Today Fed-Ex delivered three copies of November’s issue of Capital Magazine, a glossy finance magazine for top leaders from the magazine’s head office in Dubai, AE. There was my feature story - on page 28 - titled, Keeping the Brain in Mind: Boosting Your Problem Solving Power. But I had to dip deeper than usual to get it there. A math minded readership takes math-related writing, and since we all possess logical math intelligence in some measure, it’s simply a matter of finding and using it.

When Capital’s senior editors asked me for a story about MITA programs and how they boost the brain for problem solving, I dipped into my rather lowly mathematical intelligence to tell a story that might work for people with a penchant for numbers. My story starts… “As strong companies vie for those hard-to-land places at the top, brain based problem solvers can compete with an impressive edge in spite of tough times.” Think my opener will pique curiosity about how to deliver remarkable results, against the backdrop of shifting horizons?

Not that I’m a numbers guru, but it’s fun to tell stories that draw from math parts of the brain, and remember … this intelligence includes logical sequences too. I started with the question, “How could I trigger interest about brain based practices, from readers who think logically or numerical?”

Corporate executives read this magazine for tools to help with the rapid changes that take place in banking, technology, human capital, risk management and, corporate finance. Look below at how numbers speak to show Capital’s estimated readership of 40,000, and you’ll see how math mixes into stories.

Readers, we’re told, include:

- President/Chairman/CEO/Board Members: 35 %
- CFO/VP finance/financial controller: 30 %
- Vice president/Senior managements: 20 %
- Consultants: 6 %
- Procurement/IT managers/Human resources managers: 9 %

Do you use numbers to add zip to your stories? Writers who say they have little logical-math intelligence can develop more through showing ideas in logical order or using numbers as I did here. Can you see how numbers and sequences give more vivid pictures that could easily be lost otherwise? Because math was taught with a narrow focus, that rarely related to real life problems, at times we lost it’s delightful flavors.

My article also drew from mathematical knowing in a sidebar list of eight kinds of intelligence that could solve barriers to productivity. I listed guidelines to show readers how to share something they figured out. And I challenged them to engage their math intelligence in new ways that would grow dendrite brain cell connections for profitability.

My story offered steps for good customer relations from the moment of meeting to closing a deal…. If you were to sequence an action plan for a staff get-together and list the ten tactics your golf club used to win… your story is math related. Simple as that.

Math mingles with life through stories much the way Syntagma owner, John Evans listed London Stock Exchange’s Excellent Results, through story at London Stock Exchange.

Or, look at the way Andrea Pawlsen over at Money Finesse, helped consumers to solve reliability problems for 2006 and 2007 cars, and you’ll see more math intelligence at its best, worked into stories.

Count how many times males and females speak on key issues, during a meeting and you have a story that invites a math response people will love. Still looking for a story topic?

Why not write about Bobbie Fisher’s tactics in a chess game and show how similar winning strategies could win a financial deal. Or look through this morning’s math news for a story waiting to be created. As in any good writing, have fun. Writing that activates your logical mathematical intelligence will play with logical order, organization … and numbers, for instance, … and your mathematically inclined readers will too! What’s your best math story?

Think about what you do at work currently, and then consider what you feel called to do. Do these two correspond? One feature, Taking the Money, from October 24th New York Times, showcased people in midlife who took buyouts, with their best in mind. For some boomers, careers come alive in mid-life, through aspirations they’d always dreamed of.

“Phil Bonfanti, a regional sales manager for Ford, took a buyout for his family’s sake.

Bobbie Battista, a CNN anchor, did not like the direction the company was going in.

For Doug Vance, a Delta pilot, it was the least damaging choice in a situation he could not control.

Enrique Rosselli, who took three buyouts in four years, saw the third as a sign to find a new line of business.

And for Betsy Werley, it was an early push into a career move that she wanted to make later if not sooner.“

For people who want more from mid-life, it’s simply a matter that an end of one career - looks more like an opportunity for a new start. Whatever the reason, one leg in their lives ended. In each case, the human brain kicked into high gear to create changes later in life. Shifts that bring new beginnings, unavailable to them in their youth. How so?

Folks who believe the best is still out there, tend to launch new foundations with tips and support from lifelong friends in a field they admire. These friends tell other friends. Ideas from new places prime their career-minded pumps. Encouragement from people they know goes a long way toward successful career moves yet to come.

If you’ve seen yourself locked into a mold lately, that’s merely collecting mold … why not plan to start again. Los, a character in William Blake’s poem, Jerusalem, said it best … “I must create a system, Or be enslaved by another Man’s (human’s). I will not reason or compare, My business is to create.”

Los likely speaks to every mid-lifer who senses the best is yet to come. Downsizing or retirement can kick start your brain for the career you’re really called and gifted to launch. Is the best visible in your future?

You may be unaware that your brain builds new neuron pathways for good or bad, based on your expectations about new possibilities open to you.

Consider brain facts behind your expectations…

Expectations, it turns out, really do make a difference

It’s true that if all you have is a hammer in mind, most everything will look like a nail to you. When people focus on problems, they tend to miss possibilities, forget to laugh, and they often blame others for difficulties they face.

Conversely, different chemical reactions form in the mind of an optimist, so that the human brain reboots to create a cognitive map for possibilities, even when life throws you a curveball. Consider Martin Luther King’s vision for improvement…? Can you find any reasons to say with him… “I’ve been to the mountain top and I’ve seen God….there is no turning back…” Sure … King ended up paying the highest cost for his dream … yet it is one that continues to change and improve a universe.

Expect failure and studies show you’ll likely flunk

In a news story from my Alma Mater, the University of British Columbia, reported at CNN.Com - see how expectations matter when it comes to math. This new study showed how women who expect to do well in spite of genetic difference in math ability, outperformed females who expected females to do less well. In fact the women who did better in math tests landed nearly twice as many correct answers, as those in other groups, according to Steven J. Heine, psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Adventure comes to those anticipate wonder through questions

While in Chile leading a conference about the human brain, I was struck with a poet’s sense of curiosity and creativity, during a tour of Neruda’s home in Valparaiso. Later my hosts presented me with Pablo Neruda’s famous Book of Questions, which inspired a few wonders of my own. Looking for adventure to spark your day? Why not ask a question that prepares your brain to embrace an adventure that matches what you care about most? I asked … How much does a cloud weigh? How old is the oldest computer? How much does spam cost? Who’s leading the industry in customer satisfaction? How can pictures play with your mind? Could a gravity powered aircraft fly with no fuel?

Count on a great golf score and watch your game improve

Out on the golf course last week, one guy on our team told himself he was a terrible golfer this season, and every shot that followed proved his point. None of us who knew what that “I can’t” voice was doing to his swings, expected much from Mark as he continued to shank balls into trees and swear about his poor shots. What does your inner voice tell you about your situation? Change your predictions, and new opportunities seem to increase serotonin, and decrease cortisol to your brain for a new golf adventure. It’s as simple as changing that little voice inside your head to make room for more success for a new adventure.

Expect anything from your adult kids and you can count on the opposite

In several best selling books, researcher Deborah Tannen shows how we constantly give meta-messages to adult kids, that leave them feeling frustrated rather than friendly. Meta-messages may seem to hide between our words, but adult kids hear them as if they shouted through a megaphone. Say I’m so glad you finally came, and they hear, You’re neglecting me again. Tell them, I like your hair that way and they hear, I hate the way you usually wear your hair. Ask them, Didn’t you wear that suit last time you spoke? and they hear, How come you don’t wear something new?

Count on motivation today and you’ll tap into extravagant brainpower

While there is no magic formula for motivating ourselves… those who do so … tend to reap huge rewards…. When Henry David Thoreau said … Things do not change, we change… he was really referring to the extravagant brainpower within motivation. Motivated people differ from their bored counterparts - by the way they value their abilities, try new approaches to solve old problems, stay with projects even after others leave, and refuse to share new dreams with skeptics who kill seed ideas.

Look forward to others doing well and acquaintances soon become friends

Did you know that when we criticize … slip in poor tone … or hit on problems alone … we add cortisol to a person’s day? In contrast… whenever we find something to encourage or suggest a solution … we add serotonin all around? Ok, what do you see that’s worth a few encouraging jabs in the ribs today? Or what problem do you face that’s worth a stab at solving for those around you?

What you anticipate impacts what you remember

Emotional experiences … we already know … are easier to remember than routine or everyday events. Jack Nitschke, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is pictured above with a computer-projected image of a human brain. He and other researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered that anticipation of a fearful situation can spark two specific memory-forming regions of the brain - even before that event has occurred.

Your brain rewires nightly as you sleep, and you can reboot it for more success than failure, by aligning what you expect and believe, to how your brain works more in your favor. What’s the probability you’ll expect and find more in your day?