I recently heard Dr. Ben Carson speak at the Turner auditorium in Baltimore, MD. I had been wanting to hear him for years and felt so fortunate to hear him speak. Here are my notes from that visit.
Ben
Carson’s Big Ideas! John Hopkins
Turner Auditorium May 20th, 2013
Author
of Gifted Hands, Think Big and many other books
The first
25 years of your life is preparing yourself for your career, and then the next 60
years you will reap the benefits of your efforts. Are you willing to work for
it?
Make
Good Decisions!
1. Strive for good grades
2. Work towards good test
scores
3. Have a heart! Acquire
humanitarian qualities.
Caring about people is a MUST!!!
4. Be well rounded – Get
involved in extra-curricular activities
5. Develop LEADERSHIP QUALITES!
6. Build CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF
- Confidence is a MUST!
7. HAVE A POSITIVE APPROACH
WITH PEOPLE – having a positive optimistic approach. For the same problem there
are different approaches
Medical
Field offers steady but hard work
Fields
in or related to the medical field
Inventions
i.e. Imaging
Think
and Think deeply. The brain is
much more complex than any device. It is fast processing, you can’t overload it and you can learn a new fact every
second.
Money
does not make you happy. What can
really make us happy is making a difference in the lives of everyday people
& using your life in a positive way.
Dr.
Carson learned after operating on a young girl for 19 hours in which the
patient died is that we may not be successful in every case, but the key to
real success is to learn from everything. He wrote about this case so it could be researched. Learning from experience and our
mistakes is called WISDOM. For
example if you are always late – learn from it, leave 15 minutes earlier and
you won’t be late! Stupid is not learning from your mistakes! Wisdom
is to learn from your mistakes and to move forward!
Everything
builds on something else in science.
If you don’t understand a concept go back until it is easy for you and
then go forward. Take initiative!
The
brain has no color and the brain is what makes you who you are. Race is superficial BE A DEEP THINKER! Think about others, don’t shun people
who are different. They may very
well make good friends!
Make
no excuses and take responsibility for yourself. Although Ben was a late bloomer, he noticed that the good
students were doing things he wasn’t.
He
asked an important question: How
does a SMART person conduct himself or herself?
1. They listen
2. They ask, “Why is this
important?
3. They go way beyond what the teacher
is teaching!
Ben
was able to change the perception of who he was by observing what good students
did and then by applying what he observed.
Good
students do not watch too much TV.
His mom limited the TV. He
encouraged students to Turn off the TV and ask what are you doing? He learned from his mom to do a lot of
reading and to learn to enjoy reading! Ben learned to manage himself from the 5th
grade and in one and a half years he went from the bottom to the top of the class.
He
read books on topics that he was interested in, books on science and biographies. He
learned to ask important questions from the life of Booker T. Washington, Why
was it illegal for slaves to read?
Because
an educated mind is a liberated mind!
He
concluded it is important to be well informed and well educated!
Ben
urges us to be an informed citizen because the direction of our life is the
direction of our country!
People
of achievement have the following qualities
THINK BIG is Dr. Ben Carson’s
philosophy which promotes outstanding academic achievement and dedication to
helping others. Children, students, and adults have all found that when they
THINK BIG, they are on their way to achieving their goals.
T is for
Talent/time: Recognize them as gifts. Develop your intellectual talent!
H Hope for good things and be honest
I Insight from people and good books. Learn from other’s mistakes!
N Be nice to
all people.
K Knowledge: Recognize it as the key to living. Knowledge, Wisdom & Understanding
– Work at your mind and your mind will work for you!
B Books: Read
them actively.
I In-depth
learning skills: Develop them.
G Dr.
Carson’s "G" is for God. Everyone has their own beliefs. When you
THINK BIG, what does the "G" stand for in your life?
Dr. Carson explains, “The
‘Think Big’ expression is another way of restating one of my mother's favorite
sayings, when I was struggling in school and teased by classmates." She
would tell me, “You can do anything they can do, only you must try to do it
better.”
THINK BIG became Dr. Carson's
formula for personal success. In his book with the same name, he sets forth his
philosophy of living by drawing upon his youth experiences, and present
profession as Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's
Center.
Take
the niceness Pledge for 24 hours be nice to everyone you meet!
Girls
don’t get pregnant! / Guys respect women
We
are so lucky to live in this country! Thank God for the opportunities you have
to do anything you want to. We can
and must do better as a country!
The
responsibility for your education is your responsibility!!!
DR.
BEN CARSON NPR
