There may be times in which you feel your brain is not working properly, you can't learn fast enough, you don't understand things, or maybe you are tired of navigating negative thoughts. But if you learn to leverage your brain and its unique power, you will succeed.

When you learn to leverage your brain you can change behavior patterns and shift negative thoughts to achieve more success in life and business.

It's not how you learn, it's what you understand - leverage your brain to make understanding easier

When it comes to learning, what happens inside your head is much more important than the way you learn. For example, using flashcards, mind mapping, and taking notes. If you can't explain a topic in your own words and in a way that you understand and in a simple language, you haven't actually integrated it. You haven't taken the unfamiliar and put it into a familiar context.

Until you can do this, you can't understand things. As you hear something, think about what imagery comes to mind. Likewise, how would you explain it to a 5-year-old? Test your understanding of a topic. If the predictions of your understanding aren't accurate, ask yourself why.

To improve understanding, leverage your brain and its unique abilities.

Leverage your brain to apply understanding in your business and life

When it comes to learning, Collin explained that people generally fall into 3 different personality types. The 3 learning personalities, or mindsets are:

1. Hobbyist - learning just for fun
2. Hoarder - learning just in case
3. Hunter - learning just in time

Young children typically fall into the hobbyist mindset. They are typically having fun while learning. Similarly, retirees fall into the hobbyist mindset. They spend time learning because they enjoy it and like the process.

The hunter is learning for a very specific reason. They only care about what they need to learn and they block out everything else. Hunters recognize that what really matters is what matters to them in that specific moment.

Most people fall into the hoarder mindset. They think that all information is valuable, but it may not be valuable at this moment in time. Hoarders like to have information just in case. They think that the information may be useful at some point in the future. They don't want to miss out on an opportunity to learn something. Hoarders seldom go deep into any subject. Every time they start to explore, they get distracted by something and want to learn about that. Their brains are full of disjointed information that isn't very useful because they are unsure how to apply the information. You can leverage your brain to focus better and shift away from the hoarder mindset.

Leverage your brain to organize and discern what you learn

In order to organize and discern what you learn you must systematize. Organize by what is valuable and important to you. You have to have a process for saying no. Identify what is most valuable and important for you right now and every time something else comes up, ask the question, what am I willing to say no to so that I am able to focus on this thing that is my priority?

Collin reminded us that you have to say no before you can say yes. There is always an opportunity cost to saying yes.

If you aren't cognizant of that, you will end up saying no to the important thing for the thing that distracted you and this will become a vicious cycle. This cycle prevents you from truly committing to things.

You can divide your time between two things, and you can have multiple interests, but keep in mind, that your brain is now splitting its time. Having multiple priorities is not the same as having one priority that you are fully focused on. It is important to leverage your brain and control your thinking to prioritize.

Robyn emphasized how this is similar to having 5 goals at one time. When you have multiple big goals instead of focusing on one or two, you aren't able to go all in on the goals to accomplish them. You end up being less productive when juggling multiple large goals.

Learning to say no

The hoarder mentality is never effective for learning or accomplishing your goals. Being in the hobbyist mindset is great because it's fun and an end in and of itself.

Know what you are willing to say no to so that you can say yes to other things. Have criteria defined, here's why I am saying yes to this, and here's what would have to happen for me to say no?

In order to be able to say no to things, you must have a hierarchy of values. If you can't define your values, you have nothing to base your decisions on.

To begin, write down the first three values that come to mind, the three values you want to live by. After you identify those three, are there any you want to replace?

Once you have decided on your final three values, ask when you've seen others exhibit each value. What was it about the way they behaved that showed me what this value looked like, and how am I going to live this out in my life, what will I say no to because I want to live this value?

Every time you have a new shiny object pop up, ask if it is aligned with your values. Is it the thing I was prioritizing before, or the shiny object? If it is the thing you were prioritizing before, you need to say no to the shiny object so that you can say yes to the original priority.

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