Limitless - Jim Kwik Page 0,95

a positive perspective. Then, you get real about the challenges you’re facing, and allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling about it. After this, you allow yourself to attack the problem from perspectives you might not have considered before, letting your imagination run free. And then you circle back to make sure you’ve addressed what you set out to address during this session.

Look at how many different ways you’ve used your brain for this one task. You’ve been analytical, you’ve been emotional, and you’ve been creative. You’ve explored the sunny side and the dark side. And you’ve almost certainly attacked the issue with tools you don’t automatically use every single day (though you might from now on). Einstein would be proud of you.

KWIK START

Think of a problem you need to be solved right now. It can be anything from “How can I get that job,” to “How can I communicate better with my family?” Use the Six Thinking Hats model to run through the different perspectives of looking at the problem you’re trying to solve.

HOW ARE YOU SMART?

Why is it important for us to have tools to help us think in different ways? Because people usually have a dominant way of using their intelligence. Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has studied intelligence extensively and has identified eight distinct forms of intelligence:2

Spatial : This is someone who usually thinks from the perspective of the space around them. Airline pilots tend to be spatial thinkers, but so do people who excel at playing chess, as both require an innate understanding of how things fit into space. The artist Claude Monet comes to mind as another example because of his remarkable use of space in his paintings.

Bodily-Kinesthetic: Someone with a dominance of this form of intelligence uses their body as a form of expression or problem-solving. Gymnasts have refined bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, as do drummers. The first name that jumps into my head when I think of this form of intelligence is Venus Williams, who expressed her genius with her body on a tennis court in ways that very few ever have.

Musical : This is a person with a strong “sensitivity to rhythm, pitch, meter, tone, melody and timbre.”3 Musicians obviously have a dominance in musical intelligence, but you’ll also find it in poets, who often use meter and rhythm as effectively as they use words. My poster child for musical intelligence is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Linguistic: Someone with a dominance in linguistic intelligence is particularly attuned to all the implications of words, not just their strict dictionary definition. Writers of course have this trait, but so do great orators and lawyers. The first person I think of with linguistic intelligence is William Shakespeare.

Logical-Mathematical: This is a strength in seeing the “logical relations among actions or symbols.”4 Mathematicians find themselves very comfortable seeing or seeking the connections between different numbers. Scientists likewise draw connections between physical objects or the forces acting on objects. Our friend Albert Einstein immediately leaps to mind as a prime example.

Interpersonal : Someone with a dominance in interpersonal intelligence has a deep innate ability to connect with other people and a rich understanding of how others might be feeling at any given moment. Therapists tend to have strong interpersonal intelligence, as do schoolteachers. When I think of interpersonal intelligence, I think of Oprah Winfrey, because of her amazing ability to relate to whomever she is speaking with.

Intrapersonal : If you have dominance in intrapersonal intelligence, you have a particularly refined sense of what is going on inside of you. People with strong intrapersonal intelligence do a great job of “taking their own temperature.” They’re in touch with their feelings, they know what triggers them, and they have a good sense of how to manage this. If you know someone who is cool under even difficult circumstances, it’s likely that this person has strong intrapersonal intelligence.

Naturalistic: This kind of intelligence expresses itself in an ability to see the world of nature in all its complexities. Where you might see a field of flowers, someone with this dominance will see four different kinds of tulips, a couple of varieties of lavender, and a rare grass that you just thought was a weed. Zoologists tend to have a dominance in naturalistic intelligence, as do landscape architects. The first person with this trait who comes to my mind is the remarkable primatologist Jane Goodall.

Do you see yourself in one of these descriptions? There’s a good