The Art of BRILLIANCE !

Today’s guest is my great friend Andy Cope – who is the founder of The Art of Being Brilliant as well as being the author of the wonderful “Spy Dog” books.

‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ has been described as the ‘Ready Brek Glow’ or as ‘An Upgrade of the Software Between Your Ears’. Andy’s messages are simple to the point of being obvious. Andy Cope describes ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ as ‘common sense but not common practice’.

The principle

Most of us are able to tap into our brilliant selves, sporadically. ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ is about turning these fleeting moments into lasting habits.

Anyone can do it. You just need to know how!

Here’s what Andy has to say…..

“Have you ever swum the Amazon?

No me neither… but I watched a programme about a bloke who did. And he was mad enough to swim upstream, towards the source! The mouth of the Amazon is a gushing vastness of muddy water full of piranhas and crocs. A thousand miles upstream, there’s a spring, the source. The life-force of the mighty Amazon. No piranhas or crocs. It’s clear and un-muddied.

Andy is doing a PhD at the University of Loughborough. He is studying positivity, happiness and flourishing in the workplace, and he magically feeds his learning into his books, CDs and workshops.

Andy has a passion for sharing what he knows… but he doesn’t want to force you into learning big words and heavy academic nonsense. The ‘Art of Brilliance’ team sieve the knowledge through the ‘bull shit filter’. Once we’ve weeded out the nonsense and big words, we’re left with some blindingly obvious principles. No piranhas or crocs. Clear and un-muddied. These principles are the source of everything he does.

Andy now has a merry band of trainers that deliver ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ in schools. Imagine the impact on society if teenagers learned to be happy, upbeat and confident, instead of signing up to the mediocrity of our ‘whatever’ culture? Basically, our challenge is for positivity, hard work and confidence to become cool. For flourishing to become the new black.

But British teens can be tough nuts to crack! And, a bit like being a parent, he’s  learnt that ranting and raving doesn’t work. Andy presents his simple messages and then gets the young people to work it out for themselves. He invites the teenagers to write a short account of their life in 10 years’ time – one if they’ve lived as a negative ‘mood hoover’ and one from the perspective of having lived as what we call a positive ‘2%er’.

Check this out, from Hannah, aged 15, from Stoke…

The next 10 years as ‘mood hoover’. This is what I see, hear and feel…

“I feel tired and ratty! I hear constant nagging in my ear hole like a drill. I stare at 4 walls and an empty room, I look out the window and see a litter filled street with no normal people, everyone alcoholic or filled from scars from drug usage. I don’t have a job, no one will take me, I always relied on dole – it isn’t as good as I thought, not at all. I don’t have friends anymore, I’ve lost my personality. People would describe me as a serious low life. I didn’t achieve and I don’t lead in any kind of lifestyle. I am officially depressed.”

As a positive 2%er. This is what I see, hear and feel…

“Smiles, people smiling and laughing. Money’s a joke, I could roll around in notes and leave them there. I can hear traffic from the busy streets of the city outside, laughter. I feel good, as always. I live as a film director, life is now my movie, I make it how I like. I’m with the cast and crew writing more film ideas. People would look at me with the look of satisfaction, I am successful. I achieved my dream. What life style do I live? My own.”

 By jove. I think she’s got it !

Andy x

To find out more about the WONDERFUL work Andy does and to download his FREE “Game of Life” ebook go to => The Art of Brilliance  and say I sent you !