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1-Page Summary of Get Smart

Overview

Think of your biggest problem. Instead of considering it a problem, consider it an opportunity to learn something about yourself and how you can improve in the future. Henry Ford said that “failure and hardships are chances to start over again.”

Do you sometimes feel like you’re not as smart or creative as other people? Do you think that some people are just naturally better at math and technology than others?

It’s actually more likely that the brilliant people you admire are simply using their brains better than you are. You can learn to do this too, and it doesn’t take a special talent or brainpower. In fact, anyone can do it with Brian Tracy’s help, as he has studied how we use our brains and then developed techniques for improving our thinking skills.

In this article, you’ll learn how to spark your brain and think positively. A few simple rules will help you stimulate your brain and fire up those neurons. You’ll also find out why it’s important to want what others have; how thinking slowly can be a good thing; and the mind-set that led Borders Books into bankruptcy.

Big Idea #1: The first step to unlocking your brain’s potential is to change the way you look at things.

Let’s say you have a million dollars in your bank account. Now imagine that you can only access $20,000 of it. That would be frustrating, right? But amazingly, the average person only uses 2 percent of their mental powers.

Humans have the potential to be extremely powerful, but we only use a small percentage of that power. We can do more with our minds than most people think is possible. For example, each of us has about 100 billion brain cells and each cell connects to 20,000 other cells.

Tony Buzan, an expert on the brain, says that if everyone uses all of their brain cells they could generate more ideas than there are molecules in the universe.

Fortunately, we can tap into our unused brainpower. We just have to change the way we look at and interpret life. For example, people with an optimistic perspective will see a world full of potential and good things while pessimists will only see problems and negativity. When faced with constructive feedback, a pessimist may become overwhelmed by their failure while an optimist will probably view it as a chance to learn and grow.

We often look at things from a narrow perspective. For example, the following Buddhist story illustrates this point:

Six blind men are trying to describe an elephant. The first man touches the ear and says that it’s like a thick blanket. The second touches a tusk and decides that it’s sharp and pointy. The third feels the leg and believes it’s like a tree trunk, etc…

Each of the people in this group is right, but they’re all missing something critical. They don’t have a full picture of the situation, so their ideas are incomplete and limited. We can avoid making that same mistake if we broaden our perspectives and look at things from different angles.

In the points ahead, we’ll look at ways to change your perspective and start thinking more successfully.

Big Idea #2: Long-term goals can be achieved by taking immediate actions.

When planning for your life, you can either focus on short-term goals or long-term ones. Short-term goals are those that will bring immediate satisfaction to you and your family. Long term goals are more important because they provide a sense of direction and purpose in life.

People who are happy and successful focus on long-term thinking. They also think about the future, often years or decades ahead of time. These people have a better perspective than most, which helps them get to where they want to go faster.