Clever Lad Stupid Lad

If you've ever read, "Rich Dad Poor Dad," by Robert Kiyosaki, you'll know that even loving fathers can produce very different results if they have different beliefs and behaviours, strategies and styles.

Clever Lad Stupid Lad is a part of my life story, for I have been both. I tell this short tale to help you see for yourself where limiting beliefs and behaviours may be holding you back from enjoying the quality of life you so easily could be living.

We are all Clever Lads (and Lasses)

The study of Multiple Intelligence teaches us we are all intelligent in different ways. As such I was a Clever Boy growing up, loving the intelligence of imagination and curiosity, preferring the worlds of Nature and Imagination to the other perceptions of reality on offer.

What is Multiple Intelligence?

Multiple Intelligence is a concept championed by Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard University.

Originally, there were seven aspects beginning with the two typically rewarded in School and remunerated in Society:

• Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (think 'Maths' and 'Science')
• Linguistic Intelligence (think 'English Language' and 'English Literature')

Then there are other areas of the curriculum that tended to get less attention, some being banished to Wednesday and Friday afternoons!

• Visual-Spatial Intelligence (think 'Art' and 'Design' and 'Technical Drawing')
• Kinaesthetic (think 'Sport'! which is also big on Visual-Spatial Intelligence)
• Musical Intelligence - yes, those Friday afternoon lessons in the Music Hut.

Finally, there were a couple that would get you into trouble in class:

• Intrapersonal Intelligence - where you might be caught daydreaming in class
• Interpersonal Intelligence - where you were a chatterbox! In business, this then becomes lauded as a natural networker and great salesperson!

Later additions to the framework include:

• Naturalistic Intelligence - a kind of Ecological awareness
• Existential Intelligence - thinking... well, Existentially! These are the BIG questions about life and the universe, meaning and purpose.

Good News/Bad News

The Good News is that if you find your 'flow' - the zone in which your Natural Intelligence Preferences can flow - you'll get good results. Discover a teacher who shares your preferences and you're likely to get great results!

The Bad News is that if you're forced to try and develop in areas that are not your Natural Strengths, learning is going to be perceived as a highly unpleasant process!

Guess what happened to me?

Yes, as a young child, I was an energetic bundle of curiosity and creativity. A smart spark!

Then something fascinating happened at age 11. I narrowly failed the 11 plus. In Dorking, where I grew up, this was a life-changing point for most students. We had an excellent Grammar School system where Academic excellence was appreciated by teachers and students alike...

...then we had Sondes Place - the Secondary School I ended up at. When my parents expressed their concern for me at the first Parents' Evening, the Head Master told them not to worry, Sondes Place was an excellent place to do well in... Sport.

I don't do Sport

Being bright in a Kinaesthetically biased school was not good sport! I soon learned that shining in class was a great way to get 'feedback' from other students - two of whom went to to be captured as mercenaries in Africa. Enough said?

So, I shrank.

I learned to keep my hand down in class, to cease to express my curiosity, and keep my head down to match my lowered hand! Unsurprisingly, I hated school and I was 'kinaesthetically' bullied!

Now, here are the key points for you.

• I learned to be a Stupid Lad.
• I learned that 'learning' was hard work.
• I learned to fear the cloud of confusion I so often descended into because I didn't want to ask questions in class to clarify my understanding.

Why am I sharing all this?

I share this because as I approach 60 years of age, I still keep uncovering limiting beliefs that adversely affect my productivity, performance, and joie de vivre. The latest to be uncovered links to a learned hatred of learning! This shocked me because I'm an author of published works on... Accelerated Learning!

I uncovered the limiting belief because I've noticed that I've repeated resisted learning how to use some of the software I pay for on subscription each month: Adobe InDesign and Adobe Premier to be precise. The root is a fear that I won't understand... and therefore confirm that I really am a "Stupid Boy!"

Re-write the Script

I do not have the slightest doubt that there are similar monsters living safely - if not under your bed - certainly in your head! It takes deep Intrapersonal Intelligence to sit with your thoughts long enough to weed out these performance vampires. Until then, they will suck the life out of your joie de vivre.

Here's to the courage to face our unhelpful beliefs, behaviours and habits, and the creativity to install new empowering ones.

But let's push pause too.

Sondes Place was idealistically designed to be fit for purpose - to produce good sportspeople (this was in the days before dedicated academies). There was no way I was ever going to thrive there. It was a poor fit for me.

If you want to learn something but are finding it unpleasantly hard work, cut yourself some slack. You ARE intelligent. You are made to learn. Thus, if it's not working, you'll most likely discover you are on the wrong course or are being taught by the wrong teacher or even both. Flow is about finding a good fit - education that is fit for purpose.

The Love of Learning

My teachers at Sondes Place weren't bad teachers - in fact one of them became the inspiration for me to become a professional trainer. How fascinating, that, after his expeirence with Sondes Place, he left teaching! Evidently, teachers need a school that's a good fit too!

Many of my teachers loved learning. Returning then to "Rich Dad Poor Dad" - both fathers had the necessary 'love' for their children. The difference lay in the mindset and skillset strategies that the two ran. One produced wealth, the other kept them in poverty.

You are a genius...

...but not in every area.

You need an environment, a coach, a teacher, a mentor, a team, a process, a system - all of which are a good fit for your strengths. If you are not getting the results you know you should be getting, you may not be the problem!!!

Let me finish with a couple of wisdom sayings that I often repeat.

On Genius

Everybody is a genus. But if judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will live its while life believing it us stupid.

On Futility

If you keep doing what you've always been doing, you'll keep getting what you've always got.

If you don't like the results you're getting,

try doing something else!

It's unlikely that anyone else is going to break the cycle for you.

Have the courage of your convictions. Recognise something's 'wrong' and do something else. Yoda said, "There is no try, only do." I think that's do-do! There is huge virtue in just trying something else. Then, if it doesn't work after you've persevered, try something else. In this way you won't invent the light bulb - that's already been done after multiple attempts - but the lightbulb might just go on!

Which beliefs are holding you back from being your best?

A Way Forward

You don't have to wait until you're 60 years old to make rapid progress!

There are three things I suggest you take action on.

1) Contribution Compass Profile

Take the Contribution Compass profile to find your flow. When you discover which of the eight profiles most suits your natural strengths, you are on the fast-track to flow.

Step one is to do your Contribution Compass profile. I can help you with this, and, yes, it's an investment!

2) Motivational Mapping

I know exactly who I am and where I will thrive. Why, then, do I so often run out of energy? Flow is not enough - you need Fuel too. It's like finding the ideal vehicle for you and then running out of fuel on the journey in the right direction. Even worse, if you don't know yourself and your motivators, you can put the wrong fuel in the tank!

Motivational Mapping does exactly what you might think - it maps you to your motivating forces. If you want to see me die quickly, put me in an Admin role where I have to follow the system. If you want to see me thrive, put me somewhere where I can start stuff! Let me express my creativity, and give me tons of freedom. Discovering the truth of my Contribution Compass profile and my Motivators is worth a lot of time, money, and energy to me.

Step two is to do your Motivational Map, and, yes, it's an investment!!

3) Create Your Map to the Future

If your Contribution Compass is pointing you in the right direction for massive contribution, and if your Motivational Tanks are topped up, massive Action will get you Massive Results. The third step is to take your discoveries and do a Mind Map for the next 90 days - your Map to the Future.

Step three is to do your Map to the Future, and, yes, it's an investment!!!

I can add massive value to your life and help you move forward at an accelerated rate.

The choice to take action is up to you!

Message me when you're ready to move forward.