Answer: Focus.

The larger the amount of diverse information the brain has stored, the bigger the potential for varied solutions to abstract questions.  But let’s use what we have stored today for the sake of conversation. I will write later about how to increase your brain’s information.

The conscious part of your brain gives you the ability to be aware of your world.  The ability to imagine what is not real and to make sense of it.  It can bring the most abstract thoughts together and allow you to make the decision about their relevance.  We ideally want that response to be fast.  Sometimes you can get lucky and it does happen quickly.  That’s where experience can play a role.  I am fairly fast at coming up with ideas, maybe not all of them are great, but my brain does respond quickly.

Focus is Truth

I have learned how to focus over the years which gives me the upper hand on how to communicate with my brain.  Phil Jackson, ex-basketball coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, won many championships by creatively leading his team while being a student of Zen Buddhism.  It totally made sense to me why he succeeded.  Not only did he have a great basketball mind from years of experience, he was able to focus via meditation to find creative ways to win.  Focus is a deductive thought process: it helps you to become mindful and aware of your thoughts and actions. Buddhism is a way of life to develop wisdom and understanding.  That understanding is “Truth”.

For me, being able to focus is being able to see the truth.  And strangely enough, most of my most creative ideas were simply stating the truth. The more you practice realizing the truth, the closer it comes to the front of your conscious and readily becomes readily available to answer questions.

 How to Become Focused.

How do you learn to be focused if you don’t study Zen Buddhism?  Everyone needs to find his or her own way, but for me, it’s time to myself. I usually do it without distractions, but I have also done it with mass chaos all around me.  Some people can do it by watching TV or reading a book, others need some sort of stimulation like wandering through a museum.  One of the simple ways to find that focus is to merely leave your chair and take a walk.  If we are to communicate with our brain, we need to have patience and flexibility. We need to look inward with courage and a lack of fear, to listen to what your gut tells you and have faith in its intelligence.  Looking outward we need to have empathy, which is another discussion.