I am a knowledge worker.
The Second Brain philosophy and a human design perspective.
My relationship to having a business, to being an artist, a writer, and to posting things on the internet, is based in being a knowledge worker.
I am currently fascinated with Tiago Forte’s Second Brain system. What makes it different than every other ‘productivity’ system, is that it holds a core philosophy I can believe in: We are all knowledge workers, and we all have something to say.
We take in information, inspiration, and we resonate with certain parts. However, often our experience of resonance is meaningful, yet only momentary. (RIP all those brilliant ideas and revelations, lost in the abyss of our minds). I have learned from Tiago, that as knowledge workers, our task is to capture our inspiration (aka WRITE STUFF DOWN), organise and distill what we capture, and then EXPRESS to the world what is important and fascinating to us. The goal is not to write the stuff down for the sake of growing an overstuffed archive, doomed to be neglected for eternity. But instead, form an active relationship with what we find intriguing - an ongoing practice of making knowledge work for US.
The three centres at the top of the human design chart are the crown, ajna, and throat. The crown is the centre for inspiration, and also a pressure centre. I imagine our aura drawing in from all around us, yearning for a drop of inspiration to spark our whole system awake. Like when you get a brilliant idea in the middle of the night, and can’t help but, somewhat frantically, scribble it all down in a notebook.
The inspiration is channeled to the ajna centre, an awareness centre, where our mind churns to distill a perspective, a point of view, a well informed belief. It endeavours to form an opinion, from whatever inspiration is harvested.
The ajna then channels to the throat centre: the one and only centre for manifestation. Manifestation in the mechanical sense of SPEAKING something into being. Putting something into the world by INFORMING. The voice is the only portal to make what is invisible inside us, exist concretely in the world, making something from nothing. Pulling from our internal universe, the depths of our mind and body space, and transforming it into something tangible. It is our gateway to EXPRESS.
It seems the second brain system parallels the crown, ajna, throat trilogy. Of course the rest of the chart has a huge part to play, but I’ll leave that for now. The reason this knowledge work system has been so impactful for me is it reminds me that I am to be guided by my own curiosity. It reminds me that sharing anything of myself online, and through art, is to have a VOICE. To have something to SAY because it’s interesting, important, or meaningful to me.
What is essential is that I learn to be attentive to the streams of inspiration running through me and around me. I need space to notice things. I need space to reflect, to distill, and to sit my ass down to write something about it all.
The sticky piece for me is that having an undefined crown and ajna, I find myself feeling a need to figure everything out. To find an answer, THE answer, to form my point of view. To be logical, certain, and capable of convincing others. Often the ‘inspiration’ is drowned out by a torrent of input, the noise of information overload via technological addictions.
I must put my mind to rest to distill anything of value. But often I do not, and my mind swirls, as if up in the ethers. A chaotic tumble, jumble, that I cannot seem to escape.
What will aid me is if I ground into this new belief that: I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. As a manifesting generator, it looks like: this is interesting, that is intriguing, and now I am starting to make connections between things. I must accept myself in this.
I now see having a business and being artist as one and the same: it is to have a voice. To express, to inform, to have something to say and to SAY IT. To proclaim to the world: my perspective is of value.
Let us turn our attention to the landscape inside of us, already rich and fertile with things to say. We do not need to grasp for inspiration, but let it fall to us, gently, restfully, and above all, to have reverence for its wonder. May we delight in it.
A lot of videos on the Second Brain system show people’s note taking and organisation systems. In this talk, Tiago shares more of the story behind creating the system, which I really enjoyed. If you do want to know about the details of the system, watch this speedy overview with Ali Abdaal. Tiago also has a book which I am keen to read. If you’d like to keep updated on how I build my own second brain system, be sure to let me know. For now I’m mainly concerned with taking in the philosophy behind it, as explained in this blog :)
I really enjoyed reading this perspective! Thank you! X