>This is the very quandary I was facing when I wrote my book Getting Past
OK.
>I was trying to expand my Level-2 mindset without success. What I found
was
>necessary to get to Level 3 was:
>1. Realize that my mind is programmable and the manner in which it is
>programmed (beliefs, attitudes, distinctions, and so on)
>2. Find the parts of my programming that were interfering with my mastery
of
>and effectiveness in life
>3. Become clear about my own personal life purpose, enabling me to use
>lateral and other types of thinking to master a set of Level-3 meme-sets.
"Realizing", "Finding" and "Becoming Clear" are not the same thing as
"Doing".
>From my experience, "realizing", "finding", and "becoming clear" don't seem
to help make changes in the same way that, say, the repetitive /act/ of
practicing and rehearsing something makes changes. But, those repetitive
actions, while they lead to gaining skills, don't seem to lead to any
clarity as far as "life purpose" is concerned.
About lateral thinking--in '96 I took an internet class from Michael
Gleeson's "School of Thinking". Gleeson developed a system that took into
account that information has limitations, because, simply knowing something
intellectually is not the same as having a skill. So, reading books and
attending seminars rarely lead to long term changes in habits of behavior.
He claimed that lateral thinking was a skill that, like other skills,
requires practice and he had, in his lessons, various exercises he called
"software for the brain" that were designed to develop lateral thinking.
His theories made a lot of sense, and I think they worked to an extent but
it's hard to measure that.
Richard--A couple of questions: From my experience as a juggler, martial
artist, etc. some things (any skill) take practice and not simply
intellectual understanding.Is lateral thinking something you simply /do/
naturally or do you use any technique for practicing and programming your
mind to think laterally?
Also, if the act of reading a book, has limitations (for the reason
mentioned above) what makes you think that "Getting Past OK" will help
others make long term changes by finding their life purpose? --David R.