FUTURE READINESS WITH THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL LEARNING SYSTEMS ~ GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING

[All the digital images in this post (minimised for web viewing) are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea. They are available in high-resolution vector graphics for outright purchase.

For more information about pricing or custom engineering to suit clients' particular requirements, please write to Dilip Mukerjea at dilipmukerjea@gmail.com]

IF YOU ARE STUCK, BUT YEARN FOR RENEWAL & INSPIRATION, GET D'LEAP WITH DILIP TO GO ALONG... A DYNAMIC DUO!

Dilip Mukerjea, with his vast repertoire of intellectual resources, plus knowledge & experiences in working with organisations & individuals, can help you to unleash your executive genius by:

- building your brainpower;
- arousing your interest;
- stimulating your imagination;
- fine-tuning your focus;
- expediting your idea fluency;
- developing your market sensitivity & strategic agility;
- acquiring new skills & methodologies;
- creating passiontations with your clients;

and, best of all, inspiring joy in all your learning pursuits!

THE BEST ADVICE WARREN BUFFET HAD EVER RECEIVED...

“The power of unconditional love. I mean, there is no power on earth like unconditional love. And I think that if you offered that to your child, I mean, you’re 90 percent of the way home. There may be days when you don’t feel like it — it’s not uncritical love; that’s a different animal — but to know you can always come back, that is huge in life. That takes you a long, long way. And I would say that every parent out there that can extend that to their child at an early age, it’s going to make for a better human being.”

~ from Warren Buffet, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway, when asked in an interview earlier this month by Huffington Post Senior Editor Willow Bay about the best piece of advice he had ever received. His answer had little to do with Wall Street, money & finance. Instead, they reflected something of immeasurable value that his father had demonstrated for him repeatedly over his lifetime;

[Source: Fathers & Families; Readers can go & watch the video at this link.]

TIME OUT WITH THE GURU: TONY BUZAN

Dilip Mukerjea has been publicly acclaimed as “phenomenally creative and easily one of the world’s top ten Master Mind Mappers” by Tony Buzan himself.

As a matter of fact, Tony Buzan, one of the world’s leading thinkers, states:

“What better introduction and guide could you have than Dilip Mukerjea? In his beautiful and artistically conceived books, Dilip introduces you to the wonder of your brain’s workings, and guides you to improved performances in memory, thinking, reading, studying, creative thinking, and learning.

In other words, Dilip opens up the latent genius within you and allows it to flower. Dilip is exceptionally well-qualified to lead you on this exciting adventure, as he himself has developed many aspects of his own genius, following Leonardo da Vinci’s example, in that he is already an accomplished engineer, artist, writer, linguist, and athlete. He is also a superb teacher, as you will find when you join him on this exciting exploration, and if you ever have the privilege of attending one of his Brain Developing courses.”

AN INTERESTING... ALSO THOUGHT-PROVOKING... PERSPECTIVE ON BREAKTHROUGH THINKING

Go to this link to get the interesting... also thought-provoking... perspective from none other than thinkologist Dudley Lynch, my "mentor" when it comes to thinking elegantly & powerfully.

DEVELOPING A REFLECTIVE RESPONSE WHEN READING...

This is essentially a continuation of my earlier post.


LESSON PLAN #2: ONCE UPON A TIME… [Page 9 of 'BRAINCHILDREN']

Please note that all the questions that follow are not arranged in any particular order. They are specifically designed to spur your kid’s learning safari.

Exploration - or rather, ‘braindancing’, to paraphrase the author, Dilip Mukerjea - is the key to it.

1. Do you know why most stories often start with ‘Once upon a Time’?

2. Have you ever been close-up or seen a real beaver? A real mouse-deer? How much do you know about each of the animals?

3. In local Malay (also, Indonesian) folklore, a mouse-deer, which is found abundantly in our part of the world, is referred to as a “pelandok” or “kancil”. It is often depicted as a “cunning, nimble, & intelligent” animal.

What stories have you heard about the mouse-deer in this respect?

4. In Malaysia, an image of the “mouse-deer” is used as part of the state emblem.

Do you know which state is that & do you know why?

5. Do a paper exercise on ‘Compare & Contrast’ between a beaver & a mouse-deer. You are welcome to use a graphic organiser, e.g. Venn Diagram.

6. How about doing another paper exercise on ‘Compare & Contrast’, this time with ‘Humans vs Animals’?

7. What is a dam? Have you been to a real dam? If affirmative, how about sharing some of your observations?

8. Do you know what or where is the world’s largest dam?

9. Are you aware that the building of a dam always changes the landscape ecology of the entire place, negatively as well as positively? What are your personal thoughts or feelings on this issue?

10. In what ways, maybe in small ways, are you personally contributing to the earth ecology?

11. How much do you know about the human brain?

12. Oftentimes, ‘brain’ & ‘mind’ are used interchangeably.

Do you think there is a distinct difference between the two, or do you just agree with the “interchangeability”?

13. According to the story, 'CHILDREN' are apparently the ones with the 'GREATEST EVER BRAINS'?

Do you agree or disagree? Why? You are welcome to share some anecdotes to substantiate your stand.

14. Having read the story, what connections do you see in the relationships of each animal to the dam?

15. Are there any questions in your mind as you think about the story?

16. What are the key lessons you can draw from reading the story?

17. In your own words, explain the meaning of the following words:

a) Brilliance;
b) Beauty;
c) Bedazzling;

Then, construct a sentence with each word.

18. How about crafting a simple story using all the foregoing three words in it?

19. What other words can you think of, say as a possible synonym (similar word), to each of the words? How about possible antonym (opposite word), if any?

20. From the story, you have learned that “ideas are just stuff made out of brilliance, beauty, and bedazzling brains!”

Elaborate on this statement. Can you share some useful examples from your personal experience?

21. When reading a textbook, you are supposed to pull out “key ideas” out of it to demonstrate your comprehension.

How do you do it? Share your personal strategy, if any.

22. You may have heard of the expression, “Ideas are worth a dime a dozen”.

What does that mean to you?

23. In the context of “humans”, how does one develop or enhance “personal brilliance”?

24. “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”

What does it mean to you?

25. Describe a personal experience where you have been “bedazzled”.

26. Does your mother own a diamond ring? If affirmative, discuss with her about the concept of “brilliance” when selecting a diamond ring, & then share the outcome of your discussion.

27. What other good animal stories have you heard or do you know of? Share your stories by giving a gist of each.

28. If you were the author, what other animals &/or objects would you have used to illustrate the theme of the story?

29. How can you relate what you have learned from this story to your school work, especially from the standpoint of productivity & improvement?

Draw up an action schedule for implementing your ideas, if possible.

30. Is there any other new stuff you like to learn or know about based on what you have just learned?

Enumerate your wishes, say, in the form of a mind-map.

31. In today’s economic era, known as the Learning Economy, “ideas” are the driving forces.

Do you agree? What great ideas do you have that you strongly believe could really change the world?


By the way, the graphic illustration at the top of this blogpost, showing the beaver & the mouse-deer talking about the dam, exemplifies the powerful philosophy of "ideas build on ideas" as well as the robust concept of biomimicry.

RAPID RECAP: BOOKAZINES OF BRILLIANCE ~ THE BRAINDANCER SERIES

The 'Bookazines of Brilliance' refer to The Braindancer Series of unique bookazines by Dilip Mukerjea. They are written primarily for snappy reading - only 32 pages - by executives of the New Millennium - to help them become future-savvy!

The first four editions have already been published, & they are:

#1 'CATALYSING CREATIVITY': The Tapestry of Contents includes: Challenge Your Creativity; Innovate or Incinerate? The CQ Grid; Management & Creativity; Creative Story Telling; The 5 Stages of Creativity; Creativity & Nature; Checklist for New Ideas;


#2 'IDEASON ON IDEAS': The Tapestry of Contents includes Ideas on Ideas; Perspectives on Creativity; The Object Analogy; Creativity & Survival; Becoming a Creative Genius; Spatial Intelligence; Monitoring System for Ideas Suggested;


#3 'IGNITING INNOVATION'": The Tapestry of Contents includes MindPower has Replaced ManPower; Why the Need for Creativity? 15 Pathways to Creativity; The Mono Matrix; Humour is Serious Business; Focus on Innovation; The Creative Conscience;


#4 'LEADERSHIP, LEARNING & LAUGHTER': The Tapestry of Contents includes If You Aren't Distinct, You're Extinct; Are You Ready for the Microchip?; The Learning Revolution; The Learning Planet; The Learning Society; The Wisdom of Neurons; The Happiness Factor;


In the words of the author, Dilip Mukerjea, the topics in the Braindancer series will challenge your vision, values & virutes, & guide your brain to excel in:

- creativity & innovation;
- leadership & entrepreneurship;
- analysis & synthesis;
- writing & drawing;
- reading, mapping, memory, & tip-top thinking;
- respect for the planet;
- human values, family bonding & social role-modeling;

Selected segments from the first four editions have already been featured in earlier blogposts of this weblog.

Annual subscriptions to The Braindancer Series are now available from this link, under 'Learning Miracles'.

DEVELOPING A REFLECTIVE RESPONSE WHEN READING...

I am just taking the opportunity to develop my own initial as well as reflective responses to Dilip Mukerjea's forthcoming masterpiece, 'BrainChildren', which is one of his 'Learning Skills Trilogy'.


At the moment, Dilip is putting his final finishing touches to the book, which is expected to be released shortly.

Hopefully, my brainwork will serve as the beginning of a possible study guide (&/or a curriculum guide) for parents & teachers in using the book with their kids & teens &/or students.

Here's a preliminary list of my initial & reflective responses to only one particular page, i.e. page 8.

For simplicity, I call it Lesson Plan #1.


LESSON PLAN #1 [Page 8 of ‘BRAINCHILDREN’]

1. Read the statement again:

“No problem outside you can ever be as strong as what you have inside you! Nothing can defeat you because you are a learning champion.”

What does it really mean to you? Explain in your own words.

2. Do you feel you can rephrase the statement in (1) in much better &/or simpler terms?

Write down your restatement.

3. Is the word ‘resource’ or maybe ‘asset’ a good term to describe “what you have inside you”?

If that’s the case, what is your most important ‘resource’ or ‘asset’? Why?

4. Oftentimes, ‘No Problem’ is used as a common expression in everyday situations.

What does it mean?

5. You are probably more familiar with the term ‘sports champion’.

Can you see a connection? So, what is a learning champion? What are the personal attributes of a learning champion?

6. How do you become a learning champion? Or, how do you develop a learning champion mind-set?

7. What quickly comes to your mind when you read the phrase ‘Cat’s Wisdom’?

8. Does ‘Cat’s Wisdom’ trigger a connection to ‘Mother Nature’?

If affirmative, can you share by outlining your thoughts?

9. Read the statement again:

“Make the world your playground”.

Can you relate it in some ways to your personal experience? Explain or clarify.

10. “Think fresh. Offer views that are uniquely your own while staying open to those of others.”

Explain what it means you, with some examples from your personal experience.

11. Sometimes, the statement in (10) seems easier said than done.

What do you think?

12. ‘Think Fresh’ & ‘Think Original’:

Is there a difference, or are they the same? What about ‘Think Afresh’?

13. How about ‘Think Smart' ? Please give your personal views.

14. How about ‘Think Outside the Box’? Please give your personal views.

15. Think about the statement:

“Be independent.”

Are you an ‘independent’ person? How do you measure or qualify ‘independence’?

16. Read the statement again:

“When in trouble, just purr & look cute.”

Do you feel it will really work? What do you think? What alternatives do you have?

17. In the text, four examples of ‘Cat’s Wisdom’ had been given.

Do you know of any other good examples?

Please don’t hesitate to do some research on your own.

18. Given a choice, what other animal would you use, instead of a cat, to share its wisdom? Why?

19. Can you sum up all the key lessons you have learned from this particular page of the book?

20. What would you have done differently on this particular page of the book if you were the author?

21. How can you relate what you have learned from this text to your school work, especially from the standpoint of productivity & improvement?

Draw up an action schedule for implementing your ideas, if possible.

22. Is there any other new stuff you like to learn or know about based on what you have just learned?

Enumerate your wishes, say, in the form of a mind-map.

Frankly, it is also my intention for readers to study & then use the foregoing exercise to develop your own initial as well as reflective responses.

Give it a go! Stimulate your perspectives!

Strategically speaking, developing reflective responses when reading as I have illustrated allows one to attain a deeper understanding of a subject or a set of related subjects.

I call it 'Reading Outside the Lines'. Dilip calls it, 'Reading Beyond the Page'.

Nonetheless, it is a simplistic form & an integral part of what we both like to call a 'Learning Safari'.

If you have ever wished to write...

If you have ever wished to write, and get published, but were afraid to get going, then Dilip Mukerjea can help you attain your dream vision.

As an accomplished author [with 9 books in print; & 3 forthcoming] & success coach in both the corporate and educational arenas, Dilip can provide extensive help & expert consultation with

- your writing (moving from rhetoric to reality);
- your editing;
- designing & crafting original graphic illustrations (NO clip-art!) for you;
- your book design & page layout;
- supervision of your transfer of pages to plates;
- supervision of all your printing needs & quality control;
- supervision of all your binding requirements;

In a nut shell, Dilip can provide a one-stop personal branding to go with your book!

Best of all, all his authoring clients get to enjoy his unparalleled value chain of service providers in print publishing.

As a matter of fact, Dilip has already written the ideal book for aspiring authors, seasoned taleweavers, professional self-publishers, and the business community:

It's 'Taleblazers: Imagination to Imprint'.

For engagement or obligation-free discussion, please contact Dilip Mukerjea at dilipmukerjea@gmail.com.

JUST ONE THING!

I love watching old & new movies on StarHub cable television.

For me, they are often excellent ways for doing a time-out, or just for passing time, or more specifically, "mental downtime", especially in between heavy intellectual processing endeavours, e.g. reading, reviewing a book or writing a blogpost.

When it comes to movies, my preferences are often those in the action genre: wild wild west [unfortunately they don't make them anymore nowadays], war, crime, horror, espionage, sci-fi, outer-space, paranormal & cartoon animations. I can't stand melodramas or movies based on literary works.

Besides entertaining myself for two hours in one stretch, my purpose is also to pick out some interesting lessons wherever possible.

Recently, I rewatched an old movie, 'City Slickers', starring Billy Crystal & Jack Palance.


The story revolved around 3 good friends, all big city boys, on a "mid-life crisis" journey with the opportunity to join a cattle drive through the old wild wild west. There they met the trail boss, Curly (played by Jack Palance) who not only taught them how to become real cowboys, but also one or two other things about life.

In one particular memorable scene, Curly was asking one of the big city boys, Mitch (played by Billy Crystal), whether he knew the secret of life.

Mitch was dumbfounded, & Curly proceeded to say, holding one finger:

"One thing. Just One Thing. You stick to that & the rest don't mean shit."

Mitch pressed for an elaboration, but Curly just said: " That's what you have to find out."

My takeaway from that particular scene is always this:

When you find something that interests you, go for it. Be bold. Just do it. You can try as many things as you can, but pursue only the one about which you are passionate.

Put it in another way, pursue only the one about which you feel most important to you.

The quickest way to success is to do what you love - & love what you do - & then, give it your best shot.

Drawing on my own personal experience, while embarking on the second-half journey of my life after my planned departure from the corporate world during the early nineties, I decided to pursue my passion for just one thing: reading. All my small entrepreneurial ventures - 'The Brain Resource' (retail outlet), 'Left-Brain/Right-Brain Newsletter' (publishing), 'Optimum Performance Technologies' (strategy consulting, training) - then started to revolve around it.

More importantly, to share with readers, once you have embarked on your passionate pursuit, you should always stay focused - with single focus, so to speak - & try not to get distracted. Naturally, you can remain flexible in your approach!

A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS: Today, Imagination is Reality

[All digital images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.

Dilip is available for contract to design & craft digital images to suit your particular project or specific purpose. Please write to him at dilipmukerjea@gmail.com]

TONGKAT ALI: PRECURSOR TO TODAY'S VIAGRA?

I have spotted these herb supplements on window display at a small outlet located inside the Jurong Point I shopping mall.



The bold advertising blitz is certainly enticing!

"Tongkat Ali gives you almost everything that you will ever want from Life!"

"Become the Ultimate God of Masculinity with Tongkat Ali!"

"Tongkat Ali: For those who want to be Real Man!"

"Get started with Tongkat Ali Now & Get Remarkable Guaranteed Results at Once!"

Caveat Emptor ~ (Latin for "Buyers Beware!")

Nonetheless, I wish there are similar herb supplements out there that can improve one's personal creativity, intellectual competence & inspirational indulgence, with the same intensity as advertised.

A WISE QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

"... Whenever something is really pounded or when something is skyrocketing and it is on the front page of the New York Times, no matter how much you agree with it long term, you have to reverse yourself for a while..."

"... Usually, when something has a 20-year move up or down, it is wrong and ready to reverse. I am talking about the big picture now - whenever something is at a long term high and everybody is wildly enthusiastic, it is time to go the other way..."

~ contrarian views of legendary global investor Jim Rogers, also financial commentator & author ('A Gift to My Children: a Father's Lessons for Life & Investing', among others;); as quoted in an interview by author Steve Drobny of 'Inside The House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets';

[More information about Jim Rogers is available at this link.]

RAPID RECAP: BOOKAZINES OF BRILLIANCE, by Dilip Mukerjea

The Bookazines of Brilliance are designed to help you unleash the genius within every child (and every adult) by:

- stimulating imagination;
- arousing interest;
- developing focus;
- building vocabulary;
- confronting challenge;
- acquiring values;
- creating bonds; and
- inspiring joy in learning!

GUIDE FOR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, & TEACHERS:

The material in these publications is specifically designed for snappy reading, so that the quick takeaways can help adults and children to work and play together through:

movement, healthy nutrition, paced learning, drama, song, dance, elocution, silence, text, imagery, metaphor, symbolism, and good fellowship.

The intention is to make a 'Head & Heart Start' as early as possible.

Older children and adults will also find the material challenging and entertaining.

A rich mixture of exercises, humour, knowledge, and an assortment of brain techniques is embedded with stimuli for adults to engage with children, in order to boost:

- creativity & imagination;
- leadership & entrepreneurship;
- analysis & synthesis;
- writing & drawing;
- reading, mapping, memory, & tip-top thinking;
- respect for the planet;
- human values, family bonding & social role-modeling;

It is vital for adult-child interactions to take place! This serves to establish a bridge between the material in these pages and curricula in schools.

Furthermore, the compilation of material is designed to evolve into a compendium of powerful learning & teaching technologies that will make children of all ages future-ready!

[For subscription information, please proceed to this link.]

"Innovation, indulgence & imagination ~ find it all at Iluma!...Inspiration at every turn!"

Yesterday afternoon, my wife & I took some time off from our busy relocation logistical planning [we are scheduled to move to Vietnam in mid-September] to do some window-shopping at the Bugis Junction.

Immediately after that, I remembered the newly opened Iluma shopping centre located just opposite it, & so we went across via the connecting air-conditioned overhead pedestrian bridge over Victoria Street.

According to a news report, Iluma is Singapore's first urban entertainment centre, targetted at today's yuppies in their 20's/30's, known more for their artsy & edgy pursuits.

To be frank, the entire multi-storey building looked to me more like a critical mass of crystal mesh, with its fancy theme of light & illumination - hence the name, Iluma - as envisaged by its Belin-based architects.

In a nut shell, there is the Colossuem@Iluma, a cybergaming centre [part of the larger Tornado integrated entertainment centre occupying the entire top floor] which touts itself as the largest in Singapore, with over 200 gaming terminals & 20 high-end Predator machines.

There is also the Filmgarde, Singapore's newest multiplex cinema chain.

Of course, there is the usual - should I say mandatory - bunch of retailers: wear apparel, sports goods, fashion knick-knacks, watches, costume jewelry, etc. There are also strategically located fast food restaurants & coffee joints.

On L2 & L3, there are the SCE-ARTS (which stands for Singapore Cultural Exchange of the Arts), which apparently provides generous avant garde spaces for the arts & cultural performances.

Naturally, while my wife zeroed into the retail outlets to look for bargains, I went snooping around for wonderful pictures to take.

The following beautiful digital snapshots captured the essence of Iluma's mini-arts resort, so to speak, with its catchy advertising blitz "Innovation, Indulgence & Imagination ~ find it all at Iluma!... Inspiration at every turn!".


The foregoing four Chinese characters mean "Indulgence".

The following twelve snapshots pertain to the winning poster designs, with King Kong as the major theme.













Unfortunately, the gallery showing the winning poster designs for 'Dracula' was closed during my visit.



The following three snapshots pertain to paper projects made out of 'Conqueror' paper. Probably, an artsy initiative from the paper vendor.




[More information about Iluma is available at their corporate website.]