By Leslie Lindsay

So, I have been reading this book and thought:  aha!  I need to share this with others.  The book is called “The Winner’s Brain,” by Jeff Brown,PsyD APBB and Mark Fenske, PhD.  Originally, I thought the title was a little cheesy–but alas you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, uhem…title (at least not always).  What I like about this book is that it uses actual brain science (MRIs, fMRIs, etc.) to track–or identify–the areas of the brain that “light up” for those folks who are particularly adept at being “winners.”  I suppose it’s the description, “winner” that kind of irks me: I mean, aren’t we all winners in our own right?!

 (Image retrieved from Amazon.com 4.24.12)

The book starts out with a chapter on “The Winner’s Profile Quiz.”  The authors suggest the reader take this quiz as a way to gauge to see if you have what it takes to set yourself up for success.  They claim the quiz isn’t “brain science,” but rather derived from their experience and research associated with psychological traits that appear in people who achieve goals, thus success.

To take the quiz, all you do is indicate how strongly you agree with the statement on a scale of 1-3. 

1 = DON’T AGREE AT ALL

2 = SOMEWHAT AGREE

3 = COMPLETELY AGREE

Here Goes:

LASER

1.  Nothing ever distracts me from my goals (1,2,3)

2.  I strive for my goals until I reach them–no matter what.  (1.2,3)

3.  I always see a project thru to the end.  (1.2,3)

OPTIMAL RISK GAUGE

4. I easily tolerate being outside of my comfort zone (1.2,3)

5.  My decisions never lead to regret (1.2,3)

6.  If somethinhg is too good to be true, the it usually is (1.2,3)

TALENT METER

7.  If I’m not good at something, I find out how to improve (1.2,3)

8.  I can accurately identify potential in others and myself (1,2,3)

9.  It’s easy for me to recognize what I don’t know (1,2,3)

OPPORTUNITY RADAR

10.  I’m good at findng solutions when none seem to exist (1,2,3)

11.  When something goes wrong, I try not to see failure, but the opportunity in the setback (1,2,3)

12.  When I try something and it doesn’t work out the way I want it to, I reboot and find a new way to tackle the problem (1,2,3)

EFFORT ACCELERATOR

13.  I can motivate myself easily (1,2,3)

14.  I rarely procrastinate (1,2,3)

15.  Even if I am in last place, I find the strength to finish the race (1,2,3).

SCORE:

45-50:  You’ve got a good head start.  Your brain power tools are well developed–polish them up and make them more useful to you.

39-30:  Your’re getting there, but still have some room for growth.  You’llbe a quick study.  Some of your brain power tools are operating smoothly, some need some fine-tuning.

29-20:  You’re just starting out, but you can get there.  You have an awareness of your own potential.  By taking on the some new startegies, you’ll go where you want to go.

20 and below:  Perhaps you thought you could never achieve success.  You can.  Like everyone, you have the raw materials to do so, you just need some help in developing those strategies.

Each of these headings in the quiz will be discussed in the following “The Teacher is Talking” series on “The Winner’s Brain.”  For now, class dismissed!