QUICK START GUIDE

The MacGyver Secret

Connect to Your
Inner MacGyver & Solve Anything

by
series creator
Lee David Zlotoff
with Colleen Seifert PhD

MacGyverSecret.com Copyright 2016 MacGyver Solutions

 WHAT IS THE
MACGYVER SECRET?
You know MacGyver. That icon of resourcefulness
and ingenuity who can overcome any obstacle by
using whatever lay at hand. Who can whip up a brilliant
solution when his back is against the wall and all hell is
breaking loose. And do it with a smile. Again and again.
Connect But how many of us really have that kind of genius? How
to Your Inner many of us can routinely crack problem after problem like
MacGyver MacGyver? I mean, thats just got to be a fantasy cooked up
by some smartass TV writer, right?
& Solve
Anything Or does it?

What if it turned out that anyone could come up with a truly

The MacGyver creative solution when faced with a tough problem? What if
Secret book that was something even YOU could do? Just like MacGyver.
has all the tricks Whenever you needed it. Again and again. Whether youre
an entrepreneur, or an engineer, or a designer, or a writer, or
and tips for
a secretary or whatever you might be.
taking the
secret to the next What if it turned out that everyoneincluding YOUhad a
level, and MacGyver hidden deep inside? Just waiting to be handed
all the science a problem so it could crank out an amazing solution. For virtually
any problem. Be it technical, creative, professional, personal,
that explains
or anything! That would have to be another fantasy, no?
how and why it
works so well... Well, its not. And that is THE MACGYVER SECRET.

Because the fact is, each one of us has a MacGyver within us

The ready to jump in and lend a hand whenever we need it. And
MacGyver we have the science to prove it!
Secret In the next few pages, Ill not only tell you how I discovered
my inner MacGyver, but give you a QUICK START step by step
$19.95 guide for how you can connect to that MacGyver inside you.
To tackle anything.
ORDER
BOOK With nothing more than a pen and a piece of paper.

Sounds incredible, huh? But not if youre MacGyver.

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 HOW I DISCOVERED
THE MACGYVER SECRET
In my early twenties I moved to Los Angeles with the boundless hope of
becoming a writer for television. Even though I knew absolutely no one there in
the business. But, after a few years of trying, the golden door finally swung
open and I landed a job writing for a TV series. That was the good news.
The bad news: Despite my earlier writing gigs, I suddenly found myself having to crank out
stories and scripts for episodes at a feverish pace to keep up with the relentless demands of
TV production. And I confess, I was woefully unprepared.

But, in the constant stress to generate fresh material under such deadlines, I began to notice
something curious; namely, that the best material seemed to occur to me when I was either
driving or taking a shower. Sound familiar?

I initially dismissed this as a coincidental quirk. Neither of these

activities seemed like they should be particularly productive.
After all, they appeared to be the opposite of actual work,
which Iand my bossespresumed was supposed to happen
at my office computer.

And yet, the material continued to bubble up while in the

drivers seat of my VW hatchback, or my morning hosing, with
consistency. Which raised the inescapable question: What was
really happening when I drove around or showered that
not only allowed, but also seemed to encourage such useful
solutions to come to mind? And might there not be a way I
Lee David Zlotoff
could get the same thing to happen without having to hop in
the car or the shower?
I found myself
So over the next few years, I began to experiment with various
having to crank techniques to see if there was some way to better understand
out stories at a this odd creative process. And how I could capture the same
effect in some more efficient way (gas and water being fairly
feverish pace,
precious resources).
when I began
And, as fate would have it, it was when I was writing the
to notice some- pilot script for MacGyver that master of ingenuity all the
thing curious... pieces finally came together and revealed the essence of this

MacGyverSecret.com The MacGyver Secret QUICK START GUIDE Copyright 2016 MacGyver Solutions 3
 mysterious process. I had uncovered the secret! I had found
AUTHORS: my inner MacGyver!

And could now easily produce my driving/shower epiphanies

Lee David Zlotoff on demand! Anytime. Anywhere.
Lee David Zlotoff is an
award winning writer, To be honest, I didnt really think at the time that it had any
producer, and director applications beyond my own creative process, or that it
of film and television might work for anyone else. Lets face it, I was just another
with over a hundred Hollywood TV writer. Not a group exactly renowned for its
credits to his name. cognitive breakthroughs.
Among his achieve-
But, as I refined this secret over the ensuing three plus decades
ments is the creation
of my career, the liberating impact of it both personally and
of the MacGyver TV
series which is now professionally proved nothing short of transformational. The
being revived as a stress of creation and problem solving was all but eliminated.
new series this fall And, knowing I had access to the extraordinary resources of
and a Lionsgate film. my inner MacGyver rendered me fearless in the face of any
Lee is also a frequent project or deadline.
speaker and work-
Over time, I would casually share this secret with friends and
shop presenter.
acquaintances, most of whom found it too incredible to take
seriously. After all, its nothing like the way were taught to
Coleen Seifert PhD solve problems. Fair enough.

Colleen Seifert, PhD is That is, until I offered it to a young friend who was launching
the SCIENCE ADVISOR an internet company and decided to try using my secret to
on The MacGyver solve the constant crush of problems that came with it. And,
Secret. She has a PhD having experienced the same transformational results, my
from Yale University friend returned, raving about how this secret could be success-
and is a professor of fully applied to any number of endeavors. That it could, in
Psychology at The fact, be used by anyone who wanted to create great ideas
University of Michigan. and solve tough problems.
Her research interests
include: Cognitive Suffice it to say, he finally convinced me to share my secret.
Science, Knowledge I mean, WWMD? (What would MacGyver do?)
Representation,
Memory Retrieval, So, now it can be yours too. To use for whatever questions or
Judgement and problems you face when you need answers. About anything.
Decision-Making and
It requires no drugs, no special equipment, no mumbo-jumbo,
has been running
nor anything you dont already have or know how to do. Like
studies on the
I said, all you need is a pen and a piece of paper.
MacGyver Secret.
Then the only question now is: Are you ready to find your
inner MacGyver?

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 STEP ONE:
GETTING STARTED
There are really only a few simple steps to accessing your inner MacGyver to answer
a question or solve a problem. And the first one is to JUST ASK. But to really dial
in your super solver, you cant merely think about your question or problem, or
even say it out loud.
YOU NEED TO WRITE IT DOWN!

And, while its okay to type your question or problem into a computer or tablet or phone,
since Mac is very much a hands-on character, it works even better and faster if--

YOU WRITE THE QUESTION OR PROBLEM

DOWN IN LONGHAND!

Any pen or pencil will do, as will any piece of paper. Though you might want to consider
finding a notebook sometime soon to keep all your questionsand answersin the same
place. But for now, just grab any writing implement thats handy and youre all set.

Youre wondering: Thats it? Just write my question or problem down? In longhand? Why?
In the complete book or video course we can give you all the science, whys and wherefores
for why you need to write your questions down in longhand. For the moment though, just
trust us: Old school works best here.

So RIGHT NOW write down a question or problem that youd like some help with. It could
be a creative problem, or technical, or personal, or anything. Just write it down NOW. It
could be one line, or a whole page in great detail. Doesnt matter. And dont worry about
the answer. Thats for your inner MacGyver to deal with, remember? SO JUST DO IT. Take
your time. Were not going anywhere.

Still not sure what to ask? No worries. In a bit, well offer some tips and sample questions
if youre not quite ready to jump in. Just know that connecting to your inner Mac STARTS
WITH WRITING YOUR QUESTION OR PROBLEM.

And once youve done that, TELL YOUR INNER MACGYVER TO WORK ON IT FOR YOU!
You can do this silently or out loud (depending on how you feel about talking to yourself.)
But either way, its IMPORTANT TO DO THIS.

Remember in the show how MacGyver had a VOICE OVER, talking to himself when he was
trying to work out a problem? Well, you are now trying to build a relationship with that
same awesome problem-solver deep inside you. And TELLING IT that you need some help

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is the best way to set it in motion even if it feels a little weird. Youre trying to work
outside the box now, so a little weirdness is fine.

Okay, so youve written down your question, and youve told your inner Mac to have a
whack at it. Now what?

Just put it aside AND FORGET IT FOR NOW! Because, even though it may not seem like it,
youve just thrown the switch to turn on your inner MacGyver. And help is already on the way.

HOW TO ASK YOUR QUESTIONS

But before we move on to STEP TWO, lets give you those tips for HOW TO ASK THE
RIGHT QUESTIONS OR ASK QUESTIONS, RIGHTLY so you can really get the most out of
your inner MacGyver. I mean, if MacGyver was standing in your kitchen, youd really want
to take advantage of all his talents, wouldnt you? Rather than, asking him to just, say,
change a lightbulb?

Now, anyone adept at solving problems knows that its important to do your best to try
and define the problem. As clearly, and in as much detail as possible. And its no different
with your inner Mac.

So, when writing down your question or problem, TAKE YOUR TIME. And try and be as
SPECIFIC AS YOU CAN. Even if that means you end up writing several paragraphs or a
whole page. Or pose the same question or problem in different ways. Or want to give your
inner Mac a whole bunch of
different questions at the same
ON-LINE VIDEO COURSE time. Take it from me, you
simply cant give your inner
Mac too much information.

That doesnt mean you cant

ask broad or general questions,
like Why cant I find a job I
really like?, or Whats it really
gonna take for me to lose 20
pounds? But, as you might
expect, the more general or
vague the question, the more
likely your inner MacGyver is
to respond with a broad or
If you want to use the MacGyver Secret to general answer.
create breakthroughs in your work, check out And dont be surprised if your
our online video course. inner Mac answers you with
more questions. It happens all

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the time. So if you ask Why cant I find a job I really like? your inner Mac may come back
with, What do you think youre good at? What do you really like to do? Who can you
think of who gets paid to do that? In which case, its totally cool to then re-write those
questions and throw them right back at Mac for some more specific answers.

Because the thing here is youre really starting a conversation or DIALOG with your
inner Mac. Bouncing questions or problems back and forth however frequently you
choose to do it-- once a day, once every other day or whatever-- until you get the answers
you can really use.

Your inner Mac will never get tired or fed up with your asking. Its YOUR inner MacGyver
after all, and its there to pitch in and help however often or badly you might need or
want it.

So, to review, here are keys to getting the best from your inner MacGyver when you write
down your questions or problem. TAKE YOUR TIME-- BE AS DETAILED AND SPECIFIC AS
YOU CAN-- DONT SWEAT ABOUT OVERLOADING YOUR INNER MAC

You might find it helpful to now revisit the question you first wrote and expand on it or try
using these sample questions by filling in the blanks with whatever youd like your inner
MacGyver to work on.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

WHAT is it I really need to answer about ______________?

WHAT answers have I been considering about ______________?

WHAT are some possible answers to ____________ that I havent considered?

IS __________________ really the problem or could it be something else?

HAVE I really considered all the aspects of ______________________ yet,

or am I missing something?

NOW THAT I LISTED EVERYTHING about _______________________ that

I can think of, is there one perfect answer? or might there be a number
of possible solutions?

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 STEP TWO:
LETTING YOUR INNER
MACGYVER GET TO WORK
So now that youve written down your question and told your inner Mac to
work on it, what should you do next? Simply put, you should just stay out of
the way and LET YOUR INNER MACGYVER DO ITS THING.
And how exactly do I do that? Good question. You need to find some activitypreferably
an enjoyable oneto keep all the thoughts that constantly churn in your head preoccupied
with something else so that your inner Mac can have the time and space it needs to solve
your problem. (The science folks call this an INCUBATION ACTIVITY because it keeps YOUR
conscious mind busy while your inner Mac quietly nurtures the
solutions your looking for).

Like, for example, driving and showering. Both of which,

though routine, keep your mind occupied and are also
PHYSICAL. And there are dozens of equally good activities.
You can go for a walk, or a jog, or a swim or a bike ride or a
workout at the gym. You can cook, garden, knit, practice a
musical instrument, do a jigsaw puzzle, or a crossword or a
Sudoku. All of which require your steady focus and still have
some physical aspect to them.

And if youre really pressed for time, you can also try doing
Connect some routine chores you have to do anyway. Like cleaning
to Your Inner the house, washing the dishes, walking the dog or organizing
MacGyver your clothes closet. The point is to do something that requires
your focus so you cant think about the question you gave to
& Solve your inner Mac which is quietly working the whole time to
Anything solve your problem. So dont be afraid to experiment with a
range of activities until you find one or two that you know
The will do the trick for you.
MacGyver
Secret Fact is, there are only a few activities that WONT WORK.
But theyre biggies, so brace yourself. WATCHING TV OR ANY
$19.95 VIDEOS WONT WORK. Neither will READING, a book, a magazine
or anything else. Nor will CONVERSATION, whether talking,
ORDER listening, or texting. And last, but not least, NO PLAYING
BOOK INTENSELY INTERACTIVE VIDEO OR COMPUTER GAMES. Simple

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digital games are okay, Candy Crush, Tetris, Angry Birds, and the like. But Im afraid that FIRST-
PERSON SHOOTER OR ROLE-PLAYING GAMES ARE OUT. (The complete book explains why
none of these activities will work, but for now, take my word for it, they just WONT). Sorry.

Taking a nap or sleeping can sometimes work as incubation activities. But they require
some extra tricks and practice. So for now stick to activities you can do when youre awake.

It also helps to SET A TIME LIMIT for your inner Mac to do its thing. To start with, give
yourself at least an hour, or four, or a day, or something like that. So, after writing down
your question and telling your inner MacGyver to work on it, set it a specific TIME LIMIT.

As with any new skill, practice makes perfect. So the more you use your inner Mac, the
faster it will work and the better and clearer your answers will be.

To review, here are the keys to find the right activity to let your inner Mac do its thing:
Keep it physical Forget TV, reading or really interative
Keep it unimaginative video games

Keep talking to a minimum Set a time limit

So, RIGHT NOW, take a minute or two and write down a few activities that you think
might work FOR YOU to let your inner Mac do his thing. Think of tasks you enjoy that let
you zone out and lose yourself in the activity. Got a few listed? GOOD.

You can always add to the list or switch activities if you find one works better than another.
Remember, youre in the process of MacGyvering YOURSELF here, so shifting gears and
innovating to make this work for you is par for the course. And now youre ready for the
final stepand the good stuff youve been waiting for!

INCUBATION ACTIVITIES
Walk, jog, run, workout at the gym, bike, skate, swim, dance, surf, boogie board,
skateboard, cook, garden, knit, clean the house, wash the dishes, shower, drive,
do a crossword, Sudoku, word search, play Pokemon Go, Angry Birds, Tetris,
backgammon, chess, practice a musical instrument, paint by numbers, wood-
work, weld, throw a pot, build a model, or Legos, do a jigsaw puzzle, Origami,
mow the lawn, repair anything, play tennis, soccer, Frisbee, ping pong, bad-
minton, volleyball, make love, scale a climbing wall, wash your car, or your dog,
change your oil, paint your house, iron your clothes, clean your closet, dig a hole,
fill it in, plant a tree, build a fence, rearrange your furniture, sew a dress, quilt,
can fruit, rake leaves, chop firewood. That should be a few to get you started.

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 STEP THREE:
ASKING YOUR INNER
MACGYVER FOR THE ANSWERS
Okay, so youve written down your question, told your inner Mac to work on
the answer, set a time limit, and kept the hamster wheel in your head busy with
some enjoyable or routine activity.

Now its time to ask your inner MacGyver for the answers. And here are a few
tips to make sure you get everything your inner Mac has to offer.
First, RETURN TO YOUR QUESTION. Wherever you wrote your question, GO BACK TO IT NOW
so that its right in front of you. It really helps to maintain that connection between where you
started and what youre about to receive. You can re-read the question if youd like, or just
glance at it to make it fresh in your mind (hopefully, youve really forgotten what it was).
Doing this also means youll be all set to start writing again, so have that pen or pencil handy.

Then, ASK YOUR INNER MACGYVER FOR THE ANSWER! Silently, out loud, in song, it
doesnt matter how you ask. But ASK. Remember, youre trying to create a dialog with
your inner Mac, so dont be shy about letting it know youre ready for the answers, and
that its time for it to show you what its got.

And then, JUST START WRITING! Anything! It doesnt matter WHAT you write to get
started! You can write about the activity you just did. You can write the words to The
Star Spangled Banner-- or any song. You can write how much you love or hate your boss.
You can write ANYTHING. JUST SO LONG AS YOU START WRITING!

Because, within no more than a minute of your writingTHE ANSWERS WILL BEGIN TO
POP INTO YOUR HEAD AS YOURE WRITING! And you will capture them all by WRITING
THEM DOWN. Its just that simple.

Writing your questions and answers is how you and your inner Mac connect and communicate.
Whenever you want it, whenever you need it. You will write what youre looking for help
with, and it will WRITE YOU BACK with the answers. Amazing? Maybe. But true.

And, if the answers youre writing seem to trail off or fade away, or the hamster wheel in
your head starts to interfere by focusing on a particular answer, then JUST GO BACK TO
WRITING ANYTHING AGAIN, until the flow returns. Because it will. Just keep that pen
going until youre satisfied that youve received all the answers you have now.

And if, for any reason, you dont think what youve received has fully answered your
question or provided enough specificsTHEN ASK AGAIN! And tell your inner Mac exactly

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what you think might be missing, or what you might want it to expand on. In the complete
book theres more about how to best evaluate the answers from your inner Mac, but for
now, just try and get that INNER DIALOG going and see what comes up.

Ive also learned there are some questions and problems that MIGHT REQUIRE YOUR
ASKING MORE THAN ONCE, particularly around personal, emotional, or relationship
issues. And theres more on that in the full book too. So, for starters, try and stick with more
work, technical or creative problems. All of which should be easily answered if you just keep
writing when its time to receive your answers.

That brings us to the next helpful tip: Just as you gave yourself enough time to really
flesh out your questions in detail, MAKE SURE YOU GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME TO
RECEIVE YOUR ANSWERS. Remember, youre after really smart and solid answers from
your inner MacGyver. Not just fast answers.

Then, before you ask your inner Mac to deliver the goods, get comfortable, and give
yourself the time youll really need to receive the answers. Weve been conditioned by
the wonders of technology to expect instant information with the click of a keyboard or
the tap on a touch screen. But this information comes from a much deeper and more
knowing place your inner MacGyver. So no point in trying to rush things. Got it?

Okay, so a quick review before diving in to really meet your inner Mac. RETURN TO THE
QUESTION-- ASK YOUR INNER MACGYVER FOR THE ANSWERS-- THEN JUST START WRITING!
ANYTHING. UNTIL YOURE SURE YOUVE GOT IT ALL-- AND GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME
TO RECEIVE THE ANSWERS.

So, if youve done all the previous steps, RIGHT NOW, return to your question, ask your inner
MacGyver what its got for you, and START WRITING! Then watch what happens

Thats it! You now have all the basics youll need for connecting to your inner MacGyver and
getting the answers to, well, anything. I know, it still sounds too good to be true, huh? How
could it possibly be that easy?! Thats what I first thought, along with the others whove
been using this secret for years!

But you dont have to take our word for it. JUST TRY IT! Seeing is believing, right? So give it a
shot. And, if it works or you have some questions about it, LET US KNOW at MacGyverSecret.com.

And, if youre intrigued but still want to know more about how I and others have been
using it, or all the science behind it, or how to use the secret if you work at an office, or
with a team, or how it can really change your life, theres all of that and more in the
complete book or on-line video course.

Either way, THE SECRET IS YOURS NOW!

To MacGyver your way through ANYTHING!

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