Visions of The Future [Part 2 of 3]
We all need visions for the future. By playing a simple trick on your brain you can “Prime” it to look out for events that will seem like serendipity to you. And since your brain can’t separate fact from fiction. You can tell stories to your brain and it will try to make them “True” 🙂
This is Part 2 of 3 about Visions of The Future.
“It doesn’t matter what you pick. It just matters that you pick. The reason people don’t wanna pick is, because then they have to claim it. You pick that? You didn’t pick this? Better to pick nothing.”
— Seth Godin, #GoodLifeProjectÂ
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Use Storytelling [It’s the only way to remember anything]
Jenny Ă…kerman – Talking Brain Science
I have been on an interesting seminar in Gothenburg. We started out early with Jenny Ă…kerman giving a free public speaking about how we can use the brain to achieve what we want. She is a Swedish Brain Scientist who gave a very entertaining speech about the brain. She goes briefly into what I talked about before. That the brain stores everything as stories. It can not tell apart fact from fiction. You know when you dream and all the crazy stuff seems so real. Even flying that I do from time to time feels so normal in your dreams. I also met a new good friend on the train up and recommended the book “The Storytelling Animal” by Jonathan Gotschall to him. This is one of the best books that I have listened to. It gives you great insight into how your storytelling organ inside your skull works. Jenny mentions how use simple bizarre story to remember everything on a shopping list.
The Brain stores everything as Stories – WE just need to help it by telling better stories
A story like this can’t be ordinary for the brain to remember it. The brain remembers all new stories it are exposed to. It’s what the brain are made for. It’s what the brain lives for.
Can you be anything like Leonardo Da Vinci? Jenny Talks about the myths and truths of using both sides of the brain. We should use as many centers in the brain at the same time when doing everything. We may not be as genius as Leonard but here are 7 steps that will take you closer to becoming great. They can be found in my blog: How can you be a modern Ninja. and in the audio-stream from SXSW: Design Like Da Vinci: Leonardo’s Sketching Lessons.
7 Steps to Everyday Genius
1. Be curious.You should be constantly learning new stuff.
2. Test knowledge. Learn from your mistakes.
3. Improve your own experience. Make it multi-sensory.
4. Embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty
5. Whole-brain thinking (science / art, logic / emotion)
6. Know the physical world (grace, dexterity, fitness)
7. Use system-thinking. See interconnections
Do Sketches and Write a Journal every day. Sketch by hand or blog online like I do 🙂
Step out of your Comfort-Zone [That’s when Creativity and Courage happens]
Jenny spins it further by saying that:
“All new knowledge and progress is preceded by confusion” — Jenny Ă…kersson
It is when the brain is confused that it steps out of its comfort-zone and try solve things in a different way that it is used to. The Brain actually likes being confused. It feels good. Think about that the next time you feel confused. This is what Peter Sengie calls Creative Tension.
The gap between vision and the current reality is called the Creative Tension. This is the space on with the magic of creativity happen.
You must be willing to leave current reality. Step out of your comfort zone towards an unknown future. A future only visualized in a dream. You must expose your art to others. Thus becoming vulnerable. Only then does creativity and empathy happen. Both Brené Brown and Seth Godin explains this well 🙂
See my blog-post on empathy: The Way of Empathy [The Beast with 2 Hearts]
Brené Brown on Vulnerability and Courage
In all her 12 years of research BrenĂ© Brown can not find a single example of Courage, Spiritual courage, Moral courage or Leadership courage, when someone didn’t first step out of their comfort zone and became vulnerable.
Have the courage to do what is possible. Just not convenient.
Prime Your Brain [Tell your story to your brain]
Like Jason Silva says: “You can Prime Your Brain towards a goal you want to reach”. As your brain can’t separate fact from fiction: Everything that you or someone else tell your brain makes sense. Because the Brain even can’t tell the difference between someone else talking to it or you doing the talking yourself.
Your brain is a goal achieving machine. Your subconscious is hard at work on achieving your visions and dreams of the future. So start priming your own brain, by telling your brain what visions of the future it should have in mind.
Serendipity is just that. Filling your mind with patterns on your path. To be on the lookout for. And then your subconscious mind will be on constant watch for these patterns and make them happen. So here is what you can do:
1. Start by thinking about where you are a year from now.
2. Start backtracking ever step that you took to get there. Think about the big events on the way.
3. Now think about the first step you took a year ago.
4. Start Walking, Running, Jumping, Climbing and Flying to get there!
Live Your Legend – Scott Dinsmore
Live your Legend [Be true to yourself]
Scott Dinsmore among many others all say how important it is to be true to your inner self. You owe it to yourself to find your own truth in this world and live that truth. He has a project called Live Your Legend. There you can find 2 free toolkits to set a year-long plan or your weekly goals.
Be the Person, You can’t not be — Scott Dinsmore
See Scott Dinsmore on Good Life Project or find him in their podcast. And see his TEDxGoldenGatePark talk: How To Find And Do Work You Love.
Look To The Moon – Run To The Hills
It’s Prime Time! [Look To The Moon & The Stars]
Who are  you a year from Now? Should we really ask questions like this? I think we must! We should not dwell on the past. But we should revisit it from time to time in order see the contrast to our present. Most of us should focus on the now. To keep things moving and operating. But some of us must make it our mission to study the past. And others must fantasize about the future and create stunning Science Fiction to inspire us all. We need all these skills.
The Past like the future does not really exist. They are both fantasies created in our minds. The Future is a probabilistic simulation we run in our minds in order to help shape the world we want to live in.
The Past unlike The Future has actually happened. The Past, as represented in our mind, is a mental simulation too. Our memories are not precise records of what actually happened. They are reconstructions of what happened. Most of us believe our memory is filled with reliable info we can access at will. Not so. But memory isn’t an outright fiction. It is merely a fictionalization of what took place. Memory is an unreliable self-serving historian. It’s there to help us make decisions that help us along for the bumpy ride that reality is.
But even people who focus on the present benefits from priming their brain in some way. Because we need a larger goal for our modern society than Consumerism. Something to aspire to. And as we all need to be part of this vision, we all need some connectedness and some priming with the environment around us. We are not just the Animal who collects food or money on a daily basis. We are something more. And we can become so much more. We can put a Dent in the Universe!
We all need to look to the stars! Together! — Lord Sillion
@LordSillion [Michael Sillion]
Holistic Thinking Ninja
Lord Sillion - Holistic Thinking Ninja 