The Invisible Mentor

Like all the other Skinny On books, I received The Skinny On Networking: Maximizing the Power of Numbers by Jim Randel to review. The objective of The Skinny On series of books is to provide concentrated learning by extensively researching a topic, distilling the salient facts, and presenting them in a “progression of drawings, dialogue and text intended to convey information in a concise fashion. The book which can be read in less than two hours is presented in slides, two to a page, and 267 of them.

Networking is an important topic because success, happiness and personal fulfillment depend on the quality of your relationships. I consider The Skinny On Networking a good introduction to networking. I do no think that it’s possible to learn everything about networking, even the most important aspects from one book. Jim Randel highlighted some important aspects of networking that many would not think about. I have included some of these important points.

According to Randel, The Skinny On Networking: Maximizing the Power of Numbers is “about creating and maintaining your network.” And his definition for networking is “developing and utilizing relationships with other people…it is any activity that helps you to develop relationships with others…and is about increasing depth and breadth as a person…Successful networking entails identifying and asking your WHO to help you meet your WHAT.” The author includes 10 activities to clarify and support what he means by networking.

1. Staying in touch with people you have already met
2. Meeting new people
3. Doing research to find the person(s) who can assist you
4. Using online resources to identify someone you know who knows someone you want to meet
5. Increasing social capital
6. Entertaining and helping others – creating a desire for reciprocity
7. Building positive word of mouth
8. Marketing your expertise
9. Joining groups that foster natural connections
10. Asking for introductions and referrals

To achieve astounding success in life requires the use of your human capital (knowledge, skills, expertise and experience) as well as your social capital (the resources you have access to through your personal and professional networks). You create social capital by establishing, building and nurturing relationships. It’s important to invest in the relationship by giving something of value to the person before you start to make withdrawals by making requests. The longer you have known someone and the more time you have spent investing in the relationship, the more social capital you have created with them. Building social capital is a lifelong activity, and it’s also important to build social capital before you need it. You can lose social capital by asking for too much too soon.

Steps to Successful Networking

1. Tap into family, friends and acquaintances because they have connections that you are not aware of
2. Always be specific about what you want so that the person knows exactly what is required of them, and always give them an out just in case they may be uncomfortable filling your request
3. When making a request, make it clear that you are willing to reciprocate when they require your assistance
4. Use all tools available to you, both offline and online (LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook)
5. Successful and savvy networking is very hard so make it an ongoing process
6. If you are shy or an introvert, use a connector to help you connect to people you’d like to meet
7. Create diverse networks of people, some who are very different from you – step outside your comfort zone
8. When you meet someone, put the spotlight on them, most people like to talk about themselves so give them the opportunity, and listen to what they are saying
9. Within 24 hours of meeting someone who you find interesting, make notes about them: how you met her, what she does, what you learned about her during the conversation
10. Keep in contact with your networks

Most of us, including myself know about popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but Randel includes four others that I have never heard of. I recommend that you read The Skinny On Networking: Maximizing the Power of Numbers, but keep in mind that it’s a very good introduction so you will not learn everything about networking. Despite the size of the book, you will pick up a few tips like I did. As usual, Jim Randel includes the books he referenced, as well as some quotes from them. The inclusion of books referenced throughout the Skinny On series of books makes it easy to decide which other books to read on the subject matter.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

Note: The copy of The Skinny on Networking that I received is a pre-publication copy.

Additional Resources to Assist With Online Networking

Make Your LinkedIn Profile Work for You

Use LinkedIn Effectively

Write Your LinkedIn Profile for the Future

If you are a blogger, Top 10 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog Using LinkedIn

50 Power Twitter Tips

My Best Twitter Advice

How to Prospect Using Combined Power of LinkedIn and Twitter

I have been having fun just letting my mind wander and explore various ideas and see where it ends up. I hope that you enjoy this journey with me. Today, I have decided to explore the idea of taking action. Do you think it’s possible to achieve great success without taking action?

1. The Law of Attraction has become very popular since the movie The Secret was released. Many people believe that they can attract anything, and achieve their goals simply by visualizing them. Is it possible to achieve your goals without taking action?
2. Luck = Opportunity + Preparedness. Is it possible to prepare without taking action?
3. According to Dorothea Brande in her book, Wake Up and Live! – her formula for success is act as if it were impossible to fail. If your success were guaranteed, what actions would you take?
4. Looking at the major successes in your life to date, how did you achieve them? What kind of actions did you take?
5. Would the great thinkers and innovators of yesterday have accomplished so much if they didn’t take action?
6. I saw the following formula – Innovation = Meaningful Idea + Action. I would like to change the formula to Innovation = Great Idea + Purposeful Action. Innovation also occurs when you blend old ideas in ways they haven’t been combined before. What are your thoughts?
7. If our forefathers and mothers hadn’t taken action, would we enjoy the freedom and rights we have today?

There are no guarantees in life, but should that stop you from taking action? I personally do that think that anyone can attain spectacular success without taking action. What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

Further Reading

Could you Move Mountains, if you Acted as if it Were Impossible to Fail?

Photo  Credit: Google via Apture

In September we’ll go back to the regular schedule. I have conducted several interviews that I am scheduling for September 2010 and you’ll enjoy them.

Four years ago I attended a film festival and saw Mr. Mergler’s Gift. It was the first time that I reviewed a film. I re-read the review and felt warmed by it so I thought that I’d share it with you. Whatever your vocation be, do you do it with passion? Do you put your heart into it? Enjoy the review below.

This month I decided to review a 30-minute film instead of a book because I found it moving. This story is about a student and her piano teacher. Set in Montreal, Canada, the film begins with Xin Ben and father, who recently immigrated to Canada from China, riding their bicycles. This particular Sunday, as fate would have it, they took a different route from church and rode through a park. As any typical nine year old, Xin Ben wants to play in the park. They park their bikes and Xin Ben goes to play on the swing while her dad sits on a bench beside Daniel Mergler.

Xin Ben’s parents had just bought her a piano at her insistence, and it turns out that Mr. Mergler is a piano teacher. The story is centred on the music. This little girl was very special because when she played the piano she played with such feeling. During the documentary, when Mr. Merglar talks about feeling the music, I paused and wondered if I was capable of doing with words what Xin Ben did with her music. When I am writing I want people to be able to feel my words and connect with what I am trying to communicate.

When Xin Ben plays Beethoven‘s Für Elise, Daniel Mergler realizes this is her song. Each musician has a piece that’s his or hers. Though Mr. Mergler has heard Für Elise played hundreds of times, this time it was different. After 26 lessons, Mr. Mergler’s cancer starts to overtake him and he is no longer capable of giving lessons. It’s at this time that he lets Xin Ben’s family know that he is dying from cancer. Mr. Merglear knows that Xin Ben’s talent is very rare, and that she needs a special teacher to mentor her when he is gone. As a gift, Mr. Merglear finds one of the top piano teachers for Xin Ben, a professor at McGill University. Xin Ben has to play for this music professor. She plays several pieces for him. He is so impressed by her skill and talent that he takes her on.

If you cannot view the YouTube video of Beethoven’s Für Elise click here.

This is a heart-warming film and the music is great. Whatever it is that you do, do you do it by rote, or do you feel what you do? This film reminded me to slow down and experience things. It reminded me about the importance of mindfulness.

I recommend that you view Mr. Mergler’s Gift  it’s only 30 minutes long.  I’m sure that you’ll enjoy it. Click on any of the links to view and I’ve also included the YouTube version, which is in Parts so you can break up the time.

This review first appeared in Ambeck Edge May 2006. What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. 

Mr. Mergler’s Gift, Beverly Shaffer

Part One Mr. Mergler’s Gift

Part Two Mr. Mergler’s Gift

Part Three Mr. Mergler’s Gift

Mr. Mergler’s Gift via Inspiring Film Channel YouTube

I was surfing the internet trying to find some cool websites that you should know about. This is always an interesting exercise because what often happens is that I find websites that I forgot about. Here are six websites that you will find interesting.

6 Websites You Should Know About

Newseum.org

This is a museum for all things news.

GovDeals.com

Looking for deals in the United States, this is the place to go. They sell surplus and confiscated items via the internet.

SoYouWanna.com

This website touts itself as the resort that teaches things you didn’t learn in school.

Howcast.com

Ever wondered how to do “something”? Howcast.com has many short how-to videos that you can watch on how to do a variety of things.

Fark.com

A news aggregator with some really weird news stories. Definitely an idea generator!

Startups.co.uk

This UK website has profiles of entrepreneurs and their start-up businesses. I love it because the entrepreneurs they profile started some very interesting business and their stories will inspire you.

What are some cool websites that you visit frequently?  Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. 

Photo Credit: Google via Apture  

The Skinny On The Art of Persuasion by Jim Randel is part of the Skinny On series of books, which are designed  and written for the time-strapped professional looking for more than surface level knowledge on a particular subject. The reader can consume and digest any of these books in less than two hours.

I received a copy of The Skinny On The Art of Persuasion to review. Persuasion is defined as “the act of convincing, influencing and inducing.” Based on Jim Randel and his team’s extensive research, they conclude that the ability to persuade is an acquired skill, that means it’s teachable, but, “good persuaders understand that persuasiveness is an art…that to be effective, they must have a sense of dimension and, of nuance. If you push people too hard, they will instinctively pull back.”

The author points out that there is a fine line between persuasion and manipulation. He cited from Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want by Dave Lakhani, “Manipulation is inwardly focused on the outcome for the person doing the manipulation. Persuasion is externally focused on developing a win-win outcome where everyone’s needs are met.”

There are 10 Rules of Persuasion

1. Connect with the person you are trying to persuade. Mirror them so they feel comfortable around you.
2. Prepare extensively before you utter a word. Think about what you are going to say and how you are going to say it
   1. The more you prepare the more comfortable you will feel and act
   2. The more prepared you are, the better able you will be to control your listener’s thought processes
   3. The more prepared you are, the better able you are to determine what you can and cannot do during the “persuasion” and you will know when to stop talking
3. Learn to listen and watch. People love it when they feel like they are being listened to and heard. You will also be able to pick up verbal and non-verbal cues
4. Create a feeling of scarcity – people want what they cannot have
5. Do not confuse the familiar with the universal. Because a way of thinking or belief may be familiar to you, it is not necessarily universal to everyone, so be mindful of that. People strive to be consistent in their behaviours
6. People do not like to feel indebted so they will find a way to reciprocate
7. People often take shortcuts when making decisions. They often make decisions in relation to something else, something familiar. People are often operate on automatic pilot
8. People follow crowds, celebrities,  and authorities
9. People often make decisions based on emotions
10. Persuasiveness is about integrity

Rule 10 is particularly important to Jim Randel. He relates an experience he had 30 years ago when he was into flipping real estate. There was a fire and he knew there were often fire sales, so he went to where the fire was. He realized that the owner had died as the EMTs were wheeling the elderly man away. Jim rushed to city hall and learned that the dead man had a daughter living in the Midwest. Later that evening he called the daughter to get information on who would be handing the sale of the house. It was that instant that the woman discovered that her dad died in a house fire.

I winced when I read this, and I understood. I have never done anything like this, but I’m sure that I have offended others because I responded too quickly without thinking things through. I realize that we so often want to win so badly that we do not stop to consider how our actions might impact another. According to Randel, “In my rush to succeed, I lost sight of basic human compassion and decency.” To me this was the most important point in the book. If we think of people compassionately, we will think before we act, and we will strive for a win/win outcome and not cross the line and attempt to manipulate others.

I recommend The Skinny On The Art of Persuasion. Below is a list of the books mentioned in the Skinny On The Art of Persuasion.

Covert Persuasion: Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game, Kevin Hogan and James Speakman

Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion, Kurt W. Mortensen

The Magic of Rapport, Richardson and Margulis

Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want, Dave Lakhani

How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success, Brian Tracy

How to Do Tricks with Cards, Bill Turner

The Art of Cross-Examination, Francis Wellman

People Skills, Robert Bolton

The Definitive Book of Body Language, Allan and Barbara Pease

Body Language, Julius Fast

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman

Nudge, Thaler and Sunstein

How to Master the Art of Selling, Tom Hopkins

How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely

Irrational Exuberance, Robert Shiller

The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell

The One Minute Salesperson, Spencer Johnson

True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence, Tom Morris

What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book links are Amazon affiliate links

The act of writing things down helps to keep you focused, and on track in your life. Most times when you think of writing things down, you think of goals to keep them front, centered and solidified, or you jot down things that pop into your mind to keep you from forgetting them. But there are other reasons why you should write things down.

1. The great innovators and thinkers who changed the world documented their work, which others were able to build on
2. Documenting your life story is a great way for your family, your descendants to learn and understand who your are/were
3. Documenting and explaining the processes and models you develop to do your work more effectively and efficiently will encourage others to do the same. This is also a way for you to get deserved recognition for your contributions to cost cutting within the company
4. When an idea comes to you, if you write it down, you are less likely to forget it, and more likely to act on it
5. When you are trying to figure things out, writing it on paper makes it easier and helps you to make connections that you otherwise wouldn’t make
6. When reading, other than for entertainment, taking notes helps you to build your reservoir of knowledge, which will prove useful when brainstorming or looking for innovative solutions
7. Writing things down shows that you are accountable, and signals that you are serious

What do you have to add to the conversation? Why do you write things down? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

Summer is the time when most get caught up on their reading. And most are reading novels during this time, but what if you did something a little differently from the rest. Gene Waddell, an architectural historian and College Archivist at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, pulled together an extensive list of rare books that inspire learning. I have taken 10 books from his list, and as you will note, they are from a variety genres to build your general knowledge and increase your ability to strategize and solve problems.

1. Anthropology: Race, Language, Psychology, Prehistory, Kroeber
2. Antiquities of Athens by James Stuart; Nicholas Revett
3. Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen: Discovered by the late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter, Howard Carter
4. Roughing It, Mark Twain
5. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, Frederick Douglas
6. Diary of Samuel Pepys, ed. Richard Griffin Baybrook
7. New System of Chemical Philosophy, John Dalton
8. Emerson: Essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, Mungo Park
10. The Wright Brothers Aëroplane, by Orville and Wilbur Wright Century Magazine, September 1908

Over the summer, try to read a couple of the above, and I will do the same. What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

Some of the links to the books are for free downloads, some are Amazon affiliate links.

Photo Credit: Flickr via Apture

The publishers of The Skinny on Series sent The Skinny on Willpower: How to Develop Self-discipline, The Skinny on the Art of Persuasion and The Skinny on Networking for me to review. In previous blog posts, I reviewed The Skinny on Success and The Skinny on Time Management. The objective of The Skinny On series of books is to provide concentrated learning by extensively researching a topic, distilling the salient facts, and presenting them in a “progression of drawings, dialogue and text intended to convey information in a concise fashion.

You can easily read this book in less than two hours and at end of The Skinny of Willpower, the author Jim Randel provides a 15-Point Plan for improving your willpower which is quite helpful. As I have said in previous reviews of The Skinny On series, and I will mention it again, the reason why I do not like the books is why most people will love them. Though Jim Randel does a good job of summarizing the topic, and the series is a response to the fast-paced world we live in, I feel like he is spoon feeding the reader. I am detailed oriented so I like to read and distil information for myself. However, I recognize that not everyone can do that or is willing to expend the time and effort.

Now having said that, the author provides a bibliography for people like me to read further about the topic, and throughout the book, he has the names of the books that he referenced for information on willpower.

Willpower is defined as “the strength to act, or forbear from acting in the pursuit of a goal – is a critical determinant to success… [It is] the effort needed to get going in a forward motion.” Jim Randel is qualified to write The Skinny on Willpower because he and his team spent countless hours reading and listening to everything they could find on willpower, searching online for insights, as well as speaking to professors and researchers and interviewing highly accomplished people.

As outlined in the book, to achieve your goal you have to be very specific about what you’d like to accomplish and be committed to yourself in attaining your goal – you have to have a real hunger, and the “why” underlying the goal achievement drives the how. Additionally it’s important to break the goal into bite-sized pieces so that you do not become overwhelmed, and when you have negative thoughts in your mind about your goal, it’s good to have a response to get you through that moment to eject all thoughts of negativism, and find the strength deep within you to work on achieving your goal.

Randel identifies three steps you need to take to keep you focused on your goal.

1. Take your temperature – how badly do you want it
2. Set realistic expectation – the best things in life seldom come easily
3. Don’t compare yourself to others – it’s what you think about you that really matters, be in it for the long haul

Here are the author’s 15 points for improving willpower and self-discipline:

1. Be sure you are totally committed
2. Prepare yourself for a difficult journey
3. Prepare for your challenges by reducing the instances in which you will exert willpower
4. Identify your goal and the process to get there in as concrete, specific and finite terms as possible
5. Divide your challenge into small manageable pieces
6. Maintain vigilance over your thoughts
7. Control your dominant thoughts
8. Frame your challenges in a pleasurable, not painful manner
9. Pick your spots
10. Force yourself to visualize the end of a succession of “either/or” choices
11. You really have more willpower than you realize
12. The more you use your willpower, the more confidence and strength you have for new challenges
13. Turn positive activity into habits
14. Self-discipline is not self-deprivation
15. Strong willpower can take you to new heights in life.

The 15-points listed above for improving your willpower and self-discipline is a good summary for you to refer to after you have read The Skinny on Willpower which I recommend because my goal is to help you succeed. I also recommend that you revisit my blog post on the Einstein Distraction Index – it will strengthen your resolve against giving in, and I also recommend that you create a mind movie which is a sequence of photos, and mantras that represent what you are trying to accomplish, accompanied with music that uplifts you and make you happy. Having willpower is often what separates the successful from the unsuccessful.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

All book links are affiliate links

I am interested in ancient wisdom and constantly looking for books written centuries ago to explore my idea that we can use yesterday’s concepts to solve today’s problems. I wanted a source where an author distilled the works of others. And that’s why I bought and read Books That Changed The World: The 50 Most Influential Books in History by Andrew Taylor. I appreciate that most of the books he focused on were published over five decades ago – only three books were written less that five decades ago: Silent Springs (1962), Quotations from Chairman Mao (1964), and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997). And the earliest work is The Iliad (8^th Century BC).

Andrew Taylor introduces readers to many books that they probably would not know about. In Books That Changed The World, he presents a summary of the work he is discussing, but he also talks about other major works by the author, who influenced them, what was happening in society when the book was written, in other words he provides context for the book. After reading the summaries you can easily determine which book you’d actually want to read, and for me that was very important. And in many of the works presented, if you are paying attention, you discover new processes and systems that you can use in your life.

In How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler says there are three reasons to read a book: for entertainment, information and to further knowledge. I had two objectives for reading Books That Changed the World, for information and to further my knowledge, and I was not disappointed. If you haven’t done so already, please read yesterday’s post, Three Steps to Claim Legitimacy for Your Work which uses this book to demonstrate a point.

I was surprised to find The Telephone Directory (1878) included among the 50 books, but after you read the summary you clearly understand why. “The telephone also created an occasion for the technology of communication to join with a much old[er] technology – print. Subscribers to the new telephone services needed to know how to contact other subscribers – otherwise the new invention would be little more than a toy. Hence the publication of the first telephone directory, called simply The Telephone Directory [by New Haven District Telephone Company].”

I enjoyed reading, and really appreciated Books That Changed The World because I learned who introduced or legitimized the fields of history, geography, medicine and so on and it was nice to be in-the-know with classics such as Canterbury Tales, Madame Bovary, Moby Dick… Based on what I learned after reading Books That Changed The World, some of the books I plan to scan or read (some of them are too long to read) are:

• The Histories, Herodotus (5^th Century BC)
• Odes, Horace (23 – 13 BC)
• Geographia, Ptolemy (C.AD 100 – 170)
• Canon of Medicine, Avicenna (1025)
• Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes (1605 – 15)
• Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo Galilei (1632)
• Moby Dick, Herman Melville (1851)
• Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert (1857)
• The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes (1936)

I recommend Books That Changed The World: The 50 Most Influential Books in History by Andrew Taylor.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

All book links are affiliate links

After I had read about a third of Books That Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in History by Andrew Taylor, the light bulb suddenly went on in my head. The book includes works from a variety of fields, and several of the 50 books mentioned were written by pioneers who were experimental thinkers. They were instrumental in starting a new field of study, and/or adding legitimacy to an existing field.

I noticed that they legitimized the field by adding information systems and processes. They did not always succeed in what they were trying to do, sometimes they strayed a bit, but the point is that they often turned things upside down and revolutionized the way things were done. Life isn’t about perfection, but doing your best and trying to move forward.

Herodotus who is considered the “Father of History,” in his work The Histories, was the first person who focused on what actually happened, why, then created a record. In the 5^th Century BC, this was very revolutionary because he didn’t attribute what happened to miracles or godly intervention.

In Geographia, 100 – 170 AD, Ptolemy the ”Father of Geography,” attempted to accurately measure and record coastlines, rivers and mountains. It turns out that his calculations were off by about 25 percent, but his work was the foundation for others to move the field forward. Centuries later, 1585 – 95, Gerald Mercator who created an atlas of the world, spent many years compiling maps based on information from Ptolemy.

Avicenna produced Canon of Medicine in 1025, the first book of medicine that based “theories on evidence and objective experimentation.”

William Harvey’s 1628 An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals was a radical departure from the beliefs at the time, and his work was based on “careful reasoning and observations from his dissections of animals.”

There are many more examples in Books That Changed the World. I see a pattern emerging, how about you? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that there are three steps to claim legitimacy in whatever you are doing.

1. Gather information
   1. pull together what’s been done before
   2. rely on personal experience
   3. observe
   4. use practical experimentation
2. Assess the information gathered
3. Combine the information with what you already know

To become an experiment thinker requires taking risks and shifting your mindset. Sometimes these pioneers were ostracized, which often meant imprisonment or death, but we are living in different times and much has changed. So how can you use this information?

Take a look at the work you do, are there ways that you can add more rigor to the way that you do it? If you are working in a new field, how can you use the three steps above to legitimize what you do? In the examples above, these innovative thinkers took a chance, and departed from the status quo, and the result is that humankind benefited. How can you innovate or revolutionize your work? And more importantly, how can you radically change YOUR world?

Did you notice that the three steps to legitimacy are basic steps for innovation, creativity as well as mastering a subject? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

Further Reading

How to Analyze Information

How to Master a Subject

How to Generate Creative Ideas

Image Credit: Fountain in St. Peter’s Square, Dimity B via Apture

All book links are Amazon affiliate links.