Capturing brilliance.

Capturing brilliance.

You might not know just how smart you really are. Most of us will go through life solving problems in places and at times that have nothing to do with the problem. It’s how the subconscious mind works. It’;s one of the things that separates us from the beasts.

The subconscious mind puts it all together. When you have a big problem, ever notice that you’’ll solve it better if you sleep on it? Ever notice that you’ll remember the name you forgot in the business meeting, two days later while driving to Wal-Mart. It all because you subconscious mind won’t let it go, it cannot stop thinking about the problem until it’s solved.

This determination comes from the part of your brain that must have resolution. The good thing is that it operates in the background. You don’t have to stop what you’re doing to think up the answer. You’re only job is to capture the answer when your brain figures it out. You must capture the brilliance.

The first step to capturing brilliance is to admit that you are brilliant. Most of us suffer from a servere case of low self-esteem. The rest of the world is perfectly accepting of average, negative people. If you are confident in yourself, people will quickly try to bring you back to their negative level. If you know people who do this to you, find new people to know. Start viewing yourself as brilliant, first in small ways, then bigger ways.

Now that you consider yourself brilliant in your own way, focus on capturing that brilliance when it happens. Get a note pad that you can keep with you always. Sit down at the end of the day and write out what you’ve being thinking about. I like a tape recorder. (Yes, I actually make “Notes to self.”) I think it’s better because audio not only captures the idea, but the context, the tone and the excitement you had when you recorded it. Lots of cell phones, iPods and Palm Pilot devices have a voice recorder vehicle.

Once you’ve captured your brilliance, find a way to periodically review it and implement the solutions you invented. You’ll be surprised how smart you were last week. I use multiple systems based on the time in which I need the information.

My cell phone is always on me, but it has a very small amount of recording time. I use my cell phone for tasks that I see as I walk around and inspect the maze park. The cell phone records things such as, “Need new trash can at Miner Max; Flag down on tower; Check on printing order”

I take a tape recorder with me on long walks and long drives. I can record forever and I can take more time developing an idea.  I find it interesting to listen to old tapes on the weekend, during the off season or on the next drive before I start recording thoughts, ideas and solutions again. It’s interesting to see what priorities have changed since the earlier recording.

The real way to communicate and flesh out your ideas is to write them down. Put them in black and white. Paper doesn’t let you back out or back down. You have to think about what you want to say, then try to say it succinctly.

Does anyone write anymore? When was the last time you did? Eighth grade book report? Think it’s not for you? Think you’re not good enough? Wondering if you’re idea is worth it? I never used to write, but I started because my head would fill up with too much stuff. Everyday stuff, employee stuff, strategic stuff, family stuff, church stuff, too much stuff! Writing some of it down became my relief valve. Writing things down got them out of my head without me forgetting the important stuff.

If you never show it to anyone else in the world, it’s still worth it. Writing is more practice, then gift. You don’t get handed good writing ability. The world’s greatest writers, work hard at it. Just get started. Pick an idea you really care about and start typing.

Can you capture your brilliance? Will you? Your mind is working on all those problems you have. All you have to do is listen, record, write and review the answers.