Interlude … If this school had a theme song then this would be it …
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Happy New Year. So what’s up in ’24?
Two things new for me … no, three.
A new book and a new coaching offer.
Flashback! In 1989 I published Software For Your Brain in the US. It anticipated the coming wave of developments in both neuroscience and AI. The book was about neuroplasticity and how human behaviour can be changed by changes in the brain.
I described the brain as a ’necktop computer’ and the book offered the cognitive code for ‘brain software’ to exploit and effect this.
The brain software code is known as SDNTcvs2bvsQRHprrX10.
There was controversy in some quarters about comparing the brain to computers but it became an international best-seller in the 90s.
The book’s anticipated wave of neuroscience and AI developments has already become an existential reality. Like a digital Big Bang the changes have been on such an exploding scale that – with neuroscience and AI – there seems little point in comparing today’s reality with that of 20 years ago.
THE NEW BOOK
In 2023 I saw the need to again anticipate the coming developments in neuroscience and AI by writing about a new way of looking at the human brain/behaviour problem that is true to the current trends of science and, at the same time, offers a practical way to apply these fresh insights.
This book offers two choices for strategic thinking but both are incompatible. Your brain’s strategy is either one or the other. Not both. But change can happen!
Neuroplasticity is the way and dopamine is the neurotransmitter of the twenties … tempus fugit (can you tell I’m in Rome). AI can still not do dopamine. Not yet at any rate.
The Y O U Delusion is this year’s book and, if you like, you can download it here with my compliments. My recent books are what I call fastbooks because you can read them in 10 minutes. This seems helpful in today’s compressed environment. By all means pass it on to someone who may find it useful.
Is The Y O U Delusion controversial?
Yes, I expect it is likely to be controversial to those who were upset by Software For Your Brain. But it’s well supported by current neuroscience and that’s what’s most important to me.
THE NEW OFFER
The mission of the school is partum mensura pretii i.e creating measureable value.
In 2023 and continuing on in 2024 my personal focus is on coaching professional coaches in the science and practical use of lateral thinking/x10 thinking for much better results on and off the field.
In 2023 I worked with coaches across national and international codes including: CRICKET, AFL, AFLW, UK FOOTBALL, AMERICAN FOOTBALL, WORLD CUP, RUGBY, BASKETBALL, NBA, LACROSSE.
All my coaching is interactive in realtime and 100% online. No exceptions. All one needs is a smartphone and an act of will.
In 2024 there will also be bespoke ‘deep dive’ coaching for a limited number of coaches. My particular focus is on exploiting the fast developments in neuroscience and my two axioms for changing human behaviour and raising performance are:
1 • There’s nothing more important in life than coaching.
2 • There’s nothing more powerful on earth than lateral thinking.
THE NEW SCHOOL
My third new thing for 2024 is … Rome.
I will be launching a new school of thinking in Rome and based there in 2024. Why Rome? Because if one is interested in ‘teaching thinking’ one must be interested in the history of teaching thinking and central to that is the Vatican.
Quite simply, nothing has had a greater impact on teaching human thinking than the Vatican. It invented universal education which it spread around the world with missionaries, it built schools, libraries, universities and teaching hospitals and institutes of science research. In 2024 it has 230,000 thousand schools globally and over 5,000 hospitals.
Most interesting is that, under the current papacy, it has (at last!) changed from judgment (black/white, right/wrong, Greco-Roman logic) to discernment (shades of grey, lateral thinking). After a decade of teaching discernment, in December, Pope Francis told his government (Roman Curia), “Discernment is a burst of love that distinguishes between what is good and what is better.”
This good/better approach is compatible with recent neuroscience and the cvs2bvs software we teach at this school.
In 2024, the new school of thinking will focus on science thinking; exploring the past and current role the Vatican has in developing science thinking. Whether or not you are in Rome, if you would like a preview you can visit the Luciani School here.
These are my new things and, by all means, do let me know what you are up to in this new year.
Wishing you an x10 year in 2024,
Michael
PS If you are interested in my work in 2024 or have questions, please write to me anytime by return email.
PPS Here’s a rather special treat I’d like to share with you. It’s the story of my favourite music genre (since I was 16!) … Bossa Nova … for when you want to chill out in ’24.
Dear Michael, Ordinarily I’d offer a salutation along the lines of: “I hope this note finds you alive and well” but I think we both can be absolutely confident at this very moment that you are. I’ve written to you many times since I bought your book “NewSell” to affirm the value of your life’s work to me. Specifically, I refer to a lesson you taught involving sorting eggs into order which brought home the point that it is much more likely on any given issue that any one of us is more likely to to be wrong than right. That lesson, paired with Jesus’ instructions in Matthew chapter 7 verses 3 to 5, form the basis of the most exercised and confirmed principle I live by. “I’m more likely to be wrong than right so be humble.”. I’ve adopted the first Delphic Maxim as my second principle to live by. When I can get those two mastered I might think about a third principle.
I’ve just grabbed a copy of “The YOU delusion”, looks good. As a person with Parkinson’s disease I’m all about the dopamine!