A friend of mine (twitter @kcreamer) recently told me about a great blog site litemind.com that is “Exploring ways to use our mind efficiently.” I’m finding this site to be a very fun and productive read since I have an interest in Whole Brain Thinking and the impact that brain dominance plays in our own abilities to be creative, achieve success in life and work, and be happy. I’ve only just begun to explore the site but in that process have discovered that twitter user @lucianop is the site owner and primary author.

These recent posts at litemind.com can help us begin to understand how greatness can be achieved. You might want to go read these and come back for my commentary:

Einstein’s Secret to Amazing Problem Solving (and 10 Specific Ways You Can Use It)

This article deals with the importance of critical thinking and problem definition in solving big problems.

How to be Great: Rising Above the Talent Myth

This article deals with the myth that we are born great. It lays out some practical steps for what is termed “Deliberate Practice” for achieving greatness. One thing is certain, when striving for greatness; it takes lots of practice and work.

Deliberate Practice, Self Actualization and Meta Cognition

The process of achieving Deliberate Practice can help you achieve Self Actualization. The ability to look at your own performance, in a non-emotional, non-judgmental manner is so very important on the road to Self Actualization. And Self-Actualization is required for sustained greatness.

Meta-Cognition, the thinking about your thinking, is key to the ability to look at ones-self and examine the good and the bad, and then deciding what to change and how. Progress toward greatness cannot occur without this introspection and correction. Yet many of us get hung up emotionally about our failing and faults and then come to believe that we can never eliminate or overcome our failings. Our failing become self-limiting beliefs.

Strengths Alignment

To harness your greatness you need alignment of strengths, goals and values and the identification and elimination of self-limiting beliefs. Otherwise, the effectiveness of deliberate practice is limited.

People have innate strengths, as highlighted in the Gallop Organizations StrenghsFinder book and assessment (also known as Strengths Finder) and the VIA strengths discussed by Dr. Martin Seligman When your work or play is aligned with your strengths (your core abilities), your ability to achieve mastery rises exponentially. In addition, people that operate in alignment usually can achieve “flow” or right brain thinking easily. And as one of the leading positive psychologists Dr. Seligman has learned, being in the flow leads to sustained happiness or achieving the so called “Good Life”. Deliberate Practice becomes much easier when you love your work and this love emanates from the alignment of strengths and the resulting flow.

You can read more about strengths at Why You Need To Assess Your Strengths Now.

Self-Limiting Beliefs

Additionally we are conditioned to believe that we are limited beings. Most of us travel through life with many self-limiting beliefs. Teachers, peers, parents, friends and others condition us from very early on to believe that we can’t do this and we can’t do that. These beliefs then form self imposed barriers to our own achievements. Truly great people identify their self-limiting beliefs (or don’t have them to start with) and work to tear them down and replace them with greatness beliefs. Tiger Woods belief that he would be greater that Jack Nicklaus is a great example of replacing self-limiting beliefs with beliefs of greatness. Consider as well the 4 minute mile. Until Roger Bannister broke this barrier in 1954 no one thought it possible (other than Roger). Then a month and a half later his record was broken. And since then, the sub-4 minute mile has become routine.

People wanting to achieve greatness have to start off with a belief system that the impossible is possible, and that they will be the one to make it happen.

In future articles, I will outline simple steps for identifying and eliminating self-limiting beliefs and replacing them with greatness beliefs.

What do Robotics, The Closet and Conflict Resolution have to do with Self Actualization? Good Question you ask! Bear with me as I weave this real story of self actualization that touched my heart and that of many others.

Self Actualization

According to Wikipedia, people that are self-actualized are characterized by these traits:

• They embrace reality and facts rather than denying truth.
• They are spontaneous.
• They are interested in solving problems.
• They are accepting of themselves and others and lack prejudice.

While there are many people in the world that are self actualized, I would dare say, there are many more that are not. But who can challenge the benefit of self actualization? Knowing who you are, and being able to grow your own abilities in a non-judgmental way can help you achieve whatever greatness you want out of life. Be that the greatness of self-fulfillment, joy and happiness, financial abundance or that of achieving specific and distinct other goals in life. Anyone want to climb a mountain or sail around the world?

Parents and teachers of middle school and high school kids know all too well that getting them to understand that they need to embrace, in a positive and constructive manner, their own realities and seek ways to improve, is one of the greater challenges of being a parent. And teaching them to be non-judgmental is very tough, especially as parents carry their own judgments with them through life.

Robotics

I have been participating with US First Robotics competitions for three years as a Coach and Tournament Judge. Yesterday (November 15, 2008) I had the privilege to Judge 12 First Lego League (FLL) teams in the Robot Engineering category at the Maggie Walker Richmond Tournament for Virginia First.

The Closet and Conflict Resolution

We were interviewing one of the teams at the tournament during engineering judging and heard this story of The Closet. To put it in their own words:

We are all strong headed and only want to use our own ideas. We don’t want to listen to the other team member’s ideas!

Yet while we were interviewing them we did not see any evidence of this Strong Headed-ness. In fact, they supported each other and respected each other in a forum that easily can get out of control. So we probed a little and they told us the way they dealt with these conflicts it to get the parties involved, get them in a large closet with a mediator and work through their disagreements. They leave the closet agreeing on a direction and even more remarkable, the other team members don’t participate in the conflict resolution at all. Yes, they agree to agree! How remarkable for these young people. This process leads to respect, allows for brainstorming and non-judgmental spontaneity and allows for disagreement since they have a mature and respectful process for conflict resolution.

In the end, they collectively came to understand their team and individual realities, strengths and limitations and found a way to solve problems that was positive, mature and non-judgmental. Clearly they are on the road to self-actualization.

We can all learn from these young people. Discover your differences, embrace them and resolve them.

USFIRST Robotics

If you have children that need a creative, engineering like outlet for expression, or even just want them to gain experience with teamwork, research, presentations and have fun doing it. Consider having them join a USFIRST Robotics team. For FLL (ages 9 – 14) teams start to form in the early spring usually. Ask around and you may find a existing team, or consider starting one of your own. You can always post a comment here and I will find you your local or state FIRST representative to contact for more information. Support USFIRST. It does make a difference!

Now go hug your child and embrace them for they are our future!