Workshop leader: Anyone can think like a genius

By Laura Petersen
Nicholas Mac Connell has always been fascinated by the brain and individuals who used theirs to the max - Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla - great innovators whose ideas and inventions changed civilization forever.
The Solana Beach resident spent more than eight years researching the commonalities between their thought processes to see if anything can be gleaned for the rest of us. He found three things: They used both sides of their brains, visualization and always carried a notebook.
"You want to be a genius?" Mac Connell said. "Carry a notebook." But not just any notebook.
Mac Connell has developed the Brain Organizer Notebook, a one- of-a-kind spiral-bound notebook to help anyone think more like a genius while organizing one's ideas, goals and dreams and simplifying one's life.
"It's the ultimate tool for life organization," Mac Connell said. "There is no other thing like this."
Maximize brainpower
The Brain Organizer Notebook is designed to encourage users to tap into both sides of their brain: the more logical and sequential left side and the more visual and artistic right side.
For each task, goal or idea, users lay out all the necessary pieces to achieve that goal on two facing pages called a "MindSet." On the left side, thinkers write down the actions needed to complete the task, as well as any questions that need answering. The right side is where users draw their completed task, achieved dream or new invention.
By practicing visualization while making lists, neurons start tingling in both hemispheres of the brain, opening more pathways for an 'a ha!' moment, Mac Connell said.
Mac Connell shared his "Secrets Inside Genius Imagination" talk and Brain Organizer at last month's Friends Night Out program at the Solana Beach Library.
"I didn't realize that the notebook was such an important facet in the lives of geniuses, and by following suit I would enhance my creative process,"" said Julie Ustin, the president of the Friends of the Solana Beach Library.
Enabling action
The Brain Organizer is designed to help users focus rapidly on thinking through the issues, and then allows them to relax, knowing the information is stored in the notebook, available to instantly recall at any time, Mac Connell said.
This is critical to bringing "action and direction to your dreams," Mac Connell said. "When reality comes into focus, that's when people take action."
That is the other thing the world's great thinkers had in common: They were also great doers.
With the challenges society is facing today, ingenuity is more critical than ever and Mac Connell said he hopes his invention can help nurture the imaginations that develop solutions.
Nicholas Mac Connell uses the Brain Organizer Notebook, which he developed based on the thinking methods pioneered by the world's geniuses like Leonardo Da Vinci. Photo by: Laura Petersen
Along with the Brain Organizer, and working on a book about genius imagination, Mac Connell is hosting monthly "Genius Brain Training Workshops." The next one is scheduled for Jan. 10.
"It's beginning of the year, it's a great time to have an organizer and come into a new system," Mac Connell said. For more information, go to http://brainorganizer.com or email mind@fuse.net
Laura Petersen
Laura is a writer for the Del Mar Times, Carmel Valley Leader, Rancho Santa Fe Record and Solana Beach Sun. Laura can be reached by e-mail.