The Fine Art of Thinking

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”  -- Henry Ford

I am not a person who dislikes this age of information we live in.  In fact, I love it.  To me, you can not get to much information.  I love the idea that I can go online and find information on any topic I would want to know anything about.  I can hear the news almost as fast as it happens and there is no where in the world too far for me to know what is going on there.

I will say however, that there is a draw back to all this information, people have stopped thinking.  It is easy to just take it all in and let others tell you how you think and feel.  That is a dangerous place to be.  Thinking is one freedom you never want to give up, and you must give it up because no one can take it from you.  Thomas Paine said, “When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.”

Information is a resource, not the end result.  It takes the ability to process that information that makes it useful to you.  Thinking involves making choices and decisions in life.  There are things you will believe and things you will not believe.  Just because you believe something does not mean it is true and like wise, if you do not believe something does not mean it is not true.  You must know the “why” of your beliefs not just the “what”. 

So let’s look at three areas of thinking that will help you to establish a method for your thinking and a foundation for your beliefs.

“If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.”  -- General George S. Patton

1)     Thinking of the Past.

Thinking of the past is not living in the past.  Our past, our history, is there as a reference to learn from.  Too many people however try to recapture the past and see it from a far too romantic view point.  Everyone thinks the time they live in is the worst it has ever been and in twenty years it will be the good old days.

We must learn from the past but you also must understand that you can never relive the past.  It is gone and you now must move forward.  Charles Kettering pointed out, “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” 

Ask yourself the follow three questions when thinking of the past:

1.      What has my past experience taught me?

2.      How can I use this lesson to better my tomorrow?

3.      What mistakes do I not want to repeat?

 “Success is a lousy teacher.  It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”  -- Bill Gates

2)     Thinking in the Present.

To be exact, all thinking is in the present.  You can think of the past and for the future but all thinking is done now.  That is why your thinking needs to be creative, challenging and strategic.  John Maxwell wrote a great book several years ago called Thinking For A Change.  In it Maxwell states: “When failure isn’t an option, nothing serves a person better than strategic thinking.”

Make sure you have time to think.  Thinking is not some mystical occurrence that is floating around in space.  Thinking is an action, it is deliberate and you must allow yourself time to think.  But be sure to balance that with acting on your thinking.  As Andrew Jackson said: “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”

Ask yourself these three questions about thinking in the present:

1.      What exactly do I need to think about?

2.      Have I taken time to think?

3.      What is the first action I should take?

 “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”  -- Sir Winston Churchill

3)     Thinking for the Future.

You can call this planning, vision building or dreaming, but I like to think of it as being prepared.  Dreams and vision are extremely important and I believe you must have them to accomplish your purpose on this planet.  However, nothing will make the future happen as will preparedness.  Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts knew this when he designed the Boy Scout motto, pledge and law.  Take time to read these great and powerful statements.  I want to point out what he said about the Scout motto:  “Be prepared…the meaning of the motto is that a Scout must prepare himself by previous thinking out and practicing how to act on any accident or emergency so that he is never taken by surprise.”

Think about how much you could do if you only thought about things ahead of time and then prepared yourself to act when that time came.  The possibilities are so powerful.  Don’t just think of success but know what you will do when the things that lead to success arrive.  Knowing what decisions you will make in the future will open many doors that will bring your goals into reality.

Ask yourself these three questions when thinking for the future:

1.      What am I going to do?

2.      How am I going to get there?

3.      What do I need to do to prepare?

“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority.  The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority.  The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.” – A.A. Milne

© Jack Hickey 2010