LEARNING FROM EINSTEIN'S CREATIVITY by Ron White

One of the most famous quotes of Einstein is when he said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Einstein was putting value on creativity here. His theories and ideas were all about creativity. When he made a working boxcar for his son out of shoestring and some boxes, that was creativity. When he was down and out and needed money and posted an ad for tutoring lessons; that was creativity in making money.

Since Einstein accomplished some of the greatest thoughts of our time, an argument could be made that he was one of the most creative people of all time. You can know more about your product than anyone and have more degrees than anyone you know, but if you don't have a little bit of creativity to take advantage of what you have, then it is useless.

Credentials and knowledge will do you little good if you lack the creativity to take advantage of them. Einstein once said, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." I think he was being a little humble and a lot humorous here, but he was once again acknowledging the importance of being creative!

So you may ask yourself, "What is creativity?"

That is an excellent question -- let's go straight to the source to answer it. Einstein said, "CREATIVITY is seeing what other see and THINKING what no one else has thought."

Robert Kennedy said the same thing this way, "I look at things that are and I ask why? I look at things that never were and ask why not?" Robert Kennedy was talking about creativity, just as Einstein was.

So how do you do it? How do you model the creativity of Albert Einstein?

First of all, we need to address the idea of the limiting belief that you are not creative.

There is a prevailing belief that creativity is an inborn trait - you are either creative or you're not. Well, while creativity is an inborn trait, we are all born with a creative brain (your right cerebral hemisphere) and have many creative skills. Children are naturally curious and eager to explore the world around them and spend hours playing with toys, making up imaginary friends and pretend games. But as we get older, we begin to lose some of our natural creativity as we learn and use more left-brain thinking skills in school and at work. Research shows that our propensity to generate original ideas reduces from 90% at age 5, to 20% at age 7 and even further to 2% as adults! However, unless you have suffered brain damage in your right hemisphere or had it surgically removed, you still have a creative brain; so you are still creative. It's just that maybe you don't use your creativity skills as much as you used to.

Now for the good news! You can reawaken your creative brainpower.

What would Einstein tell you in regards to increasing your creativity? Well, we don't have to guess on that one, because he did tell us. He said, "The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

Develop the curiosity of a child. Leonardo Da Vinci, who is said to be one of the greatest geniuses of all time, also had this creativity. I don't think that it is a coincidence that Leonardo and Einstein were both extremely creative and that so many years after their deaths we are still talking about them.

Let me give you a few of Da Vinci's credentials:

500 years ago he:

- drew blue prints for the worlds first helicopter
- drew blueprints for a submarine
- built an extendable ladder that is still being used by fire departments today
- built the world's first hydraulic jack
- built a rotating stage
- and 500 years ago he built a water powered alarm clock!

Those are some pretty amazing credentials if you ask me.

Curiosity might have "killed the cat" but it can help you think like a genius. Leonardo Da Vinci had a book of questions. In this journal of sorts he would write down questions as fast as they would pop into his head. He would write down questions such as:

why do birds fly?

why do they slow down as they land?

what do their feathers do?

The interesting thing is that he didn't worry about the answers. He simply wrote down the questions because he knew something about the power of the human mind. He knew the subconscious mind was powerful and if he wrote down the questions his subconscious mind would continue to work on the answers.

Creativity is defined by Webster as "creative ability or intellectual inventiveness." This is a skill that everyone has to some extent. There are ways to improve your ability to create and generate new ideas. Not everyone can be a great artist or a creative genius, but it makes sense to make the most of the potential we are given.
Brainstorming is an extremely good way at practicing creativity. A brainstorm can work with an individual or a group. This technique requires the generation of as many ideas as quickly as possible to solve a problem.

It does not matter how outlandish an idea might be, all ideas are written down. The ideas need to be written down, and a time limit should be imposed for accepting ideas. If this is a group brainstorm, an individual should be appointed as recorder to write down the ideas. If this is an individual project, the person should write as the thoughts come. Remember the less judgment of ideas the greater the number of ideas generated. Although many of the ideas may be unreasonable and ineffective, they may lead you to the idea that will really work. It is helpful to set a goal for the number of ideas you wish to generate. This will give you something to work toward, and may unleash the perfect solution.

Journal your thoughts for future use. This includes writing down dreams, insights, experiences, quotes, problems with friends, and any other information that is pertinent to you. This should have some kind of organization so you can look back on it periodically. You may find the answer to a problem in last month's dream, so remember to review these personal logs frequently. This system will compliment the complex subconscious mind, and allow you to retrieve from this boundless resource.

Allow your ideas to develop and follow through on them. It is said that a good idea is worth fifty cents, and the plan to implement that plan is worth millions of dollars. It has been said another way as well: Anyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It is the man who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it that changes the world.

As you learn about creativity and the techniques that work best for you, a whole new world will open up to you. Creativity can be helpful in problem solving, dealing with people, and creating success in all areas of your life. Take the time to tap into your greatest power, the power of the imagination and increase your creativity in all areas of life.

Sometimes when we face a problem we struggle with our thoughts so much, our energy is spent. The stress that comes with this kind of problem solving also affects how we think. If the anxiety level becomes too high, parts of the brain will shut down and it is impossible to generate the ideas needed to deal with the problem. When faced with too much stress the mind goes into the "fight or flight" mode. This allows the mind to deal with only two alternatives, fighting the opponent or fleeing the danger.

You can avoid these mind numbing emotions by altering your environment. When you feel yourself getting stressed out or you begin losing your focus, walk away from everything for a change of scenery. Allow yourself to focus on another task. Some people, golf, juggle, or exercise to get away from their mind blocks. When you return to this important task, you will have shifted from your stressed out mind set to a new relaxed and ready to conquer attitude.

Blaise Pascal said, "Almost all of the problems of mankind arise from the inability to be alone with oneself in a room for any period of time."

Getting away from the problem allows your subconscious mind to problem solve, while your conscious mind is occupied with other things. Sometimes you will find the solution to your problem in your sleep. This is when the subconscious mind is most active. Basically, all your experiences and learnings are stored in this part of the brain. This is where your creativity gets turbo-powered. If you can tap into this force you will have creative powers beyond your wildest expectations.

Another good way to help your creativity is to read. That is right, read.

You see when you read your subconscious mind is automatically creating pictures whether you like it or not. So develop a passion for reading and watch your creativity increase. Both Einstein and Da Vinci were avid readers. Model this behavior and watch your creativity increase.

Einstein said that he would simply imagine it so and then go about to prove it. In other words the creative process occurred before the experiments.

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Lenard Entry:

If we able to develop a creative mind set, definitely we could achieve more then we could imagine. In your work place, if you are creative enough definitely you will spice up the whole working environment. For that your boss as well as your subordinate will like you more, and also don't forget your client and your customers will love you more which will lead to more sale and better result.

Creative also about putting extra into what ever you are working on. In another word, add value or give a "value added" service or effort in what ever you are doing. Just think of this simple question, ""What make you so special or different the rest around you?" OR "What can you improve to give a better value or service to your work and client?"

Sometime, creative also mean "Keep it simple!!" We always tend to make things complicated both for ourselves and your clients. Use creativeness to make others able to understand you better. Think out of the box, think something which is more fun let both you and those around you feel happy and able to feel joy.

Again we also don't want to be too creative or over creative in many issue. If you want to be creative, always start with something small and work your way up. Other people need time to adapt to new idea and thinking.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS? -by Shamus Brown

HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS?
-by Shamus Brown

Guys! I didn't start out my life with the
intention of being a salesman. No. As a matter of fact, in
my late teens, I thought that "sales and marketing" were a
lot of what was wrong with American business.
I got into sales by accident.

I wasn't one of those kids selling seeds and magazines
subscriptions door-to-door.

I was someone always fascinated with building things.
Building and transforming businesses were what I wanted to
do.

You may not know this, but I have a degree in Engineering.
Yep, got one from one of the more prestigious places you can
get one, the College of Engineering at the University of
California in Berkeley.

I spent my 5 years of college with the full intention of
going on to graduate school. I wanted to study business
*and* law, and I thought that a technical engineering
background would give me a powerful combination to go into
business with.

Well life got in my way my senior year of college, and I
came down with a serious illness just before I was to take
my standardized tests to apply to grad school.

Grad school was out, and I had to look for a "job".

About a month before I was to graduate, I didn't have a job
in sight. Then something unique happened for me. IBM lifted
their hiring freeze and did a job fair on campus. I saw
their openings for sales jobs, and I got excited because
1) an IBM sales job would pay well, and 2) a computer sales
career would allow me to combine my interest in persuasion
with my interest in technology and computers.

Within a couple of weeks, I had secured an awesome job with
IBM in their downtown San Francisco office. I was psyched!

*** I tell you this because I want to share with you why I
went into sales, and what I learned when I got there.

One of the biggest things I wanted out of becoming a
salesman was to become a great presenter. I have always
truly enjoyed watching a great speaker entertain and
mesmerize me.

The way some people like to watch sports, I like watching a
great speaker.

I wanted to be a great speaker. And I thought that
becoming a professional salesperson would help me.

The funny thing I found out after just a few months as a
sale professional was that you didn't have to be a great
speaker to be an effective salesman. I learned how to be an
OK presenter at IBM, but my years at IBM didn't teach my how
to WOW and audience like I wanted to (I had to start my own
business as a sales trainer to finally develop that skill).

What I discovered was that the most important skill needed
to be effective in sales is the ability to qualify your
prospects.

You see I was selling big ticket items: Computer systems
that had to have their own air-conditioned rooms and costs
hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars to
purchase.

Due to the cost and complexity of these systems, there were
always multiple decision-makers involved. Buying decisions
typically took months - 3 months was fast, 6-9 months was
pretty common. And I always had a team of pre-sales experts
that I could direct to present the right information to the
prospect as the sale progressed.

The decision at the beginning of the sales cycle of whether
or not to pursue the deal was of prime importance. If I lost
a deal, then I had just wasted 1000s of dollars in sales
team staff time that could have been used on to help close
other sales.

A big part of effective selling is sorting the wheat from
the chaff... qualifying who deserves your sales time, and
who does not.

Qualifying I believe is one of the most important sales
skills to possess.

Spend your time well, and you make a lot of money.

Spend your time on loser prospects and you'll become a sales
loser yourself.

You can be an awesome presenter, but without qualifying
effectively, you just won't ever sell at your full
potential.

If you want to make a lot of money in sales, focus on
developing your client interviewing skills, understanding
your competition, and knowing why past customers have bought
from your company. Learn these three things well, and you'll
possess the stuff that great salespeople are made of.

ADVICE TO SALES PEOPLE WHO WANT TO CLOSE MORE SALES

Forget giving away your time, attention and knowledge to
prospects who don't purchase. Learn 5 simple skills that
will enable you to close significantly more in the same time
that you are working now. No more cheesy closing lines.

The Four Wives...

The  Four Wives      


There  was a rich merchant who had
4  wives      

He  loved the 4th  wife the  most.
He  adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies.
He  took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

4th  wife      


He also  loved the 3rd wife very much.
He's very  proud of her and always wanted to show her off to his friends.  
However,  the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some  other men.

3rd  wife       


He too,  loved his 2nd wife. She is  a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's  confidante.  
Whenever  the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and  she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

2nd  wife      


Now, the  merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and  has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business  as well as taking care of the household.
However,  the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him  deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

1st  wife      


One day,  the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die  soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I  have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll  be!"      

Thus,  he asked the 4th  wife, "I loved  you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care  over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"  "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without  another word. The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's  heart.      

The sad  merchant then asked the 3rd  wife, "I have  loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow  me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife.  "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!"  The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.      

He then  asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you  for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again.  When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm  sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At  the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came  like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.      

Then a  voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter  where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his 1st wife.  She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly  grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care  of you while I could have !"      


Actually  we all have 4 wives in our lives,..      

No  matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll  leave us when we die  

The 4th  wife  
is  our body      

When  we die, they all go to others

Our  3rd wife  
is  our possessions, status and wealth      

No  matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest  they can stay by us is up to the grave  
  
The 2nd  wife  
is  our family and friends      

Often  neglected in our pursuit of material wealth and sensual pleasure. It  is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until  we're on our deathbed to lament.

The  1st wife  
is  in fact our soul. Something  you can't see      

WHAT  WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT!? The Choice is in your hand!


THE  LEAST YOU CAN DO IS LET OTHERS KNOW