Kilani Excellence Lounge
   Welcome to the VIP Lounge   Last Updated 1 May 2008
College
Welcome to the Lounge. The Lounge is the place to come to when you are done with learning and challenging workouts. Sometimes, you just want to RELAX; tomorrow can wait. We aim to include in the Lounge interesting content and stress-free activities to help you unwind. The Lounge will contain a public area, where anyone can visit, and, in the future, a private area for members only. Entertaining, funny and/or just bizzare articles, news, movies, comments, quotes and all possible things that may happen anywhere that could be of interest to our customers and guests. Sit back, relax and enjoy.
 
   I have no special gift; I am only passionately curious. Einstein
You are what you repeatedly do; Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle
   Excellence is a Habit    The Habits of Amazing Speed Readers
 
Stephen Covey, in his classic The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, defines a habit as the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. Knowledge is the ‘what/why’, skill is the ‘how’ and desire is the ‘want’. Since you are reading this newsletter, I can assume you have the desire. My mission is to present to you the knowledge, and provide you an enjoyable and challenging environment within which you can develop the skills.
  
Achieving high reading speeds is developing the following abilities into a new habit:
1. Eliminate Bad Reading Habits (e.g. regression)
2. Use Reading Accelerators Efficiently (e.g. hand)
3. Master Mechanical Movements (e.g. turning pages)
4. Increase Horizontal Vision Span (see more line words per eye fixation)
5. Increase Vertical Vision Span (see more lines per eye fixation)
6. Optimise Eye Movements in All Directions (forward, backward, diagonal)
7. Optimise Concentration and Comprehension (understand better what you read)
8. Optimise Retention and Recall (remember more of what you read)
9. Apply Preparation Techniques (e.g. skimming, scanning, preview)
10. Understand Writing Styles (e.g. fiction)
11. Understand Writing Structures (e.g. paragraphs)
12.  Improve Vocabulary (roots, suffixes, prefixes)
 
Needless to say, but (you guessed it) I am going to say it anyway, the Speed Reading Excellence programme is focused on the amazing speed readers habits.
Speed Reading Excellence is a holistic and effective approach to improve your reading speed.
 
The 'skills' I am referring to, and our entire focus and dedication, are: creative thinking, speed reading and power memory. Like most people, I have read many books on these subjects and attended business seminars, sponsored by my corporate employers, which touched on some of their concepts. The challenge was that once the book or course was over, there was no private place for me to practice what I learnt. In a few months time, most of my training or reading diminished due to limited practice.
 
My vision has always been to create an online environment, obviously on the internet, where I and like-minded people can practice our thinking, reading and memory techniques in private, readying ourselves for the real-world challenges to come. Fortunately, chance (which favours the prepared mind, thanks Louise Pasteur) gave me the opportunity to achieve my vision, and Kilani Excellence was 'born' on 1 October 2003. I am the first to recognise that the internet is chock full of content on these topics, of varying quality and quantity. My next challenge is to make our website THE destination for passionately curious minds.
   What Colour is Your Brain?    Memories: It's All About Movies!
 
Everyone thinks differently. This fundamental fact has inspired serious researchers, and the merely curious, to efforts of thinking preferences (or styles) classifications. Big corporations are sending their sales teams to training courses that teach them how to identify the thinking preferences or styles of their prospects and customers. Mega banks are advertising their expertise and knowledge of 'local' customs (thinking and behaving patterns). Why? If you are negotiating multi-million dollar deals, you simply can not afford to misunderstand your prospects, let alone offend them.
 
The essence of virtually all memory systems and techniques is making movies. It is really that simple. Mind eye movies that challenge Hollywood's best. The basic concept is transforming abstract data into vivid visual images then link these images into, well, a memorable movie.
All memory systems rely on a basic technique called association. You associate any new data (phone number, face with a name, directions, etc) to either an established 'memory' list or framework or to another related and relevant piece of data.
 
Some of the more prominent names and theories in the corporate world are Herrmann, De Bono, Myers Briggs, Langrehr and BPH.
 
The association of one piece of data is a scene in your memory movie. But, who are the stars, what is the plot and how exactly are you going to 'shoot' it?
 

Herrmann's HBDI (Brain Dominance Instrument) classifies thinking preferences into 4 categories (represented by colours or letters):

  
The main stars of your memory movies are your Pegs. Who? The Pegs are simply members of your personal, easy to remember, memory list or framework.
 
A. [Blue] Analytic, technical, logical
B. [Green] Organisational , conservative
C. [Red] Emotional, interpersonal
D. [Yellow] Holistic, synthesising
 
The first step in any memory system, used by memory champions and the casual practioners, is to establish a memory list, or lists, of Pegs that you can use instantaneously and subconsciously whenever you need to remember anything. The difference between memory champions and casuals is how fast they can direct and produce their memory movies.
 
De Bono's 6 Hats classifies thinking styles into 6 categories (represented by coloured thinking hats):
The second step is to practice how to associate new data with your memory list of Pegs. Easy.
 
[White] Informational, factual
[Red] Emotional
[Black] Risks caution, negative, pessimistic
[Yellow] Benefits, positive, optimistic
[Green] Creative, new/alternative ideas
[Blue] Control (of other hats)
As an example: suppose you decided to use a list of 9 sequential numbers, 1 to 9, as your basic frame of reference or memory list. Now decide what picture or image you can use as your Peg for each of the numbers. Say you decide to use the shapes of the numbers as your guide, so choose a pencil to represent the number 1, a duck for 2 and so on. The pencil is now your Peg or star of the movie. If the first new item of a list of data (e.g. presentation) is the current market competition overview of your product or service, then associate the pencil with your main competitors (co-stars) in a dynamic, vibrant movie.
 
Bramson, Parlette, Harrison's (BPH) inQ classifies thinking styles into 5 categories (represented by letters of the alphabet, no colours):
When you start your presentation, you first recall the pencil (Peg), which leads you to recall the movie, which leads to recall the co-stars (the competition).
 
[S] Synthesist, integrator, conflicts, change, new
[I] Idealist, broad views, receptive, assimilators
[P] Pragmatist, whatever works, adaptive
[A] Analyst, logical, methodical, prescriptive
[R] Realist, factual, corrective
 
The above example, though admittedly simple in its nature, demystifies most of the memory feats you see, hear or read about. Photographic or 'elephantine' memory is the privilege of the rare few. Trained and fast memory is achievable by most. All you need is your imagination. Obviously, training your memory, or more specifically your brain, is the best way to improve it (you can try ancient herbs and magic too). Training your mind is similar to training your body in the gym; 'instant' results are miracles.
 
But what about Mr/s Joe/Jane Average, who simply wants to get a genuine better understanding of themselves and the people around them and maximise their intellectual talent?  Our aim was to create the Creative Thinking Excellence programme, of course, but returning to full-time employment delayed this project. Creative thinking is the art of stimulating your brain to think in innovative ways, generate original ideas, evaluate options objectively, solve problems effectively, present your thoughts eloquently and make decisions decisively. You can not be creative without creating.
 
But where exactly do you go to train your memory and how exactly are you going to practice, in private, before you show off your new talent to the world? This is where 1-day courses, home-study kits and books fall short, due to inherent time, scope and cost constraints. My answer is simple: an online, open 24 hours, memory Gym with LOTS of fresh multi-media exercises to train and challenge your imagination. This is the basic theme of Power Memory Excellence. Memory improvement techniques were practiced by the ancient Greeks, so no 'modern' man can claim a new discovery. An online Memory Gym; this is new.
 
If you enjoyed visiting our Lounge, why not seek a win-win and tell a friend. They and us will be forever grateful.
 
I truly hope you found our Lounge informative and interesting. Why not review our eGym Fun ? Enjoy the experience.
 Memories Make the Heart Beat Faster    

Memorising new information, in any form, is usually achieved by one of the following systems:

 1.     The Chain; where each piece of new information is linked to the next

The chain is the simplest memory technique, as it does not rely on any pre-requisites. You link each piece of information, in a list, with the next. Hence, no ‘outside’ references are necessary.

2.     The Peg; where each piece of new information is ‘pegged’ (attached) to an already established series or list

The Peg system relies on the prior establishment of a familiar list (table, matrix) of Pegs. The Pegs are objects that are chosen according to a specific technique. Once the Peg list is established, any new information is attached (hooked/linked) to the Pegs in sequence according to a certain method. The recall of the actual objects/items/pieces of the new information is performed by going through the Pegs list and recalling for each Peg the attached object/item (using the memory method).

For example, the Pegs list, a frame of reference that you can easily remember, can be established using one of these techniques:

o       Sound of numbers (e.g. one, two, three, etc.)

o       Shape of numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.)

o       ‘Inspirational' picture of numbers (4: car/wheels, 9: cat/lives, etc.)

o       ‘Phonetic picture' of numbers (t, n, m, etc.)

 So, should you decide that the shape of numbers is your preferred technique, and that the digit/number 1 is to be represented by a pencil, the pencil becomes your first Peg in the list. The first new Object in the list to be remembered will be attached (linked/hooked) to the pencil Peg using a memory method.

 3.     The Framework; where each piece of new information is positioned in a predefined section within a framework

   

The Framework system relies on the prior establishment of a familiar framework; an entity that can be sub-divided into discrete divisions, which can also be sub-divided into smaller sections, and so forth. The Framework divisions are chosen according to a specific technique.

Once the Framework divisions are established, any new information is positioned in the divisions in sequence according to a certain method. The recall of the actual objects/items/pieces of the new information is performed by going through the Framework divisions and recalling for each Division/Section the positioned objects/items (using the memory method).

For example, the Frameworks that you can easily remember, and their divisions, can be established based on the following entities:

o       House (e.g. entrance, lounge, dining, kitchen, bathroom, etc.)

o       Office (e.g. reception, desks partitions, fax/copy room, conference room, etc.)

o       Body (e.g. head, neck, chest, back, shoulders, etc.)

o       Earth (e.g. Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Europe, etc.)

So, should you decide that the House is your preferred framework, and that the Entrance is your first division of the House, then the first new Object in the list to be remembered will be positioned in the Entrance of the House, using a memory method to link the new Object with the Entrance.

Our online Memory eGym is open 24 hours, with lots of fresh multi-media exercises to train your memory and challenge your imagination. This is the power of Power Memory Excellence.
 How Do Creative Thinkers Think?

Creative thinkers enjoy unique characteristics and employ simple techniques to enhance their creativity. Let us illustrate this with an example: Colourful Basketball.

4 basketball players are practicing their game. Adam, John, Paul and Tom. Each player is using a different colour ball. The balls colours are red, blue, orange and green.

1. John is not playing with an orange ball.
2. Paul is not playing with an orange or blue ball.
3. Tom is playing with a green ball.

Match the players with their coloured balls; who is playing with which colour ball?

Think about this problem for a few seconds, if you prefer to stop now and try to solve the problem, fine, otherwise keep reading to discover how do creative thinkers approach a problem solving challenge. Basically, they start with the facts, define the goal, state their observations and ask relevant questions.

2. The Goal: Find Paul, John & Adam's ball colours.

 

3. The Observations & Leading Questions:
Tom's ball colour (Green) is a given fact. Who is the second player with the most information given? Paul.
Paul can not be Blue or Orange (given facts) or Green (Tom's ball). Paul's ball colour must be Red.
Who is the third player with most information given now? John.
John's ball colour is not Orange (given fact), Tom's is Green, Paul's is Red. John's ball colour must be Blue.
Adam is left. His ball colour must be Orange.

Good thinkers enjoy the following characteristics:

1. They have a POSITIVE attitude towards challenging issues, whether solving problems or improving situations.
2. They can recognise PATTERNS quickly in given information (e.g. variables and relationships: players and balls)
3. They OBSERVE and/or ask QUESTIONS (e.g. each observation or question leads closer to solution of problem)
4. They VISUALISE, summarising and clarifying issues or problems (e.g. a table is best to summarise this problem)

So, if you desire to improve your current thinking processes, these are the steps:

1. Develop a positive thinking attitude; face every problem willing and believing you can solve it.
2. Study and practice pattern recognition skills; find groupings and relationships among variables.
3. Apply effective observation and questioning techniques; each question leads you forward.
4. Visualise information; summarise in an image, diagram or table.

 
That's it for now. Visit us in coming months for more! If you enjoyed your visit, we promise you more quality content in the months ahead. Return to Home Page .
Copyright © 2003-2007 Mazen Kilani. All rights reserved