Ron White's Ezine
November 25, 2009
Issue 108
Welcome!
This week, I am traveling through Europe speaking at several different events. However, last week at the World Memory Championship is still very fresh in my mind. It was an INCREDIBLE experience with some of the most amazing minds in the world. First of all, a sincere congrats to Ben Pridmore for successfully defending his title as world champ and also to the German team for a fantastic showing!
I memorized 70 abstract images (basically ink blots) in 15 minutes (most ever for an American). Then I memorized a 630-digit binary number in 30 minutes, an 800-digit number in an hour, a 169-digit number in 5 minutes (a personal best), a 38-digit number in 38 seconds (most ever for an American) and 88 names in 15 minutes. It was a TON fun! I learned some new memory strategies and left 100% energized to train for successfully defending my title at the USA Championship in March 2010! It is very cool to come home with several American records.
I can't put into words how much fun I had at the championship and how incredibly cool it is to hang out with people who are consistently pushing the limits of the human mind. Just a few years ago, Cambridge University said it was impossible to memorize a deck of cards in less than 1 minute and at this tournament several did it in less than 30 seconds!!
I enjoy speaking and teaching on memory, but my passion is quickly becoming these tournaments. I am now looking for a team of Americans to train with me and go to the next World Championships in China in August 2010! Let's represent the United States with a well-trained team. I am very serious and motivated! Whether you want to go to China with me to compete or not, I will train you via my Memory in a Month program and then answer any questions over email. So get the program and let's push the limits of the human mind and set some new records together!
Go for More this Week!
Ron White
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In This Issue......
1. Einstein's Ability to Risk and Willingness to Be Wrong by Ron White
(Excerpted from the 6-CD How to Develop the Mind of Einstein audio program)
The early life of Einstein gives us some clues to the great man that he would become. He was never one to dominate conversation to prove his intellect. Even as a child he didn’t talk much. It has been said that he didn’t talk until the age of 3 (there are conflicting accounts on this). However, what is not conflicting is that it took him a little longer to talk than the average child. But, we must remember that Albert Einstein was far from average.
Einstein’s parents hardly coddled their firstborn. They gave him tremendous freedom to roam and grow. This no doubt had a positive outcome on his development. When he was only 4 years old, he was allowed to roam the neighborhood alone. Believe it or not, his parents even encouraged him to cross the street on his own at this young age. They watched the first few times to ensure that he looked both ways, but soon he was on his own doing this.
Now, keep in mind when he was crossing the street he wasn’t dodging Fords, Chevrolets, Mercedes or cars with a lot of horsepower. He was dodging only true horse power! In other words, he was dodging horse-drawn carriages. But, it was still very dangerous for this young child. In our world today, I would not encourage my 4-year-old to roam the neighborhood alone or even allow him near the street. With that being said, the principles of self-reliance and risk that Einstein’s parents implemented in his life are ones that we can perhaps model on a smaller scale. Einstein certainly modeled this behavior with his own son on a smaller scale.
In his late 20s, Einstein moved to Zurich with his first wife, Mileva, and their son. Friedrich Adler was living near Einstein and they became great friends. They would often get together to share ideas. Oftentimes their sons would get rowdy and it would be hard for the two men to talk. Other parents might barge in and tell their sons to be quiet, that they are having a meeting. Not Adler and Einstein. These great thinkers would climb into the attic to carry on their conversation. They allowed their boys to grow and explore even if they were noisy.
His freedom as a child and the freedom he gave his son were in part due to his attitude on failure. He was not afraid to fail. After all, he tackled some of the most perplexing questions of our universe. Many would have shied away from tackling these questions simply because the rate of failure seemed extraordinarily high. However, it is evident that Einstein was not afraid to be wrong or to fail.
When Einstein was 50 years old, reporters were hounding him for an interview during the time in which he was working on a unified field theory. Put into layman’s terms, this meant he was working on a theory that would put the entire universe into a mathematical equation. He had the attention of the world. Reporters parked outside his home in hopes of an interview. Many kept all night vigils waiting for the story. As a rule, Einstein did not chase the spotlight and dodged the requests often. It was the same in this instance as well. He did, however, allow an interview with one reporter from The New York Times. You see The New York Times was edited by Carr Van Anda, and Van Anda had found an error in one of Einstein’s equations. Imagine that! The editor of The New York Times finding an error in the math of Einstein! Don’t you think that Einstein must have been irate that the editor would point this out? He must have been insulted. Actually, on the contrary, Einstein was impressed and that is the reason he allowed an interview to this reporter from The New York Times. You see, Einstein was not afraid to be wrong, and when corrected he was not insulted.
At Princeton, Albert Einstein was more like a kindly uncle. When he arrived in 1935, he was asked what he would require for his study. He replied, “A desk, some pads and a pencil, and a large wastebasket—to hold all of my mistakes.”
Albert Einstein spent his last two decades trying to reconcile quantum physics with relativity. His holy grail—a so-called “Unified Field Theory”—eluded him. He once casually mentioned to a colleague that he was on the verge of his “greatest discovery ever,” before admitting that “it didn’t pan out” just two weeks later.
One day in his twilight years, he received a letter from a 15-year-old girl asking for help with a homework assignment. She soon received a curious reply: a page full of unintelligible diagrams, along with an attempt at consolation: “Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics,” Einstein told her, “I can assure you that mine are much greater!”
The man who was the greatest success at mathematics also failed a lot at them. But that didn’t stop him from moving forward.
Not only was he willing to take risks in math, he also risked when he gambled. While attending a physics symposium in Las Vegas one year, Albert Einstein, to the astonishment of many of his sober-minded colleagues, spent a fair amount of time at the craps and roulette tables.
“Einstein is gambling as if there were no tomorrow,” an eminent physicist remarked one day. “What troubles me,” another replied, “is that he may know something!”
Too often in life, we attempt to spend all our energy demonstrating how we are right instead of accepting constructive criticism and getting better. This is not true of Einstein. Not only was he not afraid of being wrong, he was not afraid of being corrected. Ask yourself honestly: How do you respond when you are corrected? Do you lash out or are you grateful?
If you want to develop the mind of Einstein, you must not be afraid to fail and allow yourself the opportunity to fail. Herman Melville put it this way: “He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great.”
Thomas Edison, when he was constructing the light bulb, built 1,000 prototypes that did not work before he successfully built the one that we still use today. A reporter asked Edison how it felt to fail 1,000 times. Edison replied, “You misunderstand. I did not fail 1,000 times. I successfully found 1,000 ways that the light bulb would not work.” Edison, like Einstein, did not view failure the way so many do. They viewed it as acceptable and a way to learn and grow.
The fear of failure could have paralyzed Einstein and Edison, yet it did not. What about you? Are you so paralyzed with fear that you have settled for mediocrity? Don’t allow that to happen. Embrace risk and failure. Learn that it is okay to be wrong, and run headlong into the rewards of risk as Einstein did.
—Ron White
Take an in-depth look at how one of the greatest minds of all time responded to simple life matters and discover the lessons he learned. Learn more about Ron White’s How to Develop the Mind of Einstein now!
2. Quotes of The Week
Gratitude
“There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way.” —Jim Rohn
“Develop an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ Say thank you to everyone you meet for everything they do for you.” —Brian Tracy
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” —Marcus Cicero
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” —William Arthur Ward
3. A Strong Imagination Seeks Opportunity by Harvey Mackay
(I thought you’d enjoy this funny little story from Harvey Mackay, personal-achievement expert and best-selling author of Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive. —RW)
An elderly man living in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough.”
The son gets all excited and responds: “Pop, what are you talking about? You can’t divorce mom after all these years. That’s crazy.”
“It may be crazy,” says the old man, “but I am going to tell her on this coming Thanksgiving Day! It will be the last one we spend together!”
Frantically, the son calls his sister in Chicago and she explodes: “Like heck they’re getting a divorce. We’re both going to fly to Phoenix tomorrow and talk some sense into dad! I don’t care if it is Thanksgiving!”
She calls her father and shouts at him over the phone: “Do you hear me? Don’t you dare do a thing until brother and I get there tomorrow.” Then she hangs up.
The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife: “OK, he says with a smile, they are coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way. Now what do we tell them for Christmas?”
That’s what I call creativity at its best. Studies show there’s no link between intelligence and creativity. However, we can all become more creative if we put our minds to it. Creativity certainly helps in finding jobs. I say, don’t be boring. Don’t be predictable. Don’t be just another candidate. Stand out. Be different. Use a little creativity.
—Chris Widener
4. Learn from One of the Greatest Minds of All Time!
Ron White has taken an in-depth look at the life of Albert Einstein in an attempt to understand and learn from one of the greatest minds of all time. Although it is not an attempt to understand scientific theories, mathematical formulas or general relativity, it is an in-depth look at how one of the greatest minds of all time responded to simple life matters and the lessons to be learned.
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How to Develop the Mind of Einstein contains 6 CDs and a comprehensive workbook that’ll give you priceless insights and ideas to implement immediately! You’ll learn:
• Lessons on Risk and Exploring (plus Action Points)
• Lessons on Friendships (plus Action Points)
• Lessons on Asking Questions (plus Action Points)
• Lessons on Solving Problems (plus Action Points)
• Lessons on Time Management (plus Action Points)
• Lessons on Treating Everyone Equally (plus Action Points)
• Lessons on Seeing the Big Picture (plus Action Points)
• And much more! |
Order How to Develop the Mind of Einstein now and receive a FREE Bonus!
Buy now and you’ll receive a FREE copy of Ron’s popular book 22 Success Lessons from Baseball!
Click here now for complete details on this offer! Or call to order at 800-929-0434.
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