Seja Singular! - Jacob Petry, Valdir Bündchen

Did you know that it is essential to be always aware of the movements that happen around you? In the book "Seja Singular!", Jacob Petry and Valdir Bündchen give examples of its importance and guidelines to build this behavior.

In the case of a company, by focusing on a fixed strategy that are working, the future may be damaged by not realizing the changes that are happening around it. This is what the authors show us quoting the example of the history of companies like Blockbuster, among others.

Predict the future and create creative solutions are one of the most important qualities for the future!

Got interested to learn how to get these qualities? Stay with us in this summary and discover how!

About the book "Seja Singular!"

"Seja Singular!" was published by Faro Editorial Publishing in 2018. It is divided into 3 parts: Theory of Mentality, Practical Intelligence, and Hidden Advantages.

In this sublime book, Jacob Petry and Valdir Bündchen, father of the model Gisele Bündchen, reveal a different way to overcome our limitations by opening our eyes to the great potential that exists in each of us.

The image we have about ourselves can help or hinder achieving what we call success. The work proposes to us a new reality, which begins with the change of our way of thinking!

About the authors Jacob Petry and Valdir Bündchen

Valdir Bündchen is a sociologist and master of sustainable development, postgraduate in Marketing Administration and New Business Management. Provides training on career planning for 30 years. He is the creator of the Self Knowledge Profile Study method.

Jacob Petry is a naturalized Brazilian journalist and researcher in the United States. He studies philosophy of mind and the psychology of cognition. He is also the author of many books, such as "The 16 Laws of Success".

To whom is this book indicated?

For those who desire true personal transformation, discover and experience their innate potential and move on to a new reality.

And also, for those who want to change their results, regardless if you are renowned entrepreneurs or new to the market.

Main ideas of the book "Seja Singular!"

• The image we have about us may or may not make it easier to reach success;
• The thought process can be automatic or controlled, we must make it controlled;
• Using time, energy, relationships and capital (both intellectual and financial) to channel them towards your goals will make a huge difference in the future;
• There are 4 mindset models that define aspects of innovative and creative individuals: philosophical mindset, scenario mindset, strategic mindset, and action mindset;
• The success attributed to luck is the consequence of acts that were previously performed;
• We cannot allow our mental molds to hold us in an unwanted reality;
• We can be more creative if we learn how the process of creation works.

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Overview: Part I - The theory of mindset

In the first chapter, we are presented to the theory of mindset, which talks mainly about the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and the Multiple Intelligences, a concept by Howard Gardner, published in the book "Structures of the Mind" in 1983.

The authors Jacob Petry and Valdir Bündchen make an analysis of what intelligence is based on Howard's book.

Two well-known concepts are exposed: the idea that intelligence is an innate ability, which involves the ability of reason, understand complex ideas, and learn quickly. And also the idea of "multiple talents", born of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.

The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is part of our belief about the intelligent person. Who has the highest IQ, logically is smarter. Most people think that way, don't they?

In Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory, the idea of limited and natural knowledge is rejected. For him, we all have various types of intelligence, be it linguistic, musical, mathematical, spatial and so on. We all have many kinds of intelligence.

Inferiority Complex induced

The authors also deal with Induced Impotence, which can be explained as the way we are induced (by ourselves and others) to see ourselves as limited and incapable people.

When we are led to believe that we have no control over a situation, the natural tendency is to act passively. The consequences of this induction are severe.

If you have an inferiority complex that comes from mental programming that says you're not as handsome or smart as you should be, in any situation you find yourself in, your authenticity will be blocked by fear of powerlessness.

Our self-image is distorted and unreal, a reflection of an idea you have about yourself and is induced in you. We see the world according to the way we have been conditioned to see it by our induced mental molds, and that is a danger!

Success and Wealth are consequences of our way of dealing with the world

We can think of intelligence in two main ways: as a fixed factor and something that we were born with, or as a potential that can be developed throughout life.

The authors concluded, by analyzing a social experiment that took place at the University of Hong Kong, that it is not intelligence that defines the positive or negative results of the future, but the way we see ourselves.

Thinking is more important than other factors such as intelligence, talent, creativity, and knowledge. In fact, all of these factors are secondary when it comes to achieve success.

The primary and fundamental factor is our mindset. Wealth and success are consequences of our way of thinking.

Overview: Part II - Practical intelligence

In this part of the book "Seja Singular!", we are presented to a strategy of correct world interpretation to get to our goals.

It is a mistake to think that people with extraordinary performances are born with exceptional talents. The idea that some are born with characteristics superior to others has to be forgotten, we are all the same. The only point that sets us apart is the way of thinking, the mindse t and practical intelligence.

The latter is a skill that enables a person to organize their resources for the best of themselves, the ability to correctly interpret a situation, and the action from that interpretation to create the desired result.

People with a high level of practical intelligence often have specific characteristics that make up the Four Models of Mindset: the philosophical, the scenario, the strategic, and finally the action. These mindset models can and should be learned.

First, a quick reading of the actual situation occurs. Then there is a projection of the ideal scenario. With the ideal situation in mind, the focus becomes the strategy that can lead us from one situation to another, and ultimately it is the turn of action, the execution of strategy.

The desired adversity

The opening sentence of the chapter is by the writer Mark Manson:

"The most radical changes happen after the worst experiences. Only in the face of intense pain we are ready to reevaluate our values and examine our shortcomings."

If we face a problem with determination, and we can remedy it, our strengths increase, and consequently the coping power as well. It all depends on how we act when we face an adversity, and this leads us to believe that there is a certain kind of adversity that can be considered "good" because it makes us so much stronger.

Aristotle's Misconception

The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that all questions are answered with one theory, which is called theory of efficient cause. For him, this was a common force behind the origin of all that exists. An olive tree, as an example, is the result of an olive seed that will generate the tree, its ultimate cause.

Even today, we believe the same logic can be applied to everything, we are trained to think that an efficient cause always produces a final cause. The student who studies, learns and becomes prepared, will have a successful life. We see that this is not quite how things happen.

Looking at different perspectives, the lesson in the book is that it is not an efficient cause that influences our attitudes, but the ultimate cause, contrary to Aristotle's concept.

Overview: Part III - Hidden Advantages

Why are some people successful and others not? Maslow's pyramid can explain why some people fail to achieve their goals even trying a lifetime.

According to Maslow's pyramid, we can see that human beings have three kinds of needs: biological, psychological and social, all of them requires a number of smaller efforts that must be done.

This is organized into five levels:

1. At the bottom;
2. Physiological needs;
3. Safety;
4. Social needs: recognition and self-esteem;
5. Personal achievements.

What remains of this information, which has intrigued the academic world, is the fact that, as Marlow concluded, only after we satisfy one kind of primary need we are able to seek satisfying another one.

Marlow assumes the importance of exploring our talents and capabilities but concludes that we will only be motivated to do so once we have met the other four levels of need.

Therefore, it is much easier for a citizen who doesn't have to worry about having food for their children by the end of the month, for example, to achieve personal and professional fulfillment.

The Alchemist's Secret

Paulo Coelho's famous book "The Alchemist" has become a classic work that has been translated into seventy-three languages, is marketed in over 160 countries, and has completed 212 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Despite all this, Paulo Coelho claims to write the work in just two weeks. Where does creativity come from to write a classic work like "The Alchemist", or create famous paintings like Picasso's? Can we learn to be creative?

A study by Columbia University tells us that creativity can be learned, not a trait limited to genetics. We can broaden our creativity by learning how the creative process works. You can become a very creative person if you learn to think differently.

"Creativity is always an advance of something that already exists."

Thinking is, above all, an act of comparison. Since all creation is born of a thought, nothing we can create is totally original. So, to be creative is to know that there is a starting point for everything and to innovate from it.

Luck and bad luck

Are those who achieve celebrated performances in life only benefit from high doses of luck compared to the rest of us?

To be considered lucky, an event must happen unpredictably, without direct or indirect interference from the recipient. If an event is predictable, it is the result of an earlier event, the consequences of which caused its predictability.

Therefore, for something to be considered a result of luck or even bad luck, it must be beyond our control.

For Jacob and Valdir, when talking about chances, what sets winners apart from ordinary people is not the luck or bad luck they come across in life, but the way they see these events, and that attitude depends on their cultivated mindset.

The idea that we are the result of luck or bad luck limits us and takes away our responsibility of actions, nullifying our power of choice. Life-long results aren't about luck, they depend on our daily attitudes.

Freud's Syndrome

Sartre once said:

"Man is nothing, but becomes a being by building his own freedom."

What does that mean?

Sartre states that there is nothing, no economic, historical, social, etc. barrier that can exclude our choice to be free. Not only do we have freedom, but we also have a responsibility to build it.

But a study in the 1990s of more than 17, 000 volunteers found that people who had suffered childhood trauma had complications in their physical and mental health.

What can be concluded, according to the authors, is that observing the data from this study, there is no doubt that many of the volunteers were unquestionably victims of their childhood life context.

The idea that 80% of our personality is formed before the age of fourteen was already stated by Sigmund Freud in the early twentieth century and is well accepted to this day.

Factors (biological or cultural), with their eventual traumas, are part of the coin at random, while our mind is the other. This is what defines how we will act in the face of life's adversities.

Freud's syndrome is present when we believe that our problems are the result of our childhood traumas, always blaming childhood failure, reinforcing a negative relationship with past events.

We need to make a conscious effort to change our thinking so that we don't stagnate.

What do other authors say about it?

In "Out of Our Minds", Ken Robinson says that everyone is born with natural talents, but few are the ones who discover what they are and how to develop them. Thus, it can be concluded that everyone has the creative ability, the challenge is to develop them, because it requires a lot of discipline and work.

"Soft Skill Based Leadership" is a compilation of articles by many professionals. The work points out that emotional intelligence determines our response to the experience we are living in. This response can be impulsive or controlled. To develop this skill, we need self-knowledge.

Paula Marques and Ricardo Cayolla, in "The Super-Human Age", affirm that the future will belong to those who learn more skills and know how to agree with creativity. However, they emphasize that what is most important is "how to learn".

Okay, but how can I apply this to my life?

• We all have some kind of intelligence and talent. Focus on it now!
• Go over a problem with determination and become a stronger person;
• Creativity can be learned, we must understand how the creative process works to expand it;
• For everything there is a starting point, innovate from it;
• Life-long results doesn't depend on bad luck or luck, it is about our actions;
• Wealth and success are consequences of the way everyone sees the world, seeks to change their daily view;

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