Are You Using a Picture to Make Your Goals Real?

This week I heard from a gentleman who had taken a mind mapping workshop with Tony Buzan.  During the workshop he created this amazing mind map of what he wanted his life to be like.  The things he wrote and drew in this image are now the reality of his life today:

Here's Thum's story:
"My Future was drawn  21st April 2006 when I attended a workshop by Tony Buzan. He taught me Mind Map and it changed my future from a desk bound in-house legal counsel in a bank to become a licensed instructor sharing his vision of global mental literacy.

I have been sharing my drawings on facebook and with other people.  It changed their mind-sets and I am seeing more acceptance in Singapore where I live and work.  Recently, facebook has brought me to other countries i.e. Indonesia, Bulgaria, India, Thailand, Middle East, etc.  I am a regular contributor to Mind Map Art and was featured in a Singapore private University Magazine: 

Mind Map Art:   http://www.mindmapart.com/galleries/thum-cheng-cheong/
University Magazine:  http://tlc.unisim.edu.sg/publications/communitas/201201/

You can turn your dreams into reality using a simple picture too.  #meanit  #believeit

The best thing is, you don't even need to know how to draw!

Join us Monday, March 26th, 9AM PST or 5PM PST on our Google+ hangouts!

What We Know About What We Don't Know

If you are interested in what your brain is doing right now, I highly recommend this book:

Thinking, Fast and Slow 

by

Daniel Kahneman

I'm intrigued by these 3 quotes and specifically as they relate to Drawing Solutions:  How Visual Goal-Setting Will Change Your Life:

"You experience greater cognitive ease in perceiving a word you have seen earlier, & its this sense of ease that gives you the impression of familiarity." 

Kahneman suggests that you will think more fondly of something (cognitive ease = simple, not foggy or blurred) when you have seen it before.  He is speaking about words here, but let's translate that to your daydream about that you or that life you desire.  The more you "see" that picture of your new self or new life, the more familiar you will become with it.  AND if you draw a simple symbol that (to you) represents what you desire and look at it frequently, the easier it will become to take action and turn that fantasy into reality.

"You do not have to repeat the entire statement of a fact or idea to make it appear true." 

Worried about whether you are capable of becoming or achieving what you dream about?  This statement reminds me of the "as if" principle.  Why not imagine that world or the you -  you want to be as if it is who or what you are right now?  The more you imagine your fantasy self as if it is your present state, the sooner your brain will find it easy to believe it is your reality and construct the rest of the world around you to reflect that truth. 

"Findings add to the growing evidence that good mood, intuition, creativity, gullibility, and increased reliance on System 1 form a cluster. At the other pole, sadness, vigilance, suspicion, an analytic approach, and increased effort also go together. A happy mood loosens the control of System 2 over performance: when in a good mood, people become more intuitive and more creative but also less vigilant and more prone to logical errors."

This brings us back to what Jenn Lim's talks about in her Delivering Happiness platform.  If you want to create positive change in your life, smile.  When it gets hard to turn the pedals over on your bike, smile.  If you want to tap your intuition, your creativity, your true nature...think about how grateful you are to be healthy, be friended, be a pet owner, be alive.  Cut loose that left side of your brain (System 2) to free you to be more of who you truly are.

The brain doesn't know the difference between what is real and what is fantasy.  Start living your fantasy life inside your head first and watch how it begins to play out in the world around you.  #meanit

Using Google+Hangouts to Engage With Your Followers

I first experienced the power of Google+ when I met Daria Musk at TEDxRainier.  An overnight success through the use of social media, Daria showed me how amazing Google+'s hangouts can truly be, during her live concert at an corporate event we both presented at last week in Chicago.  At the event, I was able to not only watch her perform, but I could also see the people who had joined her hangout as they shifted in and out of the Google+ screen.  A superb performer, Daria seamlessly interacted with both her live audience (in the room) and her hangout audience (shown on screen behind her in this image).

Stoked by my experience, this week I hosted my first Drawing Solutions:  How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your LIfe hangout.  A great tool  to help you interact with people around the world, in this hangout participants shared with me the challenges they face as entrepreneurs in achieving their goals.   While many of their goals were different, we shared a common belief about the impact a positive attitude and understanding the new brain science can have in helping you find greater success in stepping into your vision.

Want to experiment with a simple new tool to get to know your followers better? I encourage you to try Google+ hangouts and have direct, F2F contact with people around the world. It  was a beautiful forum which, with just the expense of a couple of studio lights, allowed me to show people how to literally "doodle" or draw their dreams into reality.

Here's where you can join and get in on my Google+hangouts that I will continue to host on Mondays.  Times may vary to accommodate participation from Google+ followers in different time zones around the world, but if you add me to your "circles", you can click my name to see when I'll be hosting a hangout next.  If you have any questions about this medium, feel free to email me.  I look forward to seeing you there!