I’ve studied brilliant people since I was a teenager. Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Julius Ceasar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Socrates, Thomas Jefferson (to name a few).
I had this crazy notion that maybe the only thing separating these wonderful people from me was their “thinking pattern”. The unique way they saw the world around them. Their perspective on reality. Sure, these are clearly all intelligent men, but I know lots of intelligent men who I consider complete failures.
It’s not intelligence as we typically understand it that defines brilliance. It’s something else. Something less tangible.
I think Einstein summed the difference up quite well:
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” – Albert Einstein
Einstein was referring to the imaginative part of our mind. Something I believe we all come into this world with but learn to block as we age.
As I studied the mindset of these great men, one thing became clear: They had vivid imaginations. A vision for the future, a dream they couldn’t let go of.
Don’t stop dreaming.
