Do you know what side of your brain is dominant? I do, or at least I thought I did? I had attended the Age Proof your Brain seminar and Stage 1 of the BLI training in Melbourne which was presented by Tony Buzan and Jennifer Goddard and as a result of this I made a personal commitment to improve both sides of my brain. At the event I came across the “Workout for a Balanced Brain” book that was on display and as it had a series of exercises that I could use to challenge myself and improve both sides of the brain, so I decided to buy it.
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You see, I had looked at all the traits of the left and right side of the brain and taking into consideration my job and the skills that it involves, personal behaviour and the perception I have of myself, I was adamant that I was definitely left brain dominant, but to be thorough I took the Brain Bias Assessment that was in the book just to prove the point.
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I started the test with the first couple of these being the Spatial Awareness and Missing Piece Tests which I found very easy and scored quite well and I thought to myself it must be the analytical left side that made it easy (the beginning of denial). The Numerical Test, well we just won’t mention that one as that is really embarrassing. As the test progressed, I found the visual tests quite easy and all of a sudden the penny dropped, maybe I am right brain dominant. I completed all the tests and filled out the scorecard, added it up and it showed that I had an increased right brain bias.
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I must say that with this revelation, I still had doubts and as I continued to read on about the differences in relation to how each of the respective dominant sides process information, it started to explain some of the challenges that I had experienced in the past. It was like someone had just turned on the light and I was able to see the bigger picture (Gestalt, a right brain trait).
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In retrospect it is amazing how I have denied the creative, artistic, intuitive and other traits that are attributed to the right side of the brain to conform to the rules and regulations of boarding school, the Army and of course monolithic corporations and it is these very traits that have contributed to the success that I have today.
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I personally am looking forward to becoming a champion of Global Mental Literacy and a BLI in 2008 and beyond :-)