World-class performers have better brain integration according to new research. Whether athletes, musicians, executives, or scholars, some people just stand out. And research shows that their brains differ in specific ways from the rest of us. The key seems to be “brain integration.

Dr. Fred Travis has found a way to use EEG to measure brain integration. And high brain integration predicts high performance.

He and Dr Harald Harung from Oslo Metropolitan University studied top performers. They studied top Olympic athletes, professional orchestral musicians, and very successful executives.

These top performers had greater brain integration scores.

But What about Education?

You would think that world-class performance would follow things like education. And incentives, experience, and practice.

But research shows these factors can only account for a small fraction of success.

An integrated brain is the key, according to three studies by Drs. Harung and Travis.

So How to Develop Brain Integration?

Research by Dr Travis has found that Transcendental Meditation develops brain integration.

The diagram below shows the brain integration of world-class performers compared to those who are average.

Long-term TMers had almost double the brain integration of world-class performers. Wow!

Dr. Harung explained TM has specific effects not seen in other meditations.

In their short book World-Class Brain, Drs. Harung and Travis offer a readable intro to the brain. They overview their three studies. They show that brain integration also predicts greater moral behaviour. And a higher frequency of peak experiences.

Also that groups with greater brain integration can improve the function of organizations.

And it explains how an entire society benefits from developing individual brains. Amazing stuff!

World-Class Brain is available on Amazon (that’s not an affiliate link!). A bigger book by Drs Harung: Excellence Through Mind-Brain Development, is available from www.brainintegrationsystems.com.

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Vicki and I met him in 1981 in Johannesburg. A friend had set up a workshop from Tony called “Use Your Head.” She invited us to the session in Braamfontein because they were short of registrants! It was a freebie for us.

Tony was the leading authority on the brain who created the mind map technique. It has no peer for note-taking, creative thinking, presenting and much besides. He claims it has 250 million followers.

Sign up for –  FREE – How To Learn 200% Faster Secrets.

I’ll mail you a free “Business Writing that Works” textbook by Sharon Pywell if you are one of the first 5 to respond

The technique is like a Swiss army knife for the brain. As you well know, it encourages creative thinking and improves  memory.

Tony said he first noticed at school that some were intelligent – yet did not do well in traditional exams.

He first began to develop his ideas about memory and learning at the University of British Columbia. He was studying psychology, English and mathematics.  He noticed that the students who did well did not always have the neatest notes. In fact their notes tended to be messy and covered with doodles, scribbles and key words.

“The great thinkers, including Da Vinci and Montessori, always drew images and arrows and lines in their notes,” he said, according to The Herald of Scotland. “When I started using keyword notes, bigger letters, with colour and arrows, it allowed my brain to speak to myself with a lot less clutter. It was as if I’d been driving all my life with my windscreen caked in mud, and suddenly I could see clearly.”

After graduating from UBC in 1964, Buzan worked for a time as editor of the journal of Mensa, the high IQ society. A 1973 BBC series Use Your Head made him famous. He also published several books with the BBC which sold more than three million copies.

Tony was prolific- writing some 80 books in over 40 different languages.

He also established the World Memory Championships in 1991; the latest event will take place in Wuhan in China in December.

Speaking about his work, Buzan said his ideal was a world in which everybody was aware of their extraordinary potential. “And they use that for their own personal self development and to help others.”

His latest project was collaborating on Mind Maps for Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi’s new book Exam Warriors.

He had the greatest love of learning of anyone I ever met.

After the Braamfontein Use Your Head seminar we got to work with Tony and the Learning Methods Group. We gained new respect for ways to better ourselves – things like the importance of meditation, exercise, hobbies, music and culture.  We later set up Thinking Skills Training in SA. And then in Australia when my mom emigrated there.

I have now got great responsibilities in a non-profit organisation. But  sharing Tony’s gifts continues. Find out how to transform yourself here.

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I’ll mail you a free “Business Writing that Works” textbook by Sharon Pywell if you are one of the first 5 to respond

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What a great bunch. Thanks for a most enjoyable three days. And for the written feedback. Now lets have a few PhDs and MBAs. Seriously.

Its easy when you know how – just takes a fair amount of time.

But if learning becomes a hobby, it can be truly engrossing and fun.

And there is a different photo HERE. I’d love you to LIKE the PAGE. As you know Facebook gives you certain extra perks once you pass a threshold of 30 likes. So if you have a FB account please do like it.

I’ll be back on April 16-18, and again October 15-17, 2013, so you can let interested friends know.

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Very exciting news 

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Here’s a way to grab and organise the ideas you pick up while speed reading.

Have you noticed you lose the plot when speed reading? Do you find there seems to be a trade off between speed and comprehension? Here is a neat way to get more out of your speed reading, using a mind map.

Quadruple your comprehension with a mind map.

Do you feel panicked at the volume of stuff you’re expected to read and comprehend every day? Especially where detail is supposed to be trotted out at the next meeting?

Well, I have been teaching speed reading for 25 years and I have come to believe that getting through masses of stuff is not about being clever. Its about technique. <–just click here to tweet this pearl of wisdom!

So try this simple sequence to retain your speed while not losing comprehension during speed reading.

1. Use a guide. Maybe you remember being told at school not to use a finger while you read? Actually, we all use a finger or pointer while looking at the price on a menu or a word in the dictionary – or even reading on the screen of our iPad. Why do we do this? Because it helps us focus and connect. So why not do it all the time if you are speed reading?
2. Condition yourself to read faster.  If you’re sitting down to read a new book or a new report, always spend a minute or two running your finger over the entire text, mechanically, taking three seconds per page, to condition yourself to read faster. So, now do this from the beginning for a minute. Time it.
3. Stop and scribble what you remember in a simple mind map. One colour on a piece of blank bond paper will do. Here’s a link to a short video of how to do a mind map.
4. Then read for another minute. Do the same thing. When you think you’re getting the hang of it slow down and read for five minutes and then stop and map you’ve gained. Try it. You’ll find your comprehension quadruples without losing your speed.

The best part is you’ve now got a set of (albeit scribbled) notes which you can spend another few minutes organising into a more formal mind map ready to take into the meeting.

Learn more about mind mapping here.

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here is one photo – the other is on Facebook.

I’ve enabled comments below just for a day or two – please leave a comment if you enjoyed the session as much as you said you did yesterday.

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The Thinking Skills Workshop runs over 3 days. But why take the time to master speed

reading and mindmapping?

Many written comments we have received over the years describe thinking skills as “the best workshop I have ever attended”. They wrote this alongside comments saying they appreciated the alternative format comment, the creativity, Richard‘s manner and entertainment, and the fact that the workshop was oriented to both a work and personal development point of view. It was engaging, challenging and they enjoyed the study technique and juggling.

Why then, would you NOT send colleagues who have a need to process massive amounts of information and deal with impossible workloads?

So it’s up to you. Use these books and tools to guide you. Search for ways to read and learn faster or get it all in a practical, enjoyable three-day break from the mind-numbing routine of the office.

Next workshop details:

VENUE: Houghton

DATES:  tba

PRICE: See Pricing

Keep Learning!

Richard

PS I’m really not kidding about the 400 pages per hour stuff. Its not a miracle (at best) or scam (at worst). Its really all about strategy – and a smattering of speed reading skills. And Mind Mapping is really important.

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