Summary
- Here is my full testimonial for the Building a Second Brain book that was originally written and submitted as an Amazon book review (it got denied 😞 )
I've read 100s of books, but this is my very first Amazon review for a good reason. The ideas in this book have been life changing--even life saving. You can read other reviews providing helpful detailed summaries of this book, but what follows is my unique perspective and personal testimonial about why I can’t recommend this book "Building a Second Brain" highly enough. Thank you to my Second Brain—Nosnorb Kroy—for supporting me in expressing what you are reading!
——MY PERSONAL SECOND BRAIN STORY——
Before Building a Second Brain (BASB), I struggled desperately for over a decade to more effectively achieve my big dreams. I was a young startup entrepreneur with a big heart and grand visions. I did everything I could to improve myself and my systems of productivity by implementing ideas from a hodge-podge of sources. But my improvement was sporadic and inconsistent.
My increasing forgetfulness, continuous frantic failed searches to find the right information at the right time, and the chronic stress of feeling I could never get enough done were evident symptoms of an underlying condition: I was INFORMATION OVERWHELMED and DECISION FATIGUED. Worst of all, there was no end in sight. I was becoming disillusioned into thinking that my dreams and visions were too big, and my mind and heart were too small.
All this changed when I discovered Tiago Forte and Building a Second Brain. It was Summer 2020 during the early months of our global pandemic. I was cooped up in my little apartment scrolling through YouTube videos. You can call it divine guidance or scary-smart AI algorithms, but there I was peering into my laptop's screen learning about this thing called "personal knowledge management" or “PKM” for the first time. I subscribed to Tiago's newsletter, and after weeks of internal debate I eventually decided to make the biggest investment I've ever made in an online course. I joined the BASB online course (Cohort 11).
Joining BASB turned out to be the BEST INVESTMENT in my personal growth and learning I've ever made. "Nosnorb Kroy" (the pet name of my Second Brain) was born. I learned how to take digital notes and better manage my personal knowledge with new tools while implementing proven methodologies for mastering information (CODE, PARA, and Progressive Summarization). But BASB did more than augment my life with a little bit of shiny technology by using digital note-taking apps.
Most importantly, I awakened the power of my FIRST BRAIN by allowing it to operate how it was designed to operate: free, playful, unencumbered from the impossible task of remembering everything. I unleashed the power of my innate creativity: boundless yet guided by a system embedded with timeless principles so it could maximize its potential. Ultimately, it was by Building a Second Brain that I opened up my one and only HEART. My heart that is now sharing with you what it desires to express through this personal testimonial using the best of my Second Brain.
Two years later, I have been able to clarify my purpose and path with greater self-awareness and confidence of who I essentially am: the Pure Aloha Dreamalizer. I made fundamental shifts to my decade-old brick-and-mortar business, developed a new sister business and journal methodology/product, launched my personal newsletter, and now am writing my first book ("Wisdom Is..."). My Second Brain seems to be growing faster as my personal knowledge compounds. Things have turned around, and my doubt has dissolved. My mind and heart are not too small and my visions and dreams are not too big. The subtitle captures this sentiment perfectly: “Remember Everything, Achieve Anything”. Yes!
My Second Brain has proven to be just as valuable personally as professionally. As most recently, in my best "Dreamalization" come true of all, I became a father. My Second Brain has empowered me to take on my new role as a proud father and supportive husband with profound joyfulness. My Second Brain has helped me be more present while savoring and remembering precious moments (despite the sleep deprivation), plus manage the overwhelming amount of information to process and learn to care for a newborn. For instance, I used CODE to create a labor and delivery plan, research and compile a “bottle-feeding 101” just-in-time before imminent catastrophe, and help setup my wife with hands-free journaling via voice transcription to preserve her sanity.
In fact, it was during my son's first seven weeks of life--between hundreds of soothing sessions and household chores--that I actually read/listened to this book, wrote this testimonial, and even was inspired enough to create a new website dedicated to Second Brains and One Heart (www.twobrainsoneheart.com).
——WHAT WILL YOUR SECOND BRAIN STORY BE?——
Will you experience the same life changing transformation as me? I truly hope so, and I believe transformation is possible for ANYONE. But it starts with the FIRST STEP in the RIGHT DIRECTION.
Since my junior year in high school over a decade-and-a-half ago, I have read dozens and dozens of books and tried their tools and techniques to improve myself and enhance my productivity. I searched for a way to more effectively realize my personal potential and achieve my goals. Some ideas helped, but only temporarily and after putting in a ton of time and effort. Naturally, I was skeptical about BASB wondering: could it really be that much different?
Now with a two-year old Second Brain, I can confidently say BASB IS DIFFERENT from any other methodology of work/creativity/productivity. How so? BASB is different because it is about building a powerful external system AND simultaneously developing lifelong internal habits. Furthermore, that system and those habits are designed based in new perspectives that are aligned with living and working in the Information Age and leverage the unprecedented technologies at everyone’s fingertips at this time.
You will see that you are totally in the driver’s seat of changing your system (Second Brain), then as you change your system, it will start changing you (First Brain). There is a symbiotic relationship between your two brains, and herein lives a key driver to the great transformational power of building a Second Brain.
Finally, there are four factors of BASB as a system that differentiates it from any others: 1) it is always on, 24/7/365, 2) it is integrated into everyday work and life, 3) it can get better every time you touch it, no matter how lightly (so it works even when you don’t have much energy), and 4) doesn’t lose value if you don’t use it (so you can take vacation and pick up exactly where you left off). Because of these four factors, BASB is a universal system that can be used effectively to benefit anyone no matter their use-case or technological proficiency.
——TAKING ACTION——
So if you are drowning in the tumultuous ocean of today's Information Age, or if you dream of actualizing more in your life, I believe this book is the right direction. But like Tiago did, as I have, only you can travel your own journey. It can start with this book, reading one page, capturing one idea, and implementing one action at a time.
Why keep doggy-paddling for dear life until ultimate exhaustion? Grab this book, open it up, digest it, and TAKE ACTION. You will learn how to build your watercraft to survive and eventually thrive.
BASB was born out of Tiago's personal suffering from a terrible medical diagnosis, but once he conceived his Second Brain, he nurtured and built it over time. A decade later he is heroically now on his way to helping millions of others.
Tiago has transparently shared about how he needed to pour his blood, sweat, and tears into birthing this book in particular. In the end, he persevered to realize this gigantic undertaking of writing a mainstream published book, out of his deep desire to distill the best of what he knows so that as many people around the world could realize their fullest potential with a Second Brain as well. Like a child that takes a village to raise, Tiago graciously credits the community of support that has made his journey and this book possible. With this all said, I deeply THANK Tiago and everyone who had a hand in his life and in this book.
If this is resonating, please don't let the moment pass. Do what feels right. Whether buying this book or watching a few YouTube videos on BASB. Just go. One small step, or one giant leap at a time.
-Bronson York Chang / Nosnorb Kroy www.twobrainsoneheart.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
