Stever Robbins here. Welcome to the Get-It-Done Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More.

Today's topic is brilliant.

Lionel writes:

Do you think it is possible to actually become brilliant at a really advanced age(21)?

Ouch! Lionel! That hurts. Twenty one is a really advanced age? We won't even think about what that makes me. Methuselah comes to mind. I love your question, because brilliant people make better dinner conversation, and we need more of that.

But why do you want to be brilliant? Lots of brilliant people spend their lives feeling cut off from everyone around them who aren't as brilliant. And brilliance isn't a path to riches; in my experience, they're only loosely related (if at all) unless your brilliance is in finance.

Let's assume you want to be brilliant so we can have dinner together on my book tour in 2009. Bizarrely, I have a podcast-length answer to your question. Yes, I believe it's possible to become smarter at an advanced age. Let's discuss.

This week's sponsor couldn't be more relevant. We're sponsored by Audible.com, a key part of my own lifelong learning agenda. I download audiobooks to listen in the gym, on the subway, and while I'm doing housework. Right now, I'm listening to "Snoop" by Sam Gosling, to learn what my office says about me. Want to know what the stuffed dragon next to my desk means? You can find out by choosing "Snoop" as your free audiobook when you sign up at Audiblepodcast.com/done.

Since you want to become more brilliant, let's start with your brain.

Some Smarts are Hardwired

When you're young, your brain grows new cells and forms gajillions of connections. Twice while you grow up--once when you're a young child and again around age 16--the cells and connections that you don't use much die off. So by the time you're at a really advanced age, it's true, your brain has certain things hardwired in. These become your strengths that are lifelong and are so easy for you that you can't believe other people don't think this way. The book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham talks about these hardwired strengths and lets you take an online assessment to find out yours. If you're curious, mine are strategic thinking, being a futurist, achieving, relating to others, and taking responsibility.

Your hardwired strengths are just that, hardwired, so you have an advantage in those areas over people who don't have those strengths naturally. One way to become brilliant is to know your strengths, integrate them into your life, and develop them over time so you go from merely good at them to phenomenal-exceptional-world-class.

I believe some forms of genius probably have to be hardwired. I have no proof except my own experience, but it seem to me that truly brilliant music/mathematical-thinking/computer-scientist thinking may need to be hardwired. You can learn it, but the truly great seem to be born with the aptitude. But there's still hope for the rest of us.

Twenty years ago (in the prehistoric era), scientists thought hardwiring was the end of the story. Your brain forms and it's all downhill from there. You and I may not think that's so bad, but listen to interviews with political commentators or movie stars, and you suddenly realize even fame and fortune might not be adequate compensation for being locked in that brain.

Connections Are Where It's At!

But it turns out there's hope, even for Bill O'Reilly! While your brain structure is fixed by your really advanced ago, your brain can break and form connections for the rest of your life. Even when you're as old as Methuselah. The more connections, the more you bring together information in new ways. You'll become more creative and intelligent, if not brilliant.

Before you can connect stuff in your brain, you have to have something there in the first place. If you bump your head and hear an echo, that's not a good sign. For many of us, our number one lesson from school is that once school's done, we never want to learn anything again. Resist! Keep learning. Do what I do: every year, choose a learning project and learn a new skill. Either take a class or learn on your own or with friends.

Mix it up each year so you learn visual skills, physical skills, and auditory skills. Maybe even skills around taste and smell, too. My learning projects have included drawing simple cartoons, swing dancing and lindy hop, comedy improv, hypnosis, yoga, singing, speaking German, and mathematically modeling dynamic systems with embedded feedback loops. I've considered cooking, but then people would expect me to bring stuff to potlucks. And we can't have that, can we?

Overlap Your Senses With Image Streaming

Now that you've filled your brain, start making connections. I've recently heard about a technique called "image streaming" that's been shown in a couple of academic studies to boost IQ if practiced regularly. Here's how it works.

Sit down with a friend, or a tape recorder, or a friend who's as quiet as a tape recorder. Close your eyes and--out loud--start describing the images that come to mind. Describe them in as much detail as you can, include as many of your sensory systems as you can, and speak in present tense. Do this for at least 10 minutes per session.

"I see an image of an old lady churning butter. I can hear the cream slosh and see the shadow of the churn overlapping her flowered smock. Her face is wrinkled and smiling, with hair up in a bun, a few wisps loose, blowing in a warm breeze. She's humming to herself. The tune is Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana..."

Remember the keys to image streaming: talk out loud so you bring your images to full consciousness, be detailed, include all your sensory systems, and speak in present tense.

For your learning project this year, why not choose learning to learn? This episode's transcript has links to a few interesting books about brain function and learning to get you started. You can also check out my past episode on note-taking that discusses a memory technique called mind mapping.

Just remember, once you're at an advanced age, it's all about making new connections and breaking old ones. Learn many different things and train your brain to integrate your senses through image streaming or other related techniques.

Remember to get your free audiobook, maybe even "Snoop," by visiting Audiblepodcast.com/done.

This is Stever Robbins. Follow GetItDoneGuy on Twitter. E-mail your questions to getitdone@quickanddirtytips.com or leave voicemail at 866-WRK-LESS. You can find a transcript of this episode with lots of learning links at getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com.
For information about keynote speeches, workshops, or other appearances, visit SteverRobbins.com for details.

Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!

Resources

- Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham

- My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor

- http://r.steverrobbins.com/brainbasedlearning, Brain-based Learning by Erik Jensen

- http://r.steverrobbins.com/makingconnections, Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain, by Renate Numella Caine and Geoffery Caine

- Image streaming description 1: http://r.steverrobbins.com/imagestreaming

- Image streaming description 2: http://www.winwenger.com/imstream.htm 

- Dr. Charles P. Reinert’s Study on Image-Streaming and IQ study: http://r.steverrobbins.com/imagestreamingstudy