Tag Archives: IQ

Think Outside The Box

Think Outside Your Head

I saw this funny video the other day.

The kind where you want to use as few brain cells as possible.

It was this dog, who had this box. The way he was holding the box, was all he could see was the inside of the box.

So he kept walking around in circles, bumping into things.

Because he was a dog, and not an astrophysicist, he didn’t think to put the box down, take a look around, and then choose another strategy.

There are lots of videos like that. Cats, dogs, all acting goofy.

But we humans, who often times fancy ourselves as superheroes of logic and scientific thinking, don’t often do much better.

Sure, we convince ourselves that we’re giving it our best shot, but most of the time, we’re like that poor dog.

Crashing into things, but we just back up a bit, and then crash into them again.

Naturally, it can be tough to tell if you’re really doing the same thing or not.

Because humans, we’re doing things a little bit more complicated than walking with a box in our mouths.

We’re interacting with other humans, or other complicated systems.

And as the saying goes, “you can’t step in the same river twice,” every time we interact with the system, even if we ARE blinding doing the same thing over and over, the SYSTEM is changing, so it actually is possible to get a different result.

In the short term, this is pretty good. Just back up, try again and keep going until you get it right.

But every time you succeed with this strategy, it actually reinforces the idea of doing the same thing over and over.

Short term, pretty good. Long term, not so good.

A lot of times it’s better to simply try something different. Sometimes a little different, sometimes a LOT different.

This can be frustrating. Because once you change something, you’ll feel a little uncomfortable.

And when you feel uncomfortable, you’ll be much more sensitive to things that “seem” like failure, but are really feedback.

Or you’ll more likely to “interpret” feedback AS failure, rather than feedback.

One way make this a LOT easier is to simply expand your thinking.

Learn to think in different ways, so you’ll see things differently.

Then taking different action will seem a lot easier.

Kind of like discovering a new route to work that’s quicker and easier.

You aren’t driving around blindly hoping to find a new way, you’re using your enhanced thinking skills to FIND a new way so you don’t have to stumble around.

The more you work on your mental skills, the easier it will be to “try on” different behavioral skills, you’ll be able to get a lot more cool stuff.

(Or meet more people or make more money or whatever you want.)

Learn How:
Intelligence Accelerator

Change Your Filters

Disprove The Elites

Once upon a time there was a family moving to a new town.

They passed some guy sitting on the side of the road on the way in.

They asked him, “How are the people in this town?”

He replied, “How were they in the last town?”

To which they answered, “Pretty nice.”

And he said, “Well, in this town they’re pretty nice too.”

Another family came by an hour later.

Asked the same question, to which he responded with the same answer.

“How were they in the last town?”

But this new family said, “Mean, dishonest, and shifty.”

And the guy said, “Well, I’m afraid they’re the same in this town.”

Of course, the moral of the story is your perceptions shape your world more than the world shapes your perceptions.

Most people won’t believe it until they see it.

But the secret is to believe it first, and then take action to FIND IT.

It’s not like saying some magic words will change reality.

But changing your filters will change how you view the world, which will HELP YOU so long as you’re willing to get out there and interact with the world to find what you want.

Rarely will somebody plop it into your lap without any effort. Sure, it happens sometimes, but it’s not the best strategy.

Another way to describe this is a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” As you think, so shall you see.

One of the many, many ways this manifests is the idea of intelligence.

“Scientists” for years have been telling us that its “genetic.” So what do they do? They LOOK for genetic proof to verify their theories.

One of the reasons this “meme” continues to exist is that generally speaking, scientists are pretty smart.

So if they PROVE that their “intelligence” is genetic, it’s like they are genetically programmed to be some elite intellectual that can tell us “how it is.”

But what happens if you look for evidence that you can BUILD INTELLIGENCE just like you can build muscles?

If you’re looking for red cars, you’ll find red cars.

If you’re looking for evidence that intelligence can be increased, you’ll find that as well.

Not just intelligence, but creativity. Problem solving. Memory.

All of these are SKILLS. Not gifts only given to the few “elites.”

And just like any other skill, the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

(Just don’t tell the scientists).

Get Started:

Intelligence Accelerator

How To Read Situations

How To Read Situations

I watched this interesting movie the other night.

About this kid that wanted to be a chess superhero.

He idolized Bobby Fisher. It was based on a true story.

He had two teachers. One guy who was a pure academic. Pure theory. Rigorous.

Another teacher played speed chess in the park.

Now, both had their merits. But there was a telling scene.

They were watching the kid playing in some tournament, in the championship match.

They had to watch on closed circuit TV so they wouldn’t be able to give them any advice.

The “street” player knew he won before anybody else did.

Thirteen moves before he actually won.

Being a “street” player, he could “read” the board a lot easier.

Being able to read situations is a HUGE skill to have. One that most people DON’T have.

Most people hang around, something HUGE happens, and they stand their scratching their head.

“Wow. Didn’t see THAT coming!”

One of the biggest coups in modern history came when somebody was able to “read” a situation FASTER than everybody else.

The Battle of Waterloo.

One of the Rothchild’s knew the outcome before everybody else. And leveraged it to the hilt.

Buying all the debt of the Bank of England for PENNIES.

Regardless of whether you care to notice or not, there’s always TONS more going on that most people will EVER realize.

Just below the surface of every conversation. Every interaction.

If you take the time to get out of your head, and simply OBSERVE what’s going on around you, you’ll be able to see a TON of information.

Who’s mad at whom. Who’s interested in whom. Who’s going to go home with whom.

This works in a boardroom as well as in a bar.

Even watching history unfold.

Most people are WILLFULLY ignorant. Too worried to know what’s really going on.

But you don’t HAVE to be.

You can increase your skills of understanding. Of perception. Of awareness.

Be able to read situations like a book. See moves WAY ahead of time.

You’ll be able to fix your relationship before it blows up in your face. You’ll see a problem, and then a second later come up with five or ten different ways to solve it.

You’ll spend your time wondering, rather than worrying. Dreaming rather than fretting.

You’ll look out into your future and see a MASSIVE collection of opportunities, just waiting to happen.

REGARDLESS of what the economy is like.

This is a skill. One that few people have. And it will take time to develop.

Are you willing?

Learn More:

Intelligence Accelerator