Calligraphy is the jewelry of civilization.

I haven't yet learned Chinese calligraphy, but after 20 years of practicing Western calligraphy, I find that I'm not so bad, so I've decided to give calligraphy courses. Click here if you are interested: http://freecalligraphycourse.blogspot.com

A brainiac's research

This picture appropriately illustrates how determined and focused I was, as an independent researcher exploring and experimenting with novel ways of leveraging the cognitive capabilities of human beings.

One thing I discovered, was that the very structure and organization of society proactively militates against the emergence of individual intelligence and brilliance. In other words, society doesn't want eccentric and talented citizens; it wants people who think and act alike. It's much easier to manage a herd!

It all starts during the teenage years, with what we call "peer pressure" (the pressure to conform to our group's standards, even though these standards may be morally or intellectually questionable). And it often lasts an entire lifetime: people would rather choose the safe path and be part of the herd (even if sometimes it's a herd of lemmings running to their death) than stand up courageously to assert their own uniqueness and their inalienable right to lead a unique, meaningful life.

What blogging can do for you

Start a blog (online diary) to really see how your brain works.

In most social conversations, we merely say the obvious or what is expected from the other person. With a blog, it's quite different. You've got to be different. Dazzling. Daring.

You've got to be...YOU.

The more you write, the more you will develop the sweet consciousness of how unique your thoughts are -- how unique and special you really are. Mom was right, after all.

Train your mind to become lethal

Morpheus: "Neo, you should know by now that society is a dangerous mental game. Society, the mind-machine, sends its agents every day to seek you out and battle with you, from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you go back to sleep. So every day, your mind must engage in combat. Unfortunately for most people, as Yann Martel wrote in his book, The Life of Pi, Fear -- the ultimate enemy -- has already penetrated their mental defenses and is manipulating people's cognitive reflexes. Although fear kills creativity (the source of life), there is hope, for meditation can kill fear."

New Economy

Commercialization of professionalism: everybody is in business for themselves.

This is the main conclusion, in my opinion, of anyone who writes seriously about the New Economy. Like it or not, we're all in business, and we have to manage ourselves, our careers, and our skills accordingly.

We have all the tools and technologies available, often for free on the Web, yet we don't know how to use them productively. Hence, the saying: "Computers are everywhere. The only place where they don't show up are in the productivity statistics."

Take blogging, for example. There are 5+ million bloggers on the Web. Yet, as of today, most of the bloggers have not yet realized the importance of the blog or their own new power.

But there is hope, for after they learn to formally capture, in writing or audio/video clips, what it is that makes them truly unique and valuable to companies, they will begin to rise in confidence and power. (Of course, their income will also rise).

As companies compete ferociously to attract and recruit the best talents, the new name of the game will be to (tastefully) show off your skills, assets, experience and expertise on the Web.

Remember: There is no security in obscurity.

Nobody says "no" to sexy

We upgrade our computers, we fine-tune our cars, we renovate our houses.

Yet we do nothing about our brains, even though it's the one thing that determines our earning power and, by extension, our qualty of life.

"But I do improve my brain. I'm taking an evening course right now."

To take a course is like driving on a road. Yes, you are USING your brain to listen in class and do the homework, but are you really IMPROVING the way your brain works?

On the other hand, if you take a course in speedreading, or memorization techniques (as taught by Harry Lorraine), then you could say you've improved how your brain works.

Or if you've read, slowly and carefully, ANY book by Dr. Edward de Bono, then you could say you are on your way to improving the functioning of your brain.

Whether we like it or not, intelligence is the new sexy. Your intelligence is what companies are after. This is why IBM enables one fourth of its (elite) workforce to work from home. Is IBM so nice that it gives workers that flexibility? Not really. IBM spokepersons said that the top talent wants to work from home, so they had no choice but to let them work from home.

In other words, if you're intelligent, you are SEXY. And nobody says "no" to sexy.

New economy requires new brain

A billionaire said that he had to "rewire" his brain in order to think clearly about business. Well, he was right because it enabled him to become a billionaire.

Similarly, professionals MUST rewire their brain and even abandon old ways of thinking, in order to thrive in the new economy.

Concepts such as "job, career, paycheque, salary, etc." are no longer suitable in capturing the new realities and the new economics unleashed by the Internet and all kinds of technologies now available, even to the average person.

Multimillionaire Robert Kiyosaki, for example, advises people not to work just for money, but to learn how to make money. This makes sense: if you learn HOW to make money, then you can create and launch a business of your own.

It really depends on what you are ready to settle for. If you think that having a "good" job is good enough, then you shall have a job until age 65 (or until they fire you). If you think that a job is only a way for companies to pay you while you are learning about how your employer makes money, then eventually, you will master their money-making scheme and be able to launch a business of your own.

The bottom line is that yes, the new economy is full of opportunities for launching highly profitable businesses, but this will require that people first CHANGE their ways of thinking. They must stop thinking of themselves as employees, and begin to think of themselves as capitalists.

Social software like www.linkedin.com can enable people to spot business opportunities, recruit a team of qualified professionals and go into business for themselves.

The ONLY obstacle to a person's accumulation of vast wealth, is his own thinking.

Such noble vision...

In 1999, MIT Provost Robert A. Brown asked a committee of MIT faculty, students, and administrators to provide strategic guidance on how MIT should position itself in the distance/e-learning environment. The resulting recommendation -- the idea of MIT OCW -- is in line with MIT's mission (to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century) and is true to MIT's values of excellence, innovation, and leadership.

Today, MIT OCW is a large-scale, Web-based publication of the educational materials from the MIT faculty's courses. This unique initiative enables the open sharing of the MIT faculty's teaching materials with educators, enrolled students, and self-learners around the world. MIT OCW provides users with open access to the syllabi, lecture notes, course calendars, problem sets and solutions, exams, reading lists, even a selection of video lectures, from 900 MIT courses representing 33 academic disciplines and all five of MIT's schools. The initiative will include materials from 1800 courses by the year 2008.

www.ocw.mit.edu

How sexy are you?

Are you sexy? I mean, are you REALLY sexy?

"Sexy" means "obviously having what they desperately want."

Let's say some HR director is reviewing your resume. Can you imagine the following happening, in his office:

HR director - "Oh my God! John! Bob! Cindy! Come quickly! Check out this guy's resume! I can't believe it! His portfolio is HOT, and look -- his assets... incredible!! Cindy, please call him and schedule an interview ASAP!"

The bottom line is, you're either sexy or you're not.

One easy way to find out is to list your areas of expertise, and send that list to friends or potential employers. Then, dare to follow up and ask them: "Do you find that my knowledge and expertise is useful? Should I go back to school? Tell me the truth! (But gently, please)"

E-learning is e-sushi

This insight occured to me a while ago: e-learning is e-sushi. In other words, it doesn't exist. Learning is "your mind enjoying a feast."

Yet most corporate training programs are so boring. I think instructional designers can learn a thing or two from Hollywood. Indeed, the ideal instructional experience is a good movie -- one that you never forget, one that you want to see again and again, because of the storyline, the stunning visuals or the great actors.

Dude, where's my career?

It seems that the least profitable place for your knowledge to be, is inside your brain. Think about it: the people who make the highest salaries have succeeded in pouring their valuable knowledge onto various media (books, CD-ROMs, videotapes, streaming Webcasts -- speaking of which, check out This is how you do it). These lucky folks make money (royalties, etc.) even while they are sleeping!

(This is outrageous! I have to get into this racket!).

Also, newsletter publishing is one of the top ten millionaire occupations.

So, dude, I predict that your career will be a mixture of "work" and "write." But success doesn't come easy, and not without a price. The price is write.

Education vs Training

An author wrote, interestingly, about the difference between "education" and "training": If you were to advise your 16-year-old daughter on which course to take in high school, would you recommend "Sex Education" or "Sex Training"?

It means that to do your job better, you need training. But if you want to improve your career, go for "education" instead, since it won't commit you, while opening up new horizons for you.

Sexy Brain is Alive!

The human brain is the most powerful and pleasurable organ we have. Yet, nobody taught us how to use it (let alone how to derive pleasure from it).

And so, voila, this blog has a legit right to exist.