It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves
Edmund Hillary
A couple of days ago, I sent my dear friend the poem Plava zijezda (Blue star) by Mika Antic and got an unexpected answer. She wrote “We learned that in primary school.“ Nothing else. Just that. I started joking and told her to turn on the right side of the brain and feel the poetry.
As many of you know, the left-brain hemisphere is responsible for linear thinking, seeks certainty and structure and deals with numbers and words. It wants to know about now and the next steps. Unlike it, the right brain hemisphere is non-linear, intuitive and speaks through symbols, colors, tones and sensations. It doesn’t have to know WHY; it recognizes that it is.
Many people are mostly in one or the other part of the brain, but it would be excellent if there was the right balance and a good “right-left” mixture.
For example, many are surprised to find out that some IT guys are excellent at painting or lawyers at singing.
It certainly happened to me when I started coaching. A lot of people couldn’t connect it with banking, figures, and balance sheet. In my own search towards the right hemisphere, it was a useful step and a missing piece of the puzzle. To remind you, coaching is “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
Two sides of the brain need to work together. The benefits are clear:
- you become better at problem-solving because you can approach the issue from both perspectives;
- you have dynamic days because you do and feel many different things;
- you meet different people;
- you have more fun, gain rich experience and live a more colorful life.
