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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ002101A
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00:27 This is Oxford, England, one of the world's most famous 00:32 university cities. It's a beautiful, privileged place 00:35 steeped in history and studded with hallowed walls. The stylish 00:40 honey-colored buildings of the universities colleges scattered 00:44 throughout the city wrap around peaceful courtyards that are 00:48 meticulously manicured and maintained. The oldest colleges 00:54 date back to the 13th century and little has changed inside 00:58 these hallowed walls since. The city's famed spires twirl into 01:03 the sky above. The magnificent architecture of the 38 colleges 01:07 in the city's medieval center led to its nickname, The City of 01:13 Dreaming Spires. There are around 22,000 students studying 01:18 at Oxford University at any one time. About 22 percent of the 01:23 total student body are citizens of foreign countries. Many 01:27 overseas students study under the Rhodes Scholarship scheme 01:31 set up by Cecil Rhondes, a British businessman. These 01:35 include international leaders like Bill Clinton, President of 01:38 the United States, Lester Pearson, Prime Minister of 01:42 Canada, Bob Hawke and Malcolm Turnbull both prime ministers of 01:48 Australia. Other famous Oxford graduates include Oscar Wilde, 01:52 Stephen Hawking, J. R. Tolkien, Hugh Grant, C. S. Lewis, Mr. 01:57 Bean, Rowan Atkinson, Rupert Murdoch, Indira Gandhi, John 02:02 Wesley and Boris Johnson. These graduates come from different 02:07 countries and various backgrounds but they all had 02:10 one single thing in common, which is key to their success; 02:14 they learned how to get the best out of their brain. Today we're 02:20 going to discover their secrets. So stay tuned because you will 02:24 learn fascinating information about the human brain, and you 02:29 may even discover how to get the most out of your brain as well. 02:36 ♪ ♪ 02:59 Oxford is located about 80 km northwest of London in central 03:04 southern England and revolves around its prestigious 03:08 university which was recently ranked as the best in the world. 03:13 Oxford University is the oldest university in Britain and the 03:16 second oldest in the world. Scholars have been studying here 03:20 for nearly 1000 years. From the beginning students organized 03:25 themselves into halls which soon grew into the modern day Oxford 03:30 colleges. These were often supported and sponsored by 03:34 wealthy individuals who sometimes gave their names to 03:38 colleges such as Merton and Baliol. There are now 38 03:44 colleges in Oxford University located in the city's medieval 03:47 center. Oxford University has educated more prime ministers 03:52 than all other British universities combined. 03:55 Theresa May is the 27th occupant of 10 Downing Street to graduate 04:01 with an Oxford degree. So too did Britain's only other female 04:05 prime minister Margaret Thatcher It's a place of high academic 04:11 excellence and Oxford students have been among some of the 04:15 world's highest achievers. And like all high achievers that 04:21 learned how to get the most out of their brain. The bottom line, 04:23 mankind's greatest achievements are possible only because of the 04:29 human brain. It's been said that you can manage something 04:34 effectively only when you can identify, label and describe it. 04:39 But how does one do that with the brain? Well today's guest, 04:44 a brain function specialist, can help us figure this out. 04:49 Dr. Arlene Taylor is the founder and president of Realizations, 04:54 Inc., a nonprofit corporation that engages in brain function 04:58 research and provides unique educational resources. She's the 05:03 author of several popular books related to brain function and 05:07 practical applications to relationships and everyday 05:11 living and creator of the Longevity Lifestyle Matters 05:15 program. In our program, How to Find Your Natural Ability, 05:19 our guest will share with us aspects of your brain's 05:22 cognitive or thinking bent. Let's meet Dr. Taylor. 05:27 Dr. Taylor, welcome to the Incredible Journey. We're so 05:32 glad you're on our program today. 05:34 I'm glad I'm on your program too Gary. Thank you for inviting me. 05:39 Dr. Taylor research shows that our brains have a bent and you 05:43 emphasize this strongly. Can you please explain to us what that 05:47 actually means. 05:49 Well it means on our planet with however many billions of people 05:54 we have every one of them has a bent. In terms of brain function 05:58 the word bent is very, very positive. It really means that 06:05 every single brain has the special uniqueness, a special 06:11 talent, some innate giftedness. Some people have more than one. 06:17 But everybody has at least one. And if you can identify what 06:25 your bent is and you own that you can achieve high levels of 06:32 skill, high levels of competence enjoy what you do. Because 06:38 following your bent tends to be energy efficient. You don't use 06:42 as much energy as you do with other types of activities. It 06:47 allows you to develop a higher level of skill. You can become 06:51 competent in anything that involves that bent and currently 06:59 the wisdom is that if you could match 51 percent of all the 07:07 tasks you do somehow to your bent you would be healthier, 07:12 happier, likely more successful and might even live longer. 07:17 So what's so important about this thinking brain. 07:20 Well Gary I can give it to you in two words. Energy consumption 07:26 Everything we do takes energy. When you are working within your 07:34 brain bent you are spending less energy which makes it last 07:38 longer if you will. PET scan studies by Dr. Richard Haier 07:45 suggest that probably each brain has an innate energy advantage. 07:52 What does that mean? It means that you can do some tasks more 07:55 easily and energy efficiently that others. I can do some tasks 08:00 more easily and energy efficient that others. And that's why we 08:04 need to work together because we have different bents and 08:07 it is all about energy consumption. Naturally the brain 08:11 prefers to do energy efficient tasks because it knows how much 08:17 energy it's using even if you haven't identified that. And 08:21 interestingly enough it will try to push you to procrastinate 08:25 the types of tasks that are not energy efficient, that take lots 08:31 more energy. So figure this out for yourself and you know how 08:37 to use your energy by design in terms of energy consumption. If 08:42 you're doing a task that is not part of your brain bent, it's a 08:47 task that is more energy exhausting for your brain you're 08:52 going to have some consequences. First of all your brain's going 08:55 need more glucose, it's going to use more fuel. Secondly it's 08:59 going to need more oxygen. It already takes 20 percent of all 09:02 the oxygen that you breathe in and that gets into your blood 09:06 stream. It needs more oxygen. It gets exhausted quicker. A little 09:13 bit of that task is much more tiring than a lot of the task 09:18 that primarily is driven by your brain bent. You don't think as 09:23 quickly because it doesn't cross the synapse as quickly. 09:28 And bottom line is you get irritable because the brain is 09:32 trying to tell you this is really not working well for me. 09:35 So you can watch people doing different tasks and you can 09:39 observe them being more and more irritable as the brain gets more 09:44 and more fatigued. So it's real. 09:48 My _ is that most people have been led to believe that 09:50 procrastination is a bad thing. This sounds, after listening to 09:55 what you've just said, as if the brain is trying to be energy 10:00 wise. 10:01 Well I would say so, Gary. If you pay attention to what needs 10:06 to be done in life and what your brain tries to make you 10:11 procrastinate, don't need to do it at all or do it later, that 10:15 will give you some idea of the type of tasks that the brain 10:21 does that requires more energy and now you can manage that. 10:26 Because some things I have to do for which I have no innate 10:30 bent, no giftedness whatsoever. I still have to do them. But I 10:35 sandwich them in between things that are energy efficient and 10:40 energy effective for my brain so that I don't get too 10:43 exhausted. Because the brain does not store unlimited amount 10:48 of energy. It doesn't have unlimited energy banks. Some 10:53 research suggests that you only have about enough glucose in 10:58 your brain to power for about 10 minutes. And so it continually 11:02 depends upon the blood stream bringing in fresh supplies of 11:07 fuel, which is glucose, oxygen, micronutrients like vitamins 11:12 and minerals and enzymes. So identifying at least to some 11:17 degree your brain's energy advantage and matching a little 11:23 over half, I say 51 percent, which is more than less, of the 11:30 tasks for which you do have some energy advantage can 11:34 enhance your competency and develop higher levels of skill. 11:38 It can improve your health. We've done some studies that 11:42 show that people who do a lot of adapting, meaning, they spend 11:46 hours and hours and hours doing tasks for which they have no 11:51 bent often they do that for several years, they can really 11:53 get sick. They can develop some stress related illnesses because 11:57 it's stressful for the brain to do most of the work it has to do 12:04 in areas for which it has no bent. And so you potentially can 12:09 extend your life by doing this. And it's not that hard to do. 12:13 You look at all the tasks you have to do. You figure out which 12:16 ones are most energy efficient for your brain and then you 12:20 sandwich the ones in that take more time and energy so that 12:26 you're not just totally exhausted at the end of five 12:30 hours and now you don't even have any energy to do the fun 12:33 things that we also need to do in life. 12:36 So how does one go about doing this? 12:38 Identify when your brain procrastinates for example. 12:43 Well there are some assessments that are available that can give 12:47 you a jump start. But just simply ask yourself, when I look 12:52 at the tasks that I'm doing today, this week, whatever, 12:57 which ones do I find myself putting off or I would put them 13:03 off if I thought I had the choice. Now you write down those 13:09 and eventually you begin to see a pattern. You know I look 13:13 forward to doing this. I can do this tasks longer. Oh if I 13:18 didn't have to do this task at all it would be wonderful and 13:22 so on. I'll give you one example in my life. Balancing my check 13:29 book is really energy intensive for my brain and for years I 13:34 would struggle and I'd procrastinate and then I'd have 13:36 to do several months at a time and that means if there was a 13:40 mistake somewhere I would be behind the eight ball for 13:42 several months. And I finally said, my brain really doesn't 13:47 like to do this. It's exhausted. I'm going to trade somebody. 13:53 And for several years I'd been cutting one of our neighbor 13:58 person's hair because I've cut hair my whole life starting with 14:02 my own. Didn't do a good job of that first haircut when I was 14:06 about three. So I said look I'll cut your hair any time you want 14:11 if once a month you'll balance my check book. The answer was 14:15 deal. I don't like to cut my hair, I don't like to pay for it 14:19 Okay that's great, works for both of us. So here's the kicker 14:23 Many people have learned to do very well tasks that do not 14:30 match their bent, either because that's what was emphasized at 14:34 home and they were made to do it or their job requires it and 14:38 they don't have a lot of options for income. It's not what you 14:43 have learned to do well, as my kids used to say, read my lips 14:49 Mom. It's what you've learned to do well, it's what your brain 14:55 does energy efficiently, meaning you don't dread doing it and 14:59 you're not totally wiped out when you've spent an hour doing 15:05 that. A second thing you can ask yourself is, when I do this 15:11 task how exhausted am I at the end? Do I feel like if I could 15:15 I'd just like to go to bed. Or, do I still have energy. And the 15:21 third thing you can ask yourself is when I'm doing these 15:25 different tasks which task ends up the one that I make the most 15:32 mistakes while I'm doing it. Because if it's not energy 15:37 efficient you just tend to make more mistakes. So the goal is to 15:42 become a little more aware of what's going on in your brain so 15:46 you know how to work with it more efficiently. 15:49 So Dr. Taylor, whereabouts in your brain is this energy 15:53 advantage located? 15:55 Who knows? It may be in different parts of the brain but 16:01 at this point what we believe is that you can think about it and 16:10 manage your energy and evaluate your energy in the third brain 16:15 layer where you have conscious thought. So as a reminder, you 16:20 can describe the brain in three layers. Your wrist has the first 16:25 brain layer. There's no conscious thought there. 16:28 Make this hand into a fist; that's the limbic system, again 16:31 no conscious thought. Put this hand over the top. There's your 16:36 neo-cortex that third brain layer. You can actually see that 16:41 on a brain model. Your other hand represents this whole part 16:46 here, this rind on the watermelon, if you will. 16:52 Now this third layer is divided by natural fissures into two 16:58 hemispheres, right hemisphere and left hemisphere, which is 17:01 about the size of your brain. And if you look at the screen 17:04 then you can see the drawing of that. Each hemisphere also has a 17:10 fissure. It gives us four chunks of cerebral tissue and way back 17:17 in the 5th century B.C., something like that, Hippocrates 17:23 said, the brain has four chunks of tissue, or division. Don't 17:28 know how he figured that out. And you can see that now we have 17:34 brain scans the brain has four chunks of tissue in that third 17:38 layer. He names those starting at the tope left, the choleric, 17:44 sanguine, melancholy and phlegmatic. Some people talk 17:49 about the left frontal or right frontal, the left posterior, the 17:53 right posterior. That's confusing for some people so I 17:57 just name renamed them with key functions. So what he called the 18:04 choleric division I call the prioritizing division. What he 18:09 called the sanguine division, it's the visualizing, making 18:13 pictures in your mind, imagining What he called the melancholy I 18:19 call the harmonizing division. It's the part that wants 18:21 relationships with each other, with nature, with whatever. And 18:26 what he called the phlegmatic I call the maintaining division 18:31 because that part of the brain develops routines and follows 18:35 them over and over again so you can do it the same way all the 18:42 time. So within those four chunks we have some conscious 18:46 thought and are able to evaluate energy: How much am I expending? 18:53 How tired am I? And so we are at least processing this in that 18:59 part of the brain and my guess is that the energy advantage may 19:07 be there as well because it impacts our thinking ability and 19:11 that's where we consciously think. 19:14 Dr. Taylor, this has been so fascinating, relevant and 19:17 helpful. Thank you for being with us today. 19:19 It's my pleasure, Gary. I just love talking about the brain. 19:24 Dr. Arlene Taylor has certainly given us a lot of valuable 19:30 information and much to think about. And that includes 19:35 discovering our brain bent, what we're good at and where 19:38 our talents lie. To us today the word talent refers to the 19:44 person's natural ability to be very good at something. Talent 19:49 refers to above average ability, an extraordinary ability like 19:53 a talent to sing, or learn, or paint, or excel in sports. But 19:59 the only reason this word is in our dictionary today is because 20:03 Jesus used it in a story, or parable, that he told. Jesus 20:06 parable of the talents is found in Matthew chapter 25 20:10 verses 14 to 30. In this parable Jesus described how a wealthy 20:17 master entrusted talents to three of his servants. 20:21 Now, a talent was a huge amount of money, 20:25 it was worth about 20 years of wages for a common laborer, 20:28 so it was serious money, probably millions of dollars. 20:32 But in Jesus parable, He was clearly using this large 20:37 unit of money symbolically, figuratively, to refer to any 20:42 God-given talent we are entrusted with, 20:44 including our abilities. This concept became so widely 20:50 and commonly taught in England during the Middle Ages 20:52 that the word talent was adopted into the English language 20:56 to mean our natural abilities. 20:58 Listen to how Jesus started His story, His parable in 21:28 So Jesus tells this story about a wealthy man 21:31 preparing to leave on a journey who entrusts three 21:35 of his servants with talents. A lot of money. 21:38 He give one five talents, another two, and another 21:42 one talent and he expects the servants to invest those talents 21:47 wisely and well so they will be able to provide him with a 21:50 good return on his investments when he gets back from 21:53 his journey. All we are told is that the master of portion 21:58 the amounts to each of the servants according to their 22:01 ability. While the master is gone, the five talent and two 22:06 talent servants invest their talents diligently and wisely 22:11 and they receive a 100% return on their investments. 22:15 but the one talent servant, just buries his talent. 22:20 He does absolutely nothing to develop or grow his talent 22:25 so there's no increase on his master's investment. 22:28 The opportunity is lost, gone forever. 22:32 So when the master returns, he commends and awards the 22:36 five and two talent servants. But the one talent servant 22:41 who did nothing with his talent, is rebuked and punished. 22:45 Now, Jesus is telling us some- thing very important here. 22:49 We've all been given or entrusted by God 22:53 with something of value. In fact, everything we have 22:57 is given to us by God. Now, although this parable 23:01 refers to money, it has a far wider application 23:05 and can teach us a lot about work, success, wealth 23:09 and yes, even our brains. 23:12 Some believe this parable align with brain bent 23:16 and our natural talents and abilities. 23:19 Every brain has some unique talents and its important 23:24 that we identify and develop them. 23:27 Because as the parable indicates, it's either use it 23:31 or lose it. If you want to make the most of your natural 23:34 abilities and talents that God has given you, 23:37 and experience the fulfillment and happiness associated with 23:42 developing the gifts that God has given you, 23:44 why not ask for His guidance and blessing right now 23:48 as we pray. 23:50 Dear heavenly Father, Thank you for your love and 23:54 goodness to us. We recognize that all we have comes from you. 23:59 You are the giver of all good gifts and so we thank you 24:03 for the talents and natural abilities you have given 24:06 each one of us. Lord, we want to be good stewards 24:11 and use these talents diligently and wisely. 24:14 We wish to experience the fulfillment and happiness 24:17 associated with developing the gifts that you have given us. 24:21 So please bless and guide each and every one of us 24:25 and thank you for the greatest gift of all, "Jesus." 24:29 We wish to accept and follow Him and ask all this 24:34 in His holy name. Amen. 24:43 Every brain has unique talents and is something special 24:48 today we've been reminded that if we don't use it, 24:53 we lose it so take good care of your brain, you only have one 24:57 and replacements are unavailable. 25:01 If you are interested in finding out more about your natural 25:04 abilities or your brains bend, and how to make the most of them, 25:08 then I'd like to recommend the free gift we have 25:11 for our viewers today. It's the booklet entitled 25:15 Bible Secrets To Unlocking The Genius Within 25:19 and a self-assessment guide to help you identify 25:22 your natural abilities and talents. 25:25 This booklet and assessment is our gift to you and is absolutely 25:30 free. There are no costs and obligations whatsoever. 25:34 So, make the most of this wonderful opportunity 25:37 to receive this special gift we have for you today. 25:40 Here's the information you need. 25:43 Phone or text us at 0436333555 or visit our website www.tij.tv 25:56 to request today's free offer and we'll send it to you 26:00 totally free of charge and with no obligation. 26:03 So don't delay, call or text 0436333555 in Australia 26:11 or 0204222042 in New Zealand, or visit our website www.tij.tv 26:23 to request today's offer. 26:25 Write to us at P.O. Box 5101 Dora Creek NSW 2264, Australia, 26:35 or P.O. Box 76673 Manuka, Auckland 2241, New Zealand. 26:44 Don't delay, phone or text 0436333555 in Australia, 26:52 or 0204222042 in New Zealand or visit our website 27:00 www.tij.tv to request today's free offer. 27:07 Call or text us now. 27:10 If you've enjoyed our journey to Oxford, and our reflections 27:15 on your brain and the importance of discovering 27:18 your natural abilities, be sure to join us next week 27:21 when we will share another of life's journey's together. 27:25 Until then, remember the ultimate destination 27:29 of life's journey. 27:30 Now, I saw a new heaven and earth and God will wipe away 27:35 every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, 27:38 nor sorrow, nor crying, there shall be no more pain 27:42 for the former things have passed away. |
Revised 2021-02-11