The Winner's Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success [Paperback]

What enables some people to succeed in life, while others simply survive? Is our maximum potential predetermined, or do we have the capacity to push beyond what we perceive to be our limitations? The authors of this book say that the workings of the brain make the difference, and that it is possible to train the brain to perform at a higher level. How? By identifying and employing the same strategies as high-achieving individuals use to overcome obstacles and reach their goals.

Perhaps the key message is that `the brain is active and subject to change no matter what you do'. This provides an opportunity: `what sets the owner of a Winner's Brain apart is the desire and the know-how to take charge of the process.' The authors have identified five `BrainPower Tools' commonly used by successful people: seeing opportunities where others don't (`Opportunity Radar'); accurately gauging and being willing to take risks (`Optimal Risk Gauge'); being able to stay focussed on a goal (`Goal Laser'); possessing the energy to take action (`Effort Accelerator'); and being able to accurately assess one's strengths and weaknesses (` Talent Meter').

Of course, we don't all share the same goals, and we will each have different definitions of success. But whatever your goals, it is likely that one or more of the eight strategies listed below will provide the keys to greater achievement. The eight strategies ( `win factors' ) are: self awareness; motivation; focus; emotional balance; memory; resilience; adaptability and brain care. In this book, the authors give examples of how each strategy works and share techniques to enhance brain function. The theory is strengthened by the inclusion of stories such as: London cabbies who have increased the size of their hippocampus by memorising city routes; a teenage chess master whose memory of previous games enabled him to predict where a game was going; and a rock star turned rock climbing instructor turned medical student.

All of this is geared to make you believe that change is possible - if you are seeking it - and if you are prepared to make some changes to achieve it.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Note: I recently re-read this book, first published in 2010, and value what it offers even more now than I did then.

Opinions vary as to how much (on average) people use of their brain's capacities but there seems to be almost unanimous agreement among neuroscientists that it is possible to increase those capacities through a combination of mental and physical exercises, nutrition, and an increasing understanding of what the brain is, does, and can do. Hence the great value of this book. With Liz Neporent, Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske identify and then rigorously examine eight strategies that great minds use to achieve success (however defined) and what those with less-than-great minds can learn from them.

As they explain in the Introduction, "Our definition of Winners encompasses the usual conception: people who meet with extraordinary success in the particular aspects of life they value most...The kind of Winners we are talking about revel in the journey toward their goals almost as much as the destination itself, and they strive for the type of success that helps make the world a better place." This is precisely what Teresa Amabile had in mind years ago when offering career advice during a commencement address at Stanford: "Do what you love and love what you do because what you love is what you'll do best." Brown and Fenske include dozens of such Winners in this book, telling their stories that (whether they realize it or not) "illuminate the science and the theories" on which the eight strategies are based.

These are among the passages that caught my eye:

o On how and why a Winner's Brain operates differently than the average brain
o Five essential elements of success
o "The Winner's Profile Quiz"
o Five BrainPowser Tools
o The Eight Win Factors
o How and why thinking about yourself can help you to become a Winner
o How to cultivate the drive to win
o How to make emotions work in your favor
o The role of "remembering: when developing a Winner's Brain
o How to "bounce back" into success
0 How to reshape your brain to achieve greater success
o How to maintain, protect, and enhance your Winner's Brain

Brown and Fenske selected a diversified group of Winners who generously share, as indicated earlier, personal stories that (whether they realize it or not) "illuminate the science and the theories" on which the eight strategies are based. Their diversity demonstrates that Winners can be found at all levels and in all areas of society. Of even greater significance, this diversity offers a reassurance that Winners [begin italics] can be developed [end italics] at all levels and in all areas of society.

Long ago, Oscar Wilde observed, "Be yourself. Everyone else is taken." Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske agree, extending that insight to suggest, "And here's how you can become the best person you can be." In other words, a Winner.

This book is great! It is full with insightful information - that is easy to apply - to improve how we look at difficult situations, ourselves and how we can get our brain to function at it's highest capacity. (Seriously, who doesn't want to know this!) I really appreciated the countless examples of different "Winners" this book included. These stories captured my attention and made for an interesting read! It is also written in a way that the average person can understand. I highly recommend it!