Thinking...

I'm really enjoying myself reading John Maxwell's latest book, Today Matters. If success is a tree, this book is its roots. As I indulge myself, savouring every bit of wisdom from this man, I would like to share with you something that John Maxwell wrote that has sparked off within me. It's not something new for most of us but it's something that we need to spend intentional time to do. And that area that I'm talking about is the area of our thoughts. Our thinking. Claude M. Bristol, the author of The Magic of Believing said, "Thought is the original source of wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and all achievement." What kind of value do you put on good thinking? Good thinking does not equate to intelligence. Good thinking is a skill, a habit and a culture. You need to cultivate good thinking. You are not born with good thinking. This insight has really challenged me to rethink how I look at my daily thought process. Do I spend time thinking? Have I made the decision to practice and develop good thinking daily? John Maxwell lays down 6 useful ways for us to cultivate a good thinking habit. You should :- 1) Find A Place To Think... Everyone has a thinking spot. Look for a spot where you can spend time thinking. Freo Smoothies has one of my favourite thinking spots so far. And I have my favourite sofa tucked a the back of the place which I could spend some time alone, just thinking through things and processing my thoughts. 2) Set Aside Think Time Every Day... Find time to think! That's pretty obvious! But hey, not everyone of us make that intentional effort to spend time thinking. Carving out the time to do so is important. Make it a habit to spend time daily to cultivate a good thinking habit. 3) Find A Process That Works For You... Everyone has different ways of approaching the thinking process. Some stare at stones for ideas or maybe your creative juices starts rolling when you are in the shower. Find out what's best for you to trigger your thinking cap. 4) Capture Your Thoughts... This has to be one of my favourites. A thought remains a thought until you put it on paper. This is one of the most important points in my opinion. Keep a notepad or some 5x7 cards with you can write down your thoughts as you go along the day. In fact, most of my thoughts remain in my head because I never write them down quick enough and I usually forget them by the time I have my pen and paper ready. Ah, something that I have to start doing! 5) Put Your Thoughts Into Action Quickly... Executing my thoughts has never been my cup of tea. For instance, I've been thinking of exercising for 30 minutes since last week and I have not even moved my feet! This is something that I have to learn to do as well. 6) Try To Improve Your Thinking Every Day... John Maxwell recommends 3 easy steps--focus on the positive, gather good input and spend time with good thinkers. Thinking alone won't guarantee success but we must develop good thinking. And thinking of the right things. Reading is one way you can gather good input. Another way is to have a group of friends who are good thinkers as well. I'm glad that I have my MAGs and it has helped me to rewire my thought process. Most of us take thinking for granted. Instead, we should be intentional in our thinking. Every day of our lives, if we spend time thinking and analysing our thought process, we might end up somewhere we might never thought possible. If you are reading this, I'd like to challenge you to spend time daily to cultivate good thinking. Spend time with people who are eager to learn and eager to develop. Influence one another to improve your thinking daily. I have personally found this helpful and I hope you have as well.