[0:00]What does being a genius even mean? I personally believe it's the ability to see connections that other people don't see and come up with ideas and solutions that are truly useful.
[0:11]It's solving problems that others can't solve because you can make connections they miss. We've been taught a misleading story about genius people in my opinion.
[0:21]We're told that Einstein just naturally understood physics in a ways others couldn't or that Darwin somehow magically conceived of evolution that Da Vinci was simply born with extraordinary abilities.
[0:33]But what if being genius isn't something you're born with but something you build through specific cognitive habits.
[0:40]When you actually study how these genius people worked, you discover something completely different.
[0:46]For example, Darwin didn't have a sudden Eureka moment where evolution like appeared to him.
[0:52]He actually spent decades meticulously documenting observations around multiple fields like biology, geology, animal husbandry, and countless notebooks.
[1:02]Him being genius wasn't in his genetics, it was in his system for capturing and connecting knowledge across domains.
[1:10]Or let's take like Da Vinci. Da Vinci filled thousands of notebooks pages with observations, sketches, and questions.
[1:18]His notebooks weren't just art, you know.
[1:21]They were a systematic approach to understanding how everything from human anatomy to water flow or maybe to light and shadow work together.
[1:29]He intentionally studied across disciplines and documented the connections.
[1:34]What's fascinating is that none of them were like considered extraordinary as children.
[1:39]For example, Einstein was like famously talked to be a poor student and Darwin's father believed he would amount to nothing.
[1:45]What set them apart wasn't the ability or how smart they were, but it was the systems that they developed.
[1:52]I've been like obsessively studying these days around how the mind works and have been experimenting with different systems for developing almost like a genius level thinking, I would say.
[2:01]And what I've discovered is that there's like a fundamental problem with how most of us approach learning and thinking.
[2:08]Or at least I used to approach in a wrong way. In my opinion, most of us are using like fragmented, single system approaches when we actually need a dual system method that I call cognitive synthesis.
[2:20]Which is like deliberately practicing to connect ideas across domains to create new insights, basically.
[2:25]So the question isn't are you smart enough but rather are you using the right cognitive systems?
[2:32]Today, I'm going to break down exactly how cognitive synthesis works and how you can implement it using tools that amplify your brain's natural abilities.
[2:42]And both of the tools are free to start with. This isn't about like being smarter than everyone else or I don't know, flexing or anything, but it's more about seeing connections that others miss and developing a habit of insight that others can't come up with.
[2:56]Because I feel like that's the thing that we call as being genius.
[3:00]Sorry, my stomach is growling, I'm so hungry.
[3:04]If you want the summary and actually apply what you learned from this video, I actually have a free PDF guide about my method and it's in the link in the description below.
[3:13]So don't forget to check it out. It's completely free. So I basically discovered that we need to develop like two complementary thinking systems to achieve almost like a genius level thinking or coming up with those insides.
[3:23]And I call these the database brain and the spatial brain. Basically, the data database brain is your like structured, organized, and like a very connection-rich knowledge system.
[3:34]This is where information gets catalogued, tagged, and linked together in a way your mind can easily retrieve and connect later.
[3:41]It's like logical, sequential, and focused on relationships between concepts.
[3:45]And the spatial brain is your visual, intuitive, and pattern-seeking system.
[3:50]This is where you arrange your ideas spatially and visualize connections and allow your mind to see patterns that linear thinking might miss.
[3:59]It's like more creative and it's more focused on emergent insights.
[4:03]I realized that there were three key mistakes that I was doing.
[4:07]So first of all, I was reading a lot and widely, but I didn't have a system for connecting what I learned across different domains.
[4:14]Like knowledge remained fragmented. And then secondly, I was relying heavily on just one system.
[4:19]Some people are like truly organized, but lack visual thinking skills, and others are highly creative, but lack structured knowledge.
[4:28]So without both systems working together, you'll hit a basically a ceiling.
[4:32]And the third, most of us don't deliberately practice making connections.
[4:36]Like I wasn't making to practice connections. I used to like consume information passively rather than actively seeking unexpected connections between ideas.
[4:43]But I've discovered is that when you combine like two approaches, the structure plus creativity, that's where like genius level insight actually comes.
[4:52]Because the database brain gives you the raw materials and relationships, while the spatial brain reveals patterns and generates insights that wouldn't be obvious otherwise.
[5:01]By like deliberately engaging both in linear thinking and creative thinking, you're literally rewiring your neural pathways to think more comprehensively.
[5:10]I'm going to show you exactly how to build both of these systems using Obsidian for your database brain and Milanote for your spatial brain.
[5:17]And also I'm going to show like some specific practices to train your mind to make connections that other might miss.
[5:24]Let's start with developing your database brain. I started like using Obsidian a few months ago actually for my personal knowledge management and this is the place where my knowledge can live, grow, and most importantly actually connect each other.
[5:37]I still use like Notion for project management, but that's for another video.
[5:40]For my personal knowledge management, I use Obsidian.
[5:43]And what makes Obsidian powerful for like cognitive synthesis isn't just it stores information, but how it enables connections between pieces of information which I was like missing in Notion.
[5:54]This is actually really important because like this level of thinking isn't about how much you know, it's actually more about how you connect what you know.
[6:01]And let me walk you through the key techniques that make this works.
[6:05]So first thing first, what I do is that I do brain dump and connect notes.
[6:08]This is basically the foundation of the system. And a common scenario for me would be like, let's say like I'm scrolling on Instagram and I see a great reel about maybe I don't know, branding that has a useful thing that I could use later.
[6:20]The old me would just hit like save on the right corner of the Instagram and forget about it.
[6:25]But the question is, when was the last time that you actually went through your saved items on your Instagram?
[6:30]I don't know about you, but for me personally, the information there just like sits unused and I just like forget about it and it just satisfies my ego momentarily.
[6:38]But the thing is that learning happens when we do something with the information, you know, if you just know, it's meaningless actually.
[6:44]So, what I started to do differently is that now I create a new note in Obsidian with the relevant details, but the crucial part is explaining why I wanted to save that information and why it's relevant to me.
[6:55]Because I forget why I save that in the first place.
[6:58]Then I do two important things. I use brackets to link it to bigger notes like this and this connects us to my knowledge network.
[7:07]Think of it like an organizing books in a library, because you wouldn't put like irrelevant books next to each other, right? Even though I put it here, ignore it, please.
[7:14]I also use like hashtags for searchability like marketing slash branding.
[7:18]Even though it's simple, but this actually creating a dynamic growing network of knowledge that helped me see connections I would otherwise miss.
[7:25]The second technique is establishing a regular learning habit.
[7:29]I'm saying regular because some of you might like doing a daily learning session and some of you might want to do it intensely during weekends or some of the days that you pick or even like once a month, I don't know.
[7:41]The important thing is that you do it consistently. I personally do dedicate time every day to like adding new notes and connecting existing notes.
[7:49]Because I'm quite bad at sticking habits if I'm not like doing them every single day, okay? So do whatever works for you. You know what's best for you.
[7:55]And the third technique is space repetition. I regularly revisit my notes on Obsidian and it does two things.
[8:01]First, it cements the knowledge in my mind and it often leads to actually new connections as my like understanding deepens over time.
[8:08]And one of the most powerful futures of Obsidian is how it visualizes your thinking.
[8:12]By the way, I'm not sponsored by Obsidian. Because like you link your notes to each other and can link the same notes to multiple places.
[8:19]So you basically create a network of ideas that becomes visible through the graph view.
[8:25]Some people have like a cancer looking graph views, by the way.
[8:28]And it's not like only a aesthetical thing, but it actually reveals the architecture of your thinking and highlights connections you might not have consciously realized, which is amazing.
[8:37]It sort of like seeing the invisible threads between your ideas and this approach combines elements from the Zettelkasten method with modern linking techniques creating what some call a map of content.
[8:48]Most importantly, though, as this like network grows, it starts to reveal the gaps in your knowledge because you can see it visually.
[8:56]You know, the areas that are densely connected and which might need more exploration, I think this is perfect for directing your learning.
[9:04]Database brain becomes most powerful when you develop the habit of asking, how does this new information connect to what I already know?
[9:11]It's a very simple question, but it activates the cognitive synthesis by forcing your mind to build bridges between ideas rather than storing them in isolation.
[9:19]Because like for years, I was getting paralyzed when I opened the Obsidian because A, it was so different than what I got used to, you know, like Notion and Apple notes.
[9:28]And the tutorials on YouTube are, I feel like unnecessarily complicated, correct me if I'm wrong.
[9:33]But I procrastinated ages to learn because they were so complicated.
[9:37]But after using it for a while, I can say that like Obsidian is not about creating a complex system or using it's every single feature from day one, at all.
[9:46]Like you have to start simple with Obsidian, you know, instead of taking like a top-down approach, you need to take a bottom-up approach where you learn as you go or add features when you actually need them.
[9:54]Because the most important thing is building the habit of capturing ideas and deliberately connecting them, not like, I don't know, using a very niche thing that Obsidian offers.
[10:05]Now let's talk about developing your spatial brain. This is where Milanote comes in, who is kindly sponsoring a portion of this video.
[10:11]I've been genuinely using Milanote for years and I love how I make creative connections.
[10:15]And I'm not saying this because I'm only like sponsored, but I've been using this thing for years.
[10:19]And unlike text-based tools, Milanote gives you a visual canvas where ideas can be arranged spatially.
[10:25]And I want to show you how I use Milanote for cognitive synthesis through three key techniques.
[10:30]So first, visual organization, especially for design related concepts or if you are a visual learner like me, like I got to see it visually.
[10:38]You know, and it actually allows you to understand and retain information better.
[10:41]Personally for me, it did. For some reason, when I don't like see how each information is connecting in a visual way, I just don't understand it and creating Milanote boards helps me a lot.
[10:51]Because sometime like drawing can be really complicated. And second, cross-domain boards. When I'm like brainstorming on something, I clip stuff on internet that is relevant to the topic, I'm brainstorming on Milanote.
[11:00]And it's basically a free Chrome extension that you can add.
[11:04]And I intentionally mix elements from completely different fields like, for example, combining ideas from maybe psychology, design, and business on a single canvas when it comes to like say coming up for my thumbnail ideas and stuff like that.
[11:15]And then I organize them visually on Milanote.
[11:18]It helps me a lot with like connecting irrelevant dots and come up with something new, which is essentially what creativity is, you know.
[11:25]Not only is actually good for my like personal thinking, but it's also really useful for team collaboration because sometimes words are not enough to describe something you're thinking about or the vision you're seeing.
[11:34]And different people can bring different expertise on the table in just one page because you can collaborate with people.
[11:40]It's awesome. I love it. And the third thing is that question-focused workspaces. Instead of like organizing boards according to their topics, I actually create boards around a specific problem or a specific question that I'm looking for an answer or trying to solve.
[11:53]This like shifts thinking from passive collection to active problem solving.
[11:58]For example, rather than a board labels marketing, I might create one called, how can we make our message more memorable?
[12:04]Milanote is not the place where I store my ideas, but instead, I use it to actively think and see new connections.
[12:10]When you can literally move concepts around and visually connect them, you start thinking in ways that generate deeper insights that you would never have only by writing down in a text.
[12:20]Especially in team meetings, actually, it's so good.
[12:23]If you're interested, Milanote is completely free to get started.
[12:27]I have a link in the description below. Okay, so now let's talk about practices and habits that have dramatically improved my ability to absorb, retain, and connect information.
[12:37]So, the first one is, what information should you actually be consuming?
[12:41]This is where the concept of areas of interest actually becomes crucial and I learned this from a Japanese book titled 天才はいらない。天才になる習慣があるだけ。
[12:51]Which translates to there are no geniuses, there are only genius level habits.
[12:56]And basically the core principle is that you have to cut out the noise and only consume high quality, valuable information.
[13:02]So, what are areas of interest? Areas of interest are the specific domains, topics, or subjects that you intentionally choose to focus your learning on.
[13:09]Think of them as a third 30s on your personal knowledge map that you want to explore deeply.
[13:15]For example, like my area of interest include cognitive psychology, digital marketing, video production, bio hacking, and knowledge management systems.
[13:23]And these are the fields where I want to develop deep expertise and want to learn actively.
[13:28]So, why do you need to define your area of interest? First of all, cognitive bandwidth is limited, you know, your brain can only process so much information.
[13:37]By pre-defining what's important to you, you create a filter that helps preserve your mental energy.
[13:42]It allows you to connect high quality information, as the book says.
[13:46]And as the book says, you should decide on expertise where you want, want to like lose to anyone around you and dig deeply into it.
[13:53]Because true mastery requires focus. And the third of all, connection need context. Meaningful connections between ideas are more likely to occur when you have like sufficient depth in related areas, because surface level knowledge leads to surface level insights.
[14:07]And in today's world, we're constantly like bombarded with information and without a filter, you will drown in content without developing real understanding.
[14:16]There's so much noise on the internet. Here's the practical process that I use to define my area of interest.
[14:22]First of all, brain dump everything. Write down all the topics that you're generally curious about or that would be useful for your current goals.
[14:29]And second, organize into clusters. You need to group related topics together and you can use Obsidian for this, for example.
[14:35]For example, SEO, content marketing, and social media might cluster under digital marketing.
[14:40]And third, prioritize ruthlessly. Look at your clusters and ask yourself if I could only become an expert in three to five of these areas in the next year.
[14:48]Which would they be? Because you have to be honest about what truly matters to you.
[14:53]And in Obsidian, create a main note for each area of interest using the brackets.
[14:58]For example, digital marketing. These becomes your anchor points of your knowledge network, the main piece.
[15:04]And for each area, define what like expertise looks like for you.
[15:08]What do you want to be able to do or understand with that area of interest?
[15:13]Like why does it matter? So how can you implement this in your daily life?
[15:16]Once you have defined your area of interest, here's how to put them into practice.
[15:20]When you come across a new content, you have to ask yourself, is this in one of my area of interest?
[15:25]This actually helped me so much asking this question and asking myself like, will consuming this information bring me closer to my goals?
[15:33]That's like really allowed me to filter down so much noise in the world.
[15:38]Please do it. And the another one that I like is the 80/20 rule.
[15:41]It's basically about aiming to spend around 80% of your learning time with your defined area of interest and 20% on exploring other areas.
[15:49]Because like sometimes you might get a, you might learn something that you didn't know that would connect to the other areas.
[15:55]So it brings new insights. And every month, review your area of interest, because some may no longer be relevant, while new ones can emerge from the 20% irrelevant things that you were consuming.
[16:06]And with each area of interest, aim for depth before breadth.
[16:10]It's better to have like deep expertise in one area than shallow knowledge in many, especially with AI right now.
[16:17]This might like sound overly restrictive, but the reality is that becoming by like more selective, I'm actually able to go deeper in areas that truly matter to me.
[16:26]And the interesting thing is that once you develop like expertise in one area, it often actually branches out into related fields anyway.
[16:33]Like, if you have a depth in one thing, you actually learn multiple things at once.
[16:38]As you build your knowledge network in Obsidian, you start to clearly see the gaps in your understanding.
[16:43]And these gaps are the important parts that we should focus on.
[16:46]Because I found that becoming really good at one thing first, and then expanding outwards is much more effective than being mediocre at many things.
[16:54]And the database structure of Obsidian makes these knowledge gaps visible in a way traditional note taking doesn't, because you wouldn't know where you lack.
[17:01]It personally really helped me to be strategic about what I learn next and what books to read, for example, and that really saved me from like random consumption.
[17:10]Now, you might be thinking like, okay, these sound really cool, but how the hell do I put this in action?
[17:16]So let me share you how you can practically apply it into your own life and start doing today.
[17:21]So the first thing is daily practice. Start with just like 10-15 minutes daily and capture new learnings in Obsidian and make at least one meaningful connection to existing notes.
[17:30]And the key question to ask yourself is that, what did I learn today and how does it connect to what I already know?
[17:36]This is so that like you're not storing information passively, but processing it through the lens of existing knowledge network.
[17:42]And over the time, this habit builds a cognitive habit of making connections automatically.
[17:46]Like, it just becomes a habit to think this way. And the second thing is, set aside 20-30 minutes once a week or maybe, I don't know, once a every quarter, something to create a Milanote board for the current questions and the current projects you're working on.
[17:58]You go online, do a research, clip things that are relevant to your Milanote board.
[18:02]And you don't have to like overcomplicate it. Once you're happy with collecting information, dedicate time just for exploring link between ideas that might not seem related on the surface.
[18:11]Spend time on trying to solve the problem from various viewpoints and it doesn't have to be work related.
[18:17]It can be maybe a life problem that you're have, maybe you're procrastinating a lot.
[18:22]And if you are a serious procrastinator like me, you don't necessarily have to identify all the interest of areas to just get started.
[18:30]Because, for example, like for me, I was thinking like, oh, I have to identify it first and I procrastinated on it, I never did it.
[18:34]So, you can skip that. You can just start by adding new notes and connecting.
[18:38]That can be the first step that you have. Because the most important thing is to start and think in a new way.
[18:44]And if you start doing these things, within weeks, you'll actually start to notice making connections during everyday activities that would have escaped before.
[18:51]You'll become more creative and you will realize that, I promise.
[18:56]And I think this is what like almost like thinking like a genius means.
[18:59]Connecting the dots that others are not connecting and coming up with solutions to the problems that people are not able to solve.
[19:05]Even though people might not let's say like call you, oh, you're an Einstein level genius, but I am sure that it will help you so much in your thinking and creativity.
[19:13]This is a skill and just like any skill, it's learnable and the tools to support them are accessible to anyone, I mean they're free.
[19:20]The only question is that whether you will commit to the practice of continuous learning and improvement and changing your way of thinking.
[19:27]I would love to know your comments about your area of interest and see you soon.
