Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators and Mavericks Do to Win at Life. Dave Asprey

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СКАЧАТЬ should always use the first image that comes to your mind. See the dog in front of you. Now make that image bigger. See it in more detail, as clearly as possible. It’s important to make sure that your visualizations are in 3-D. Those images last longer in the brain than one-dimensional images do.

      You can start with a dog or a newspaper article, but Mattias says that after a while you will begin to habitually translate all kinds of information into images, even numbers and crazy math formulas. He suggests practicing this skill every time you hear someone speak. As you listen, see what images pop up in your mind and hold them there. Really focus on the details so you remember them well. The images will function like clues that your brain can follow to find its way back to the original information. Eventually, with practice, your brain will work almost like a magnet, attracting new information and holding on to it.

      Of course, the technique of visualization is nothing groundbreaking—it’s an ancient concept that has been practiced for millennia. When I went to Tibet to learn meditation, the monks directed me to sit for hours in a temple with my eyes closed performing incredibly detailed visualizations. Not “Visualize the Buddha.” More like, “Visualize the Buddha sitting on a throne. The throne has three steps. Each step has a painting of three flowers with six petals.” By the time they got to describing what the Buddha was wearing and in what position he was sitting, there was no possible way to remember it all without crafting the image. I didn’t realize at the time that visualizing was training my brain to paint images instead of remember words, but that was exactly the outcome.

      At his level of expertise, Mattias says that he can store information indefinitely by scrolling through the images he’s created, as if he were browsing through pictures on his smartphone. He never has to reference the original information again, just the images in his mind. He practices visualizations during quiet times, such as when he’s waiting for someone or brushing his teeth. He scrolls through a few images at a time to keep them stored in his memory.

      Images are useful for more than remembering lists. In fact, I still suck at remembering long lists, and memorizing things has always made my eyes cross. Yet I’m grateful for the tool of visualization, because it allows me to harness the power of images to upgrade my performance. It allows me to understand and interact with a wide variety of experts from all sorts of backgrounds as diverse as functional neuroscience, business leadership, hormone replacement, athletic performance, and antiaging without being clueless. I couldn’t keep all of the information about each of these people and their areas of expertise straight in my head to conduct a good interview if my brain were simply full of words. In fact, I wrote my last book by first drawing pictures of mitochondrial pathways for each chapter and then crafting the words. It’s all about the image: when you visualize a detailed picture of something, you gain a kind of knowledge that simply isn’t possible through rote memorization.

      After all, as Mattias explained to me, language is limited. There are only so many words in any language, but there are endless images. And just like those images, if you train your brain and upgrade your hardware, your software, and your wiring, you, too, can become limitless.

      Action Items

       The next time you listen to a podcast or an audiobook, close your eyes and see if you can imagine the pictures that the speaker is trying to draw in your head. Closing your eyes puts you into an alpha brain state, which is conducive to creativity and frees up your visual hardware. (Obviously, do this only when you’re not driving or otherwise engaged!)

       Try mind mapping—drawing notes on paper using very few words but illustrating the connections between them.

       Consider taking Jim Kwik’s courses on memory at www.jimkwik.com.

       Especially if memorizing things is a goal, consider Mattias Ribbing’s online courses (including a free training) at www.grandmasterofmemory.com.

       Recommended Listening

       Mattias Ribbing, “Mastering Memory,” Bulletproof Radio, episode 140

       Jim Kwik, “Speed Reading, Memory & Superlearning,” Bulletproof Radio, episode 189

       Jim Kwik, “Boost Brain Power, Upgrade Your Memory,” Bulletproof Radio, episode 267

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       GET OUTSIDE YOUR HEAD SO YOU CAN SEE INSIDE IT

      Time and time again, the world-changers I’ve interviewed have brought up the importance of finding self-awareness in order to achieve success and happiness. In the data analysis, self-awareness ranked as the sixth most important thing for performing better. But what is self-awareness, really? You could define it as an intimate understanding of the normally subconscious factors that motivate you. These factors include not only your passions and your fears but also your limiting beliefs and all of the ways your past traumas—big and small—are affecting your daily life. It is only when you make these normally subconscious pieces of yourself conscious that you can start doing the necessary work to change them and finally get out of your own way.

      There are many ways to become more self-aware, from meditation (which we will discuss in chapter 13) to creating intimate connections with others (which we will explore in chapter 5). But there is another powerfully effective—albeit less conventional—method for tapping into an enhanced state that can lead to self-awareness:

      Drugs.

      More specifically, nootropics—compounds that enhance brain function, also known as “smart drugs,” as well as strategically used (usually) legally regulated substances. Although none of the guests on the show said outright that using mind-altering drugs (psychedelics or hallucinogens such as ayahuasca, DMT, mushrooms, MDMA, or LSD) was one of their most important pieces of advice for someone wanting to perform better, looking at the data and judging from our behind-the-scenes conversations, it became clear that many of my guests have used these tools occasionally as a mechanism to find that all-important self-awareness. Game changers honor and seek the transcendent parts of life because that is where the boundaries of high performance are found. One reason you don’t hear guests talk about it on the air is because microdosing—the practice of taking small, controlled doses of these substances—is still illegal in most places. It does carry real risks, but this book would be incomplete if it ignored this increasingly common and effective technology. Dozens of guests have asked me about it or shared stories—just not when the microphone is live.

      It’s important to note that all of the guests who mentioned hallucinogens also have a meditation practice and other means of finding self-awareness that they use in conjunction with natural or pharmaceutical drugs. They’re not taking drugs recklessly or with the goal of getting high. Though there is a vocal minority out there that insists you can simply take a bunch of hallucinogens to find enlightenment or inner peace, that’s not what I’m talking about here, and it doesn’t work. The whole concept of biohacking is about doing everything you can to achieve your biological goals, and it’s up to each of us to define his or her own risk/reward ratio.

      For years, I’ve been open about my goals—to live to at least 180 years old, maximize my potential, and literally radiate energy—and my occasional use of carefully chosen plant medicines and pharmaceuticals to help me reach those goals. For some reason, taking brain-enhancing drugs is seen as controversial. Some people view it as “cheating,” but chemicals are just tools: you can use them for good or harm. In my mind, taking a drug to help me become more self-aware СКАЧАТЬ