Articles
Browse every published article connected to Steve Gillman, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Steve Gillman, or search within this exact expert archive.
Creative thinking is a potential we are all born with. If you don't use that potential, it is probably because you don't know and apply the simple principles for developing it. We can remedy that right now. The two basic principles of creative thinking are: 1. There are methods and techniques ...
You may have heard the expression, or even had the experience, but what is brain fog? It is that state of mind when you can't quite focus or think clearly. As for how to cure it, that depends on the cause. There are two basic kinds of causes. Physical Causes Of Brain Fog A lack of sleep can ...
If you are like most people, when you think about how to make money, you think about the specific jobs, businesses or schemes that will bring in the cash. But while there are many ways to make it, all these ways have their examples of success and failure. Why do some fail at the same things ...
What do I mean by the art of thinking? It may seem that powerful thinking should simply be logical, and nothing more. The ideal thinker then, might be Spock, the "Vulcan" in the "Star Trek" television show and movies. Of course, if you watch the program, you may recall that the humans aboard the ...
Getting lucky is about operating in certain ways. You won't get lucky in love if you don't ever talk to someone of the opposite sex. You won't ever succeed in business by just talking about it. These two examples bring us to the first lesson on "luck." Getting Lucky By Consistently Taking ...
People use the expressio "in other words" because sometimes other words are necessary to better understand something. You probably use it yourself, but how often do you actually think about the words you are using, and the effect they may have? How often do you change the words you use in order ...
Can You Learn Better Concentration? Imagine how much more productive you would be if you could have total concentration whenever you wished. The good news is you can learn how to concentrate better. In fact, you can do so right now. Concentration Is Automatic When you start working on ...
A myth is a lie - true or false? Actually, the most general definition of myth found in most dictionaries is something like, "A popular belief or story." In other words, it can be true or false. See if you can tell which are which with the following beliefs and myths. True or False - ...
Neurobics is a term invented by Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin to describe exercises that help the brain stay fit. Specific types of sensory stimuli and activities, especially those that involve non-routine actions and thoughts, produce more of the chemicals that encourage growth of new ...
You may have used affirmations before, writing positive statements on cards and repeating them every day. Hopefully you stuck it out and got the results that you wanted. More often, we find it hard to take the time to read them every day, and without that constant repetition, we don't get the ...
Your problem solving strategies determine how effectively you deal with everything from creating new ideas to solving the routine problems of life and business. There are many specific techniques for solving problems, but a good strategy is a more general "plan of attack" that makes it all work. ...
"What does it profit a man to have gained the whole world, and to have lost his soul?" - Jesus Christ You don't need to be Christian to see wisdom in the words of Jesus. Simple quotes from men and women around the world, from present day or milleniums past, inspire and instruct us, regardless ...
Have you ever wished you had stronger willpower? How can you make yourself stop doing things you don't want to do? There are ways, and the first thing to do is to redefine the concept of willpower. Self Awareness Instead Of Willpower It's hard to resist temptation sometimes, isn't it? That ...
Wouldn't it be great if you could solve problems more easily? You can. Problems you have at home, or problems from science, work, or business - you can use special techniques to help you find solutions to all of them. The following is one of the best. A Problem Solving Story I had written an ...
Lie detection may start with watching for signs of lying in a person. But sometimes you have to do more than just listen and watch. Sometimes you have to trap a liar. Here is one of the many ways to do that. Lie Detection - Introduce An Assumptio This is a common trapping technique. Here is ...
You can learn how to meditate from a book, but meditation is as much an art as a science, and arts especially are better taught by live teachers than by books. That is why meditation is often learned quicker and brought to a deeper level when the beginner has someone to model their practice on. ...
You probably like the idea of creative inspiration, that wonderful new idea that pops into you head without warning. The reality is that such bursts of creativity do happen. Einstein claimed he had great ideas come to him while he was shaving in the morning. And then there is the chemist ...
To invent new products, you need to know how to generate new ideas - lots of them. Then you look them over and pick out the good ones. Here is one of the many simple techniques for coming up with ideas for new products. New Products From Old Start with an existing product and extract some of ...
How do you motivate yourself? What can you do when you need to get busy doing something and you just don't feel like doing it? Of course there are dozens of motivation techniques. Some, like certain NLP techniques, can get fairly complicated. The following, however, is a simple, yet powerful ...
Contrary to what many people think and many dictionaries suggest, atheism is not a belief. It is simply the lack of belief in "God " or gods. Before starting this article, I checked several dictionaries. In the first one, the definition of atheism given was, "The doctrine or belief that there is ...
Our top travel secret isn't really a secret at all, but it takes a while for some of us to learn and apply it. Here it is: Slow down. Slowing down and spending more time in each location is not only a secret of cheap travel, but in our experience, it means more fun. Slowing Down For Cheap ...
We all want power, although not everyone freely admits it. It is common to think what one would do if he or she was a king or the president. We imagine that we would do good things; better than what is being done now. We think of power in personal terms too, as when we imagine that enough money ...
I recall seeing a study somewhere that suggested self help books don't really help. I believe it looked at financial self help books. If I remember correctly, three or ten years after reading various "get rich quick" and other money-related books, the readers were generally making more money, ...
There are many problem solving skills that can make you a more effective and creative problem solver. Knowing how to direct your attention and use visualization are two of the best. Here are some examples of how to use these tools, and how to develop them. Problem Solving Skill: ...
The expressio "think twice" is simply a reminder to fully consider things before assuming that your first conclusion is the correct one. It reminds me of the carpenter's rule: "measure twice, cut once." Measuring twice is a rule that prevents a lot of mistakes in carpentry. In intellectual ...
Do you know what the problem is with asking successful people for advice? They don't always know why they are successful - but they'll give you all the reasons you want. I once watched an 100-year-old man explain that smoking every day was the secret to his longevity. It would be great to know ...
An open mind is like an open well. It is easily contaminated by anything blowing in the wind. At least that is the problem with what many call an open mind. For example, you may have heard someone called open minded because he believes in visitors from space, bending spoons with mind power, and ...
Blaming financial trouble on outside factors is the norm, but is it the truth? Sometimes. Unexpected things do happen, after all. On the other hand, some people manage to handle the unexpected without any real financial difficulty, right? What are they doing differently? To begin with, some ...
There are two ways to improve the good luck / bad luck ratio in your life. One is to take steps to do those things that lead to more good luck. The other is to stop doing the things that cause bad luck. This lesson is about the latter. It is an examination of the actions, habits and thinking of ...
You hear that to be more creative you need to think outside the box, but what is the box? It is your normal ways of thinking, and all the hidden assumptions you make. Imagine actually living in a box, and knowing the outside world only through the pictures and descriptions written on those four ...
What causes bad luck? To begin with we have to admit that sometimes events are just random, or at least with causes beyond our ability to understand at the moment. Therefore even the luckiest person will have occasional "bad luck." On the other hand, it is unlikely that a person who is normally ...
To be a deep thinker you simply have to get in the habit of asking deep questions about everything around you. What is a deep question? Let's look at a couple examples. Suppose someone lies to you, and you simply explain it by saying, "He's a jerk!" That may be true, but it is shallow thinking. ...
No More Brain Fog Where is...car...my keys...hmm...and that...oh yeah, but...hmm - Does your brain feel like that sometimes? How can you combat "brain fog," and think more clearly? Try some of the following. Clear space equals clear thinking. Despite many protests to the contrary, it's rare ...
What is the connection between music and the brain? Is it possible that music can help you think better? The research says yes, and after telling you about some of it, I'll let you in on an even faster way to boost your brain power with music. Music And The Brain - The Research The research ...
Brainpower games are those games which exercise your mental capacity. My personal favorite is Chess, but there are many others, some of which you probably already play or have played. Here is a look at a few of the more common ones and how they may help your mind. Crossword Puzzles For many ...
A little bit of brain training can go a long ways towards better thinking. There are easy techniques for better or more creative thinking, such as brainstorming or just getting a good night's sleep. The idea here, though, is to train your brain in new habits. It can take some work, but once good ...
If you are trapped by a reaction despite the clear fact that there is a better way to act, you are a victim of mental slavery. We all are. Every one of us sometimes find ourselves saying or doing things that we later regret, and wondering why. Ignorance can be a factor, of course. We all can make straight-out mistakes based on a lack of knowledge. But what we’re referring to here is those instances when we say, “I knew better than that,” or “I should have known better than that.”