In April 1996, Gian-Carlo Rota, a professor of applied mathematics and philosophy at MIT, gave a conference talk titled, “Ten Lessons I Wish I Had Been Taught.”
As his talk wound down, Rota offered practical advice on how to be a genius, recounting a conversation with his late friend and colleague, Richard Feynman. [1]
You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large, they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps. Every once in awhile, there will be a hit, and people will say, ‘How did he do it? He must be a genius!’ [2]
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Problems are an everyday occurrence. Some are ongoing, such as health ailments or financial woes. Others, as is often the case in parenting, are temporary, waiting for a bigger, more rewarding replacement upon its resolution.
When we write our problems down, however, and refer to those problems often—be it a cognitive distortion we’re trying to untwist or a problem we’re trying to crack—we view the world through a lens of unbound potential.
Like a pilot course-correcting mid-flight, we become attentive to people and resources that previously went unnoticed, honing in on what we need to move forward. And in doing so, we unlock the hidden genius that lies within.
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