Thinking Skills | Journey of a Strategic Thinker | Day 32

 “You could use the 80/20 rule. Give 80 percent of your effort to the top 20 percent (most important) activities. Another way is to focus on exceptional opportunities that promise a huge return."

 

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Thinking Skills | Journey of a Strategic Thinker | Day 32

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Last one month in this journey has been exciting. You can find more about that here:

Thinking Skills | Journey of a Strategic Thinker | Day 31 & first month

Today we explore another paradigm of thinking models. The more easy to understand these models are, higher the chance that you'll remember them and use them. In my pursuit to look for easy to understand thinking models, I landed upon this book - "How Successful People Think".

 

I. Engage in Focused Thinking

• Focused thinking removes distractions and mental clutter.
• Focused thinking harnesses energy toward a desired goal.
  Example: Practicing and improving a baseball pitch through focused thinking.
• Focused thinking gives ideas time to develop and reach their full potential.
  Example: Shifting from expansive thinking to selective, focused thinking to develop a good idea into a great one.
• Focused thinking brings clarity to the target and helps in achieving goals.
  Example: Golf goals that provide clear objectives and motivate players.
• Focused thinking is essential for reaching the next level of success.
  Example: Focusing on specific skills or areas of improvement to progress.

II. Where Should You Focus Your Thinking?

• Be selective in dedicating focused thinking time.
• Identify priorities based on strengths, highest return/reward, and what you enjoy and do best.
• Use techniques like the 80/20 rule or focusing on exceptional opportunities.
• Focus on areas that bear fruit and align with your goals.

• Focused Thinker
  • Talents
    • Find them
    • DISC Myer Briggs test
    • Jordan Peterson personality test
  • Consistency
    • schedule a time
    • remove distractions
  • Dreams
    • notice recurring dreams
    • what inspire you?
    • write them down
  • Prioritize
    • what's most important?
    • take on high reward actions first
    • focus on your skillsets

III. Discover Your Gifts

• Self-awareness and understanding of personal skills, gifts, and talents are crucial.
• Personality assessments like DISC or Myers-Briggs can help in identifying strengths.
• Seek input from positive friends and family members to gain insights into your strengths.
• Reflect on past successes to identify areas where you excel.

IV. Develop Your Dream

• Having a great dream is essential for achieving great things.
• Use focused thinking time to discover and refine your dream.
• Focus on a specific area if your thinking consistently returns to it.
• Once you have found your dream, move forward without hesitation.

 

V. How Can You Stay Focused?

• Remove distractions by practicing disciplined prioritization.
• Insulate yourself from distractions and create blocks of uninterrupted thinking time.
• Balance accessibility as a leader with the need for withdrawal to think.
• Make time for focused thinking, preferably in the morning.
• Avoid multitasking and focus on one task at a time to maximize efficiency.
• Keep items of focus visible to enhance concentration and prioritization.

 

 

Keep reading. Keep thinking.

Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

- Read India Lead India