Have you ever gone to a seminar and left feeling fired up to use what you’ve just learned? You then find the course binder a month later, having done none of it, and you toss it into a drawer with a twinge of regret?
Have you ever decided you’re going to make a change—eat better, keep your desk organized, stop road-raging? Within days, you have reverted to your old ways and have convinced yourself you’ll work on it again next month.
Or maybe you have a secret dream to do something big. And every time you let yourself imagine living that dream, your excitement quickly succumbs to a voice in your head listing all the reasons why you can’t have that dream.
Why is it so difficult to turn certain ideas into reality? Because our brains don’t always run as well as we think they do.
It’s all about processing: your brain’s ability to manage information in an effective way.
Image by Jacob Joaquin
Processing is not a precise neuroscientific term—it’s more of a convenient black-box description of complex brain functions. I use the term “processing” to represent all the things your brain is doing to use the information that you’ve already stored in your memory as well as to manage new information.
I want to make something very clear: Intelligence and processing are not the same thing.
Again: Intelligence and processing are not the same thing.
In fact, what I’ve learned over years of working with brilliant people is that the more extreme your intelligence, the more glitches you are likely to have in your processing.
For example, highly intelligent people have brilliant ideas that they sometimes cannot execute in real life. At other times, under the right circumstances, they can execute incredibly well–usually in areas of great interest and deep knowledge. This is the story of the absent-minded professor. Or the flaky artist. Or the computer genius with no social skills. These are all extreme examples of bright people with gaps in their ability to process information in certain arenas of their lives.
Processing gaps occur for everyone else as well; they’re just more subtle. This is why you can learn a new skill, set out to create a new habit, or have a dream for years and not be able to execute on those ideas in your life. You’re not stupid or lazy or any other self-flagellating term. Nor are you “just this way” with no hope of improvement. It’s all about how your brain is managing both new and old information. It’s about processing, how your brain is running, and you can change it.
What can you do to improve your processing? It depends on your brain. It’s different for everyone, but there are some basic things that universally improve processing:
1. In a lecture: take notes by hand.
2. In a conversation: repeat back exactly what you have just heard (taking notes helps, too).
3. When reading something, read a summary and/or outline first. If there are study questions, read those before the text as well.
4. When reading something, underline or highlight and write notes in the margins or on sticky notes.
5. When working on a new habit, keep a daily log or journal about your progress.
When your brain processes information better, you then automatically begin to creatively solve problems, gain insight, and accomplish goals. How well does your brain run?
The best is yet to come.
