| In the field of psychology, many people are aware of | | | | district. |
| how trauma can ruin a person's life, throwing it | | | | Sometimes, this "profound knowledge" can affect a |
| off-track, bringing misery and chaos in it's wake. | | | | whole culture. |
| But what most people are not aware of is that the | | | | When Edward Deming went to help post-war Japan |
| opposite can happen. Something really good can | | | | recover, his ideas so impacted his audience that it |
| happen to a person that elevates their lives to the | | | | made Japan one of the world's leading manufacturers |
| level of greatness. | | | | of top quality products. |
| For lack of a better term, I am calling this experience | | | | Usually, this is the cycle of the reception of |
| "profound knowledge." | | | | "profound knowledge:" |
| This is something fascinating and worth exploring. | | | | There is an upset. This happens usually in childhood, |
| A 13-year-old-boy boy in Singapore went to an | | | | when we are more open and vulnerable, more |
| accelerated learning workshop called Super-Teen that | | | | naïve about how the world works. |
| used many of Tony Buzan's ideas. | | | | Then something happens, usually by accident, that |
| He went from the bottom of his class to the top of | | | | completely changes our world-view overnight. |
| his school in academic performance in a year. He | | | | This is a piece of information that completely solves |
| topped his "O" level examinations, scoring in the 1 | | | | our major problem. Someone or something happens |
| percentile bracket. Then he did the same thing with | | | | to give us "profound knowledge." |
| his "A" level examinations and was admitted to the | | | | We then embrace this experience, "take it to heart" |
| best university in the country. He also became a | | | | and it transforms our world. |
| multimillionaire by the age of 26. | | | | Now the most interesting thing about this "profound |
| Today he is a leading educational and business figure | | | | knowledge" is that it not only starts to work |
| in Singapore. Millions seek to learn from him how to | | | | immediately, but increases in "profoundness" over |
| shift their lives. His books have been on the | | | | time, until it reaches astonishing proportions. |
| best-seller lists. | | | | It does happen in adulthood as well, but rarely. This is |
| Similarly, another boy, this one an American, went to | | | | because adults are generally less open and |
| a Summer Camp. He, too, was at the bottom of his | | | | impressionable. |
| class. | | | | Most cases occur in entrepreneurial businesses, |
| He was taking remedial learning classes in this camp, | | | | where one day, someone is struggling, with barely |
| but, as usual, not doing well. | | | | enough to eat, and then, to everyone's surprise, they |
| He spent his afternoons at the bottom of a | | | | connect with "profound knowledge" and go on to |
| swimming pool, practicing how to hold his breath. | | | | make millions. |
| Something remarkable happened. | | | | Now that you have become aware of "profound |
| This little game expanded his carotid artery, literally | | | | knowledge" review your own life and see if you can |
| allowing his brain to take in more oxygen from his | | | | find any incidents that could have lifted you to |
| lungs. And he went from straight F's to straight A's | | | | another level. |
| to everyone's amazement, including his own. | | | | Once you find this incident, see if there is a way for |
| All he did was accidentally learn how to breathe in a | | | | you to revisit it and embrace it's silent and invisible |
| much deeper way! | | | | power. |
| Years later, when he was a leading educational figure | | | | You are looking for three things: (a) an upset; (b) a |
| in America, he recalls this incident as the turning point | | | | receptivity; (c) exposure to profound knowledge. |
| in his life. | | | | If you can find this incident in your past, it will be well |
| Today he has a doctorate in education and is | | | | worth your while to see if you can nurture it and |
| creating programs and systems that teach people | | | | bring it into your present experience. |
| how to think like a genius. In fact, in his own right, he | | | | It may have been a course you took or a book you |
| is considered a genius. | | | | read or something someone said to you. It may have |
| I'll give you one more true story. | | | | been a person who helped and inspired you and |
| Again, this is another American boy. He loved to play | | | | made you realize your own special gifts. It may have |
| baseball but was hopeless at it. He could barely bat. | | | | been an insight you suddenly stumbled upon while |
| His father took him to see an educational expert (the | | | | doing something quite mundane but that made you |
| same one mentioned earlier) and after a brief session | | | | stop in astonishment. |
| of guided imagery, the boy had an unconscious | | | | Once you find it, see if you can evoke the mood, |
| perception of how to swing the bat and connect | | | | and also note how you just missed embracing it. |
| with the ball. | | | | Now, in the present moment, see how you can |
| From that point on he began to play well, and in a | | | | amplify it; then, make it alive enough for you to |
| short time started to star, until he ended up | | | | transform it into "profound knowledge. |
| becoming an MVP, a Most Valued Player, in his school | | | | |