clever nerd and brawny, dumb-guy stereotypes in movies?
The stereotype of the brainy, but puny and uncoordinated genius is wrong. If you're a 98-pound weakling
(male or female) and you're a genius, you'll be a genius times a thousand when you develop muscle,
physical endurance, and grace.
Researchers are beginning to think that our mind isn't simply in our brain

Healthy Body Self-Assessment

Let's start the lesson off by looking at how you regard your body. Answer each of the following questions
honestly. Remember: this is all for you.
• I enjoy exercise and have established an exercise routine.
• I exercise moderately for at least 20 minutes every day.
• I have studied basic nutrition and feed myself at least as well as most people feed their dogs and
horses.

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• I have used Demonstration to discover things about my body: such as how it reacts to fat and sugar
in my diet.
• I drink six to eight glasses of water a day.
• I eat at least four servings of fresh vegetables a day and at least two servings of fruit.
• I plan to have an active holiday (swimming, hiking, bicycling) this year.
• I have joined a gym, or have created an exercise area in my home.
• I incorporate mind/body meditative exercises (yoga, tai chi, chi kung) into my exercise routine
because they balance both sides of my body, as well as my mind, and they lift my spirit.

The Genius Diet

Another day, another diet is the routine for far too many people.
If you need to lose weight, combine simple fresh food eating plan with daily moderate exercise, and the
weight will drop off.
If you have more than 50 pounds to lose, take at least a year to lose the weight sensibly. Crash diets cause
you to do exactly that: crash.
Listen to your body. On some days you'll be hungrier than on others, so eat a little more, but eat slowly.
You should still be slightly hungry at the end of your meal. Wait 15 minutes for the satiety centre in your
brain to get the message from your tummy that it's full.
Get active, walking as much as possible for normal activities like shopping and doing errands around
town. Do your own housework, gardening, and home repairs.

The Genius Exercise Plan

If your exercise program isn't fun, you won't do it. However, if you've never exercised, you probably have
a horror of it, and your mental conditioning needs to be resolved first. Therefore, if you have no
established exercise plan, pick an easy exercise, like walking, to start with. Grit your teeth and keep
walking daily for three months before you decide that you don't like it. The reason for doing it for three
months is that by then it will have become a body-habit. Your body will now tell you that it wants to be
active and moving. (Yes, it takes around three months for you to break the inertia-habit.) The beauty of
exercise programs is that no matter what your interests are, you can find something to do that you enjoy.
If you're up for the gym, you can do the rounds of the weight machines, exercise classes, spinning classes,
and much more. Before signing on at the gym, visit several gyms, and be sure to take out a trial
membership.

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If the great outdoors appeals to you, you can tackle everything from team sports to marathons,
orienteering, sailing, or golf. Exercise doesn't ever have to be boring: if you're bored, do something else.
In addition, make it a rule to learn a new activity a year. It can't be overstated that variety is the spice of
life.

Heal Your Body, Mind, and Spirit

If you're in good health, the exercises will turbo-charge your usual exercise routine.
Want to Stay Home? Try: Yoga, Tai Chi/Chi Kung, Walking/cycling/rollerblading
Choose from a multitude of aerobic exercise videos

Healthy body -- Develop a Healthy Body and Get Fit for Life
You are your body, so get to know it. Your body does its work silently and efficiently most of the time;
thank it for the hard work it does for you.

"The Mirror Observation:" Exercise and Drawing

One of the best investments you can make in your long-term health is to get one of the numerous
anatomical guides available from bookstores or libraries that has diagrams of:

• The musculo-skeletal structure

• The endocrine system
• The nervous system
• The major organs

These books are often presented as colouring books. Although colouring sounds juvenile for an adult, it's
not. Remember the power of images (mind maps) to affect your thinking? Get a colour-it-yourself
anatomical guide, and do the colouring yourself. Colouring your liver and spleen and discovering how
your digestive system works might not seem like great entertainment, but it's an investment in the good
health of you and your family. The next time you visit the doctor, you can be precise as to the location of
that twinge in your back.

Following Your Energy

In Chi Kung, energy follows attention, so direct the energy of your smile to your internal organs. Hold the
energy there and thank them for their hard work. You'll feel a warmth and tingling growing underneath

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your hands. Sit relaxed for a few moments, then slowly remove your hands, stretch, and yawn if you have
to. Continue with your day.

Poise and Ambidexterity: Use Your Body, Develop Your Mind

Did you know that finger exercises, called "mudras" in yoga, can stimulate your brain and not only
improve your motor skills, but also your mood and alertness?

Using your non-dominant hand for a day or part of your day: Try turning on the lights, brushing your
teeth, or eating your breakfast with your other hand.

Writing with your other hand: Try signing your name with your non-dominant hand, or writing the
alphabet. Then do some stream-of-consciousness writing on a topic of your choice; notice whether using
your other hand affects your flow of thoughts and ideas.
Writing and drawing with both hands at once: This is easier on a chalkboard. Draw circles, squares, and
other simple shapes with both hands at once. Then try signing your name with both hands at the same
time.

Lesson 9: Connections

When you know that all is one, the universe reveals itself as deeply personal. In this final lesson, you'll
create a Master Mind Map of your life to take you wherever you want to go.
You will discover that you're an implicit part of the universe: you make a difference. You'll begin to
explore connections, to create "origin-all" thinking. You'll create a Master Mind Map of your life, giving
you an overview of your life and your goals, to gain renewed strength and inspiration. Finally, you'll work
on a plan for integrating the lessons and the skills you've developed in this course into the rest of your
life.

Discovering Wholeness, Within and Without

Let's start by creating a Wholeness mind map. Do a mind map of the collection of selves that is you. Don't
Forget:

• To create the central image first: do a mini sketch of yourself, or whatever image you feel is
appropriate. The time you spend on the central image enlivens your right brain.

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• To use colours: monochrome mind maps are dispiriting and hard to remember.

• To enter your keywords: use only single words.

• To radiate your lines from the central image. As an alternative to entering your keywords first, you
can draw the radiating lines first. (Follow your intuition as to whether you write the keywords first, or
draw the lines).

Once you've completed the mind map, go and do something else for a while. Look at your mind map.
What paradoxes do you contain? Are you both shy and outgoing? Depressed and exuberant? Since you
are all these selves, think about areas of your life that are currently a challenge. For example, you may be
having dramas with your boss who overloads you with work and then berates you for not turning in sales
reports on time. Which "you" interacts with your boss? Is there another, more assertive you who could
handle the relationship better? You might like to let one of these aspects take over the interaction next
time your boss dumps a task onto you.

What's the Connection? "Origin-All" Thinking

"Original" is an interesting word. The various meanings of "original" include: relating to the beginning of
something, new and fresh, and given to acting or thinking independently. Are you an original thinker? As
we draw to the end of this course, you should be much more confident of your own innate originality, and
of your ability to develop original creations on command. Mystics and scientists agree that nothing is ever
created or destroyed and that everything that ever was or will be is here now. So, everything is connected,
and you're an indispensable part of the whole. These profound truths aren't understood so much as
realized, and you realize them though contemplation.

"Origin-All" Mind Maps as Problem Solvers

You can use your skill with Connections mind maps to solve problems. For example, let's say that you're
having a problem with a client. Do a Connections mind map to trace the problem back to its origins. In
the origins of anything, you'll usually find a clue to the solution.

Need an original idea, or need to solve a problem? Make a list of all the connections. You can do this with
a straight list or with a mind map. Here's how it works: Let's say that you work for a stationery company.
You need an idea for a new line of elegant notepaper, the sort of notepaper that people buy to send
handwritten notes.

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You start by making a list of descriptions of paper. Don't think too hard about this; it's a free-write. You
write: "blank, acid-free, coated, colourful, multicoloured, flexible," etc.

Select an item from your first list and make a list of aspects of that. You select: "colourful." Make another
list: "COLOURFUL: pastel, purple, black, blue, grey, red, white and blue," etc. Again, select an item
from the list, and make further associations. "BLUE: blues music, blues depression" And it hits you -- an
idea. You could create a line of notepaper with inspirational quotes. You love it, and you can't wait to get
started working on it. Your lists of connections took no longer than around 10 minutes, and without
breaking a sweat, you have a hot new idea you're enthusiastic about. Knowing how to mine connections
for original ideas is an invaluable tool.

Look Up "Original," and Do Something Original Every Day

The word has many meanings. Look it up in the dictionaries you have at home, in the library, or online.
Make a list of all the meanings of "original" you can find. Try to do something original in any of its
meanings, today and every day.

Course Review: Integrating the Lessons into Your Life

Congratulations! You've completed the course. However, your work doesn't stop here. Your next
challenge is to integrate the lessons into your life. That will take time and several reviews of the books
and the lessons. Be patient with yourself and enjoy the process.

Here are some suggestions on how to go about this:

• Work through the complete series of lessons again

• Create a mind map of each lesson

• Carry index cards with small mind maps of those seven principles you particularly want to
remember with you.

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