“Today Matters” Part VII – Book Review
Book Review 7 – Today Matters by John Maxwell
Thinking: I will practice and develop good thinking daily, because my thinking gives me an advantage
Why thinking matters today? Because good thinking precedes good results. Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and all achievement.
I’m continually reading books on leadership, communication, change management, and faith. My goal is to read about two books per month. The main reason is that I want to improve my thinking. There is no tried-and-true formula for success that can be handed down through the generations. To succeed, we must do our own thinking. The greater our thinking, the greater our potential.
Good thinking increases your value. Who has the greatest value in any organization? The person with the ideas. Capital isn’t so important in business. Experience isn’t so important. You can get both these things. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life.
Poor thinkers are slaves to their surroundings. People who don’t develop and practice good thinking often find themselves at the mercy of their circumstances. They are unable to solve problems, and they find themselves facing the same obstacles over and over again. A German proverb says, “Better an empty purse than an empty head.”
Making the decision to practice and develop good thinking
-Understand that great thinking comes from good thinking. If you want to become a great thinker, first you need to become a good thinker. Before becoming a good thinker, you need to become a thinker. In order to become a thinker, you nee to be willing to first produce a bunch of mediocre and downright bad ideas.
-Recognize there are many kinds of thinking. Thinking is multifaceted. The eleven different thinking skills are listed in the picture with this post.
-Maximize your strengths and staff your weakness. If you’ve read “Strengthsfinder 2.0” or “Now, Discover your strengths” by Tom Rath you understand this point. Don’t spend time trying to get better at your weaknesses. Instead, focus on becoming world-class in your strengths zone, and gather people around you who are strong in the areas you are weak.
Managing the discipline of thinking. Begin the discipline that “Every day I will set aside a time to think, and I will determine to think on the right things.”
-Find a place to think. Some connect to nature. Some at a coffee shop. Others in an isolated room, or even a specific chair at home. Where you go doesn’t matter as long as it stimulates your thinking.
-Set aside think time every day. Try to discover the time of day when your thinking is the sharpest.
-Find a process that works for you. Some people need musice. Some must write.
-Capture your thoughts. If you don’t write down your ideas, there is a great danger you will lose them.
-Put your thoughts into action quickly. Every time a person puts an idea across, he finds ten people who thought about it before he did – but they only thought about it.
Try to improve your thinking every day
– Focus on the positive: Thinking alone won’t guarantee success. You need to think about the right things. Negative thinking and worry actually hinder the thinking process
– Gather good input: I’ve found that the more good ideas I’m exposed to, the more my thinking improves
– Spend time with good thinkers: As you spend more time with them, you will find that the exposure sharpens your thinking