Left Brain vs. Right Brain
Your brain has two hemispheres, or sides – left and right – and each has different abilities. For example, your ability to be creative, to dream, to have a vision of the future, is on the right side of your brain. Your ability to make logical, practical plans and execute those plans is on the left side.
Entrepreneurs and the Brain
Many would-be entrepreneurs have a wonderful vision of the future but have little or no plan of how to get there. They are right-brain dominant. On the other hand, many others who start their own business possess very practical or technical skills with no real ability to see the “larger picture”. They are left-brain dominant.
Unfortunately, both groups have a high failure rate because they do not fully utilize the natural abilities in both sides of their brains.
Tips for Using Your Whole Brain
So how can you use the natural power of both sides of your brain to not just dream, but to also make those dreams come true? Here are some tips for you:
- When creating your vision, stimulate the right side of your brain by putting logic aside for a while and allowing yourself to dream and be creative – unleash the power of your imagination.
- Use as many senses as possible to record your vision. For example, write it down, draw it or find pictures that represent what you want and create a vision board. Tell others about it. By the way, because each sense has its own location in your brain, the more senses you involve, the more brainpower you’ll use.
- Once you have created and recorded your vision, it is time to simulate the left side of your brain – the practical side. Think of the vision you created as the destination. Now plan concrete and logical steps to reach that destination and make it a reality.
- Document the plan and place it and your vision board somewhere where you will see them frequently. Every time you see them, they activate the areas of the brain you used to create them, bringing your dream closer to reality.
Ned Herrmann, a neuroscientist and author of The Whole Brain Business Book, calls this sort of processing, “whole brain functioning”.
Instead of using only the dominant side of your brain, capture the natural power of both sides, and you’ll be wildly more successful.
