Make your life easier with Good thinking

Being a good thinker is the only solution to a fulfilling life.

Understanding that thinking is a disciplined art, and applying the very best thinking you are capable of in any situation would make you better off. The questions to ask yourself to ensure you are thinking in the right direction are;

1. what is going on in this situation?
2. Am I deceiving myself with my current thought process?
3. What are the consequences of failing to do…?
4. What is the best way to prepare for X?
5. How can I be successful in doing Y?
6. Is this relevant enough or should I focus my attention elsewhere?

If you can successfully respond to the question above when making a daily decision, then you are thinking right.

Critical thinking is being an effective critic of your thinking, and the only way to do that is by making thinking a priority. 

Everything associated with yourself is the product of thinking (everything you have done, do, feel, and want)

Unpleasant and painful Intellectual Work

the only way to refine your thinking and make it of “better” quality.

This means we must be willing to practice special acts of thinking which are not only uncomfortable but challenging. 

At this point, as a good thinker or person interested in improving their thinking, I expect you to check the definition of “intellectual” regardless of what you know about the definition. Just kidding. 

Do what athletes do for their bodies to your mind “Practice and feedback”. Improvement in thinking is a chain reaction, you would see a similar improvement in other domains of your life. 

There are for recommended ways to practice skilled thinking;

1. Clarify your thinking- pick the foundation or a point, elaborate on what you mean, give examples to connect your thoughts, then use other analogies to help others or those in your audience connect. You can never fully figure it out. Once you think you’ve made some sort of progress, you realize there are other layers.

To ensure you understand what a person is saying, you should ask the following questions.

• can you restate your point in other words? I did quite understand you.
• Can you provide an example?
• Let me repeat what I heard, and let me know if I understand you correctly.

2. Stick to the point

Do not wander. We are all guilty about this. Do not be guided by associations, or assumptions. Focus on the main tasks at hand. Everything must be logically connected.

Be on the lookout for all those unfragmented and irrelevant thinking that floats about your head without any logical correlation to the topic or the issue.

3. Question questions

Being a skilled questioner means not accepting the world as it is presented to us.

Also, you must be able to filter your questions because there are superficial and loaded questions that do not help one solve or make a better decision instead they are just space takers and time consumers. Ponder on these strategies for asking the best questions, and see yourself arriving at solutions with ease.

• when you don’t understand, ask a question to clarify.
• when dealing with a complex problem, formulate the question you’re trying to ask in different ways while being as precise and as direct as you can. until you can address the main problem at hand.
• when you want to discuss an important issue write out the most significant questions you think need to be addressed.

Questions to help and refine your thinking:

• what question are we trying to answer?
• Is there a more important question that should be addressed?
• Is there a question we should answer before we attempt to answer this question?

4. Be reasonable

The short definition of this is being able to change ones mind when given a good reason to, or when they discover an even better way of thinking. Listen to what people say and closely to what people do.

Stop being closed minded and think!

#MBA21 #LearningTogether