Thinking Skills | Journey of a Strategic Thinker | Day 1

“Few minds wear out; more rust out.”

We used to joke about it when we were kids. If we were to go to the market to sell our brains, I would get a very good price because my brain is completely new & unused.

I never thought that childish joke would serve as a utilitarian perspective for me one day.

It was almost 20 years since that joke, when I got caught in the Covid wave and spent over 1 month in hospital (most of it unconscious) fighting for my life. I was fortunate enough to have received love, care and some luck during that time. I got past that and recovered. But it was then when I started to see evidence of incipient concentration issues. I would forget some stuff. Found it difficult to concentrate.

This got me frightened more than anything in my life. Even more frightened than when I was at the hospital. I knew this would stymie me from taking more challenging roads in life.

I remembered that joke. And I knew I had to take the matters in my hands.

"Most men would rather die than think. Many do"

 Thinking is a lot harder than it seems. Time and effort needs to be dedicated towards it. It just doesn't happen on it's own. You have to make a conscious decision. 

Most people have a wrong understanding about what thinking is. We feel that the voice in our head, the one way broadcast is thinking.

Thoughts are not Thinking

 Brain works like a radio. We see, taste, touch or hear and brain simply responds. It's like a broadcast. That's it's basic purpose. Brain is a pattern recognition machine. It sees something and it responds with memories, feedback and all sorts of stories.

Thinking is what happens after this:

Thinking is a two-way communication.

Your brain comes up with feelings and stories & you analyze that, question that. Why? What? Can I? Should I?

Example: A young kid wants to go out with his friends. He asks his mom and she says no. He feels angry and immediately thinks his mother doesn't love him and doesn't want him to do anything he wishes.

An untrained brain will assume that this above narrative is what he is thinking.

A trained mind will realize that this is a broadcast. Now lets think about it. Why did mom said no to me? Why would she refuse? Is it too late? Are my definition of late and hers' definition different? She watches a lot of news, perhaps she saw something on news that's affecting her decision? Is she preoccupied by something? Is she feeling ok, should I stay here and talk to her? Maybe I can convince her better by saying something better?

You get the idea. It's a conscious decision. And it's time consuming.

Yet, almost everyone feels they think all day long. It's a common feeling amongst everyone that they are a model of judicious & creative vigor.

Being aware of this is a precursor to becoming a great thinker. This is a skill like any other skill. I have to work on it, follow a quotidian routine to get better at it.

That brings me here.

I'll share my journey and progress here, everyday. Hope this journey helps me burgeon.

- Read India Lead India.