Creativity at times can seem like it’s a spur of the moment idea that runs through your mind where you have to instantly act on it before it fades. According to Forte, it’s the summation of ideas, quotes, stories, and interactions that you have and document. Documenting these important bits is the key to unlocking your creativity because in doing so you are able to fully see everything you have access to. There’s no straining to find the information or stats you need for the article you want to write, you already have it in a place where you know how to find it. Professional creatives sit down with routines every day and require creativity.
The idea of a Second Brain was developed by Tiago Forte, the founder of the education company, Forte Labs. Tiago is a productivity expert who has taught over 20,000 people worldwide with his various courses.
What it is not:
- A quick fix on how to be successful.
- Ten steps to building a second brain.
- How to be perfect.
What it is:
- A method of organizing data and information from various sources in a place where you can easily access it.
- The ability to improve your thinking and find patterns.
- A collection of knowledge.
Check out the course specifics on the Building a Second Brain site if you’re interested in more information on the structure and costs.
For reviews on how to implement it, here is a video from the popular YouTuber, Ali Abdaal. In the video, Ali breaks down what the system is and how he uses it.
The 10 key points from the course:
- Borrowed Creativity: Creativity is about adding your own flare to what already exists from what you watch, read, and see.
- The Capture Habit: Brains are for having ideas, not storing. Capture ideas we have immediately.
- Idea Recycling: Reuse ideas and concepts. Keep track of what you are creating to use later on.
- Projects Over Categories: Put in something that it’s going to be directly applicable.
- Slow Burns: Over time building and ticking off bits for relevant projects. Not doing one huge project at one time. Can analyze the information once it’s time to do the heavy lift for the project.
- Start With Abundance: Don’t start with a blank page, use notes from the second brain.
- Intermediate Packets: Keep bits from old content (essays, videos, etc) that you can drop into new content and only have to tweak to fit the new content. In a sense, it’s piecing bits together of the puzzle.
- You Only Know What You Make: What we create ourselves is what ultimately impacts our lives the most. Engaging with the material personally allows us to absorb it more.
- Make It Easier For Your Future Self: Write up a few notes on something, not just words so that you know what current you were thinking. Put yourself in a beginner’s shoes and assume you don’t know what you’re talking about.
- Keep Your Ideas Moving: The most important bit is the output-- Do something with the information. This can either be in your own life or by sharing it publicly with others to have them implement or both.
How can you use this to help you build your Avocado course?
When building your Avocado course, it may seem a little daunting to think about what you are going to teach a course on and assembling all of the information at one time. By using the Second Brain method, everything is already in one place for you. All you have to do is parse through the data and information to find the avenue/ topic for your course. This also provides you with the ability to expand on your current information by finding any gaps in the information you may have.
