These days I am blogging elsewhere so rarely add to sharewellness. I will share this that I wrote a few days – just a draft to go with a new book….
I remember my grandmother, Nan, saying, “I’m all at sixes and sevens”.
I have always understood this to mean something like these 29 words, “I’m trying to do too many things at once. I have too many choices. I am bit confused. I am not getting much done because I am not focusing.” Now, isn’t that amazing how about 6 words in, “I’m all at sixes and sevens”, translates in my head to my 29 word explanation.
It is this ability to say so much so succinctly that attracts me to the use of these cultural sayings. They are cultural though and I need be aware that many people will not know the sayings I use and believe I that understand.
There is a good reason why I have started here with ‘sixes and sevens’
A few years ago I emailed a mind map to Michael in USA. My map had 8 main branches. He emailed back saying it would be easier to understand if it had only 6 or even as few as 5. He suggested this might be true of all mind maps and of all subjects.
I believe he was right. I believe the human mind usually copes really well with up to 5 concepts while adding a 6th or 7th to be kept-in-mind, learned or committed to long-term memory is far harder.
This graph is purely my belief, for me, having given a lot of thought to how I learn and go on to share ideas. The line is an exponential trend, where points 1, 2 ,3 and 4 are just about on the trend, going up, as we might expect, with it being a little more difficult to keep everything in mind as we add an extra idea.
I then find 5 ideas in a set easier than the trend would predict.
In order to memorize 7 ideas in a set, such as ‘The 7 Habits of Highly effective People’ I find it a huge effort, while 8 ideas or more rarely seems worth the effort.
Here is an example of something I have not memorized, “The 12 Step Plan for Overcoming Addictions”. I know it exists and believe it to be great for those who are able to stick with it, but it is not a list of steps I am ever likely to commit to memory.
I do not want you to be, “All at sixes and sevens” and certainly not at “Elevens and 12’s!” so throughout this book/program I am going to be presenting sets of ideas in the way that works for me and that is mainly in 4’s and 5’s.
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