Get a PDF Free Book
Thinking is Difficult
One quote that is doing the rounds of social media quite frequently is supposed to have been said by the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. He says that “ Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge”. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the Quote but what I can fathom from the quote is that “ Thinking” is a serious business and also a difficult task. When I started thinking on this Quote I came to two important conclusions. One is that in the absence of “Thinking” we start judging and forming opinions and ultimately taking irrational decisions on subject matters and this leads us to failures. The second conclusion is a simple corollary of the first conclusion which says that if we “ Think” we can judge better.
Socrates The Thinker
Apart from Carl Jung I remember the stories of Socrates and his habit of thinking. It is said that once Socrates went along with his friend to some common invite. On the way Socrates asked his friend to proceed to the invite and he will come after some time as he has some important work to finish. After a long time his friend realised that Socrates had still not reached the invitation place and he went out to search for him. While searching he saw Socrates standing in the middle of the road deeply engrossed in Thinking.
We all cannot be Socrates and Carl Jung to devote our entire existence to Thinking. But as a progressive human entity we must have simple implementable steps to Thinking productively. This led me to “Think” again on the subject of Thinking and the first thing that struck me is how some people can think better and some cannot. What process or the steps makes one human think more productively than the other. Can there be some simple steps to “ Thinking” more efficiently and profitably ?
While going through the literature on the subject as well as through my experiences, I can recommend certain ideas and steps for better “Thinking”.
Mono Thinking is The Way Forward
There is an emerging scientific consensus that our brain is not designed for multi-tasking. This simply translates to the fact that our brain may not be designed for multi Thinking also. If you want good results out of your thinking then do not try to think on different unrelated topics at a single session. Hence the way forward is Focussed Thinking on a Single Topic of Importance at a time. Explore it from all possible angles and You will get great insights into those topics. It is a fact that Great Minds focus while ordinary people lose focus on the path of Thinking.
The Thinking Sessions Helps
Thinking on important topics requires a series of thinking sessions.. If you want results then do not consider thinking as a one act session only. To delve into the skin of the subject we need to spread our thinking into a series of sessions. As we go into the thinking mode we mature from sessions to sessions and this gives us greater insights and clarity into the subject matter. A conscious step by step process of Thinking has a lesser chance of producing wrong outcomes than the random single process of Thinking. Like all good things in life, Thinking is also an Evolutionary process. Our Thinking sessions can ensure great evolutionary results.
Write Down Your Thinking
One of the most common mistakes we make is to go on Thinking with great confidence that we will remember our own Thinking. But this is a bad idea. We often forget what we have thought about. Over the period of time, even if we remember what we thought about, we do not remember the whole points and the gamut of our thinking. The best way is to keep writing down our thoughts and then build upon it by thinking again on that topic. In this way we are allowing our brain to concentrate and giving it a signal that we are interested more in this topic. Also writing our own thoughts makes it a lot easier for us to communicate our thoughts effectively and also redesign it as required. Our written thoughts can create a great thinking revolution in our personality. All Great minds develop the habit of writing their thoughts and that is why we are blessed with some great philosophy, history, literature, science etc. for us to cherish.
There is No Particular Environment
Environment plays an important role in our thinking process. But everyone has their own perception of the right thinking environment. Some think that they can think better in isolation while others think that they need a great cafe milieu. There is no tailor made environment for Thinking and you must not try to emulate others thinking environment. Whatever the environment you think suits you, it is better to go by that environment. The idea is that you must be relaxed, unstressed, focussed while thinking and above all you must enjoy the thinking process. Thinking must not be a burden. Great Thinking results come out of comfortable environments as perceived by your brain. The bottomline is to find your own Thinking Environment.
You Are Not Bound By The Time
Never obsess about Thinking at a particular time of the day. If you are comfortable at a particular time then it is fine. But if you make it a habit then it becomes so routine that it loses its relevance. Thinking will become a burden and the results would be mediocre. An idea or a great thought can strike you anytime. That's the way things occur in our brain.
Most of the time some great thoughts come to us at the most unusual of the times and in the most unique of the places. If this happens then do not let go of the process at all. Try to concentrate and focus and complete the process of thinking if you are not engaged in some really important work. If you cannot have the luxury of leaving your work and great thoughts are coming to your mind then the advice is to take a very small break and note down the important points of the thoughts for future ready references. Once you are free from the important work the immediate next work you must do is to complete your Thinking session. It really helps in budding great thoughts.
Let Us Do it
The above points are some of the ways to instil the right thinking process. It is a well known fact that Great Leadership has great love for the subject of Thinking. They cannot strategise or come to great decisions without the thinking sessions. If we analyse minutely we will realise that the Great minds are basically the results of Great Thinking Sessions. They invest more into “Thinking” than the others and the results are for everybody to see.
So when are you starting your Thinking journey ?
