Do You Know The Way to Think about Change?

Do you know the way to think about…all matters? This is the main question I challenge professionals in every seminar that I conduct anywhere in the world, as it relates to your thinking skills.

Thinking Overview

Nowadays through zoom, and even more importantly because of the times we are in, I ask them, “Do you know the way to think about change & crisis?”

The reason it is my first question and the most critical question that can be asked is that the way a person thinks will fashion their decision making, their feelings & ultimately their actions.

Eventually, they will become how they think. It happens to all. This is where it all begins.

Most philosophers agree on one thing, which is, You Tend To become What You Think About, and they are not wrong.

For me, it is and has been a marvelous fact to contemplate, one that yields many gains to my abilities in all walks of life and of course in my professional career as The Life Coach for The Pros.

Does that mean that if you acquire the right kind of thinking skills you can achieve great success?

Yes, absolutely! You already got the gift of thinking you just need to learn to fashion it.

Water Analogy – Do You Know The Way Water Flows?

So let’s understand what thinking skills are and get to know the way thinking affects your life. One of the better ways to explain things is by analogy.

Thinking can be likened to running water.

Your bain can be likened to a tunnel that the water flows through. The more you think in a certain way the deeper the tunnel becomes and it easily attracts the water to flow through, and by analogy, the same thoughts.

If you think in different ways you create different tunnels and the water can fertilize more parts of the land and cause more growth of vegetation.

In the same way, when we learn to think and grow our thinking skills we can be creative, we fertilize our brain in creative ways, more ideas appear and what we do in our lives becomes versatile, interesting, and productive.

The more you think the same way the more you dig the same “tunnel”.

That is why people tend to repeat the same ways of thinking and the same thoughts, all along expecting different results…which is of course INSANITY, as Einstein brilliantly explained.

For those who want to change their ways of thinking and improve their thinking skills, this analogy can be very helpful. Think (dig) as you want to become and the water (thoughts) of the future will flow through the tunnel you dug.

Water follows the path of least resistance and so do thoughts...

Thinking is the same. It follows the path of least resistance. So the more you thought in a certain way the deeper the groove in your brain becomes and causes every day’s thoughts to be the same.

And then words follow…”there is nothing new under the sun” to which I would reply: “yes there is, a lot is new under the sun but you can’t see it because you put yesterday’s blinders on by the way you always think”!

This water analogy can teach us a lot about the kind of thinking skills we need.

When one asks themselves the question do you know the way to think about this or that what they do is to open new avenues of creativity and allow the after to flow through other tributaries.

Do You Know The Way To Be Open To A New Think?

Thinking is the easiest and most difficult thing to change.

Very easy when you are conscious of the moment.

“Be in the now” they all say.

Books about “The Power Of Now“ appear everywhere. It makes you think it’s a big deal. Well, it is very difficult if you think it will just happen to you because it’s you.

But in fact, what they are telling you is to become conscious of the moment you are in, and I will tell you, it is to learn to think about the moment you are in by always challenging yourself to have a greater purpose than yourself.

That is how you can be conscious, and how do you know you are conscious? Because it often is uncomfortable.

Haven’t you noticed that when you are out of your comfort zone you are conscious of the moment and aware of things you are not normally aware of…like the passage of time? It becomes slower, doesn’t it?

Well, there’s your clue. Thinking about things consciously seems to slow time and you “feel your life” much more than your usual “autopilot” comfort zone routine.

If you don’t challenge your unconscious routine and comfort zone you will think the same way about everything, there will be minimal consciousness, with minimal possibility of change.

The equation is very simple to understand…if you want to.

People think all the time. The process is involuntary, but you can use this involuntary process by consciously deciding what and how you think.

Will it be a humble way of thin-king or an ego-based way of fat-king. The question is What Kind of Thoughts? For What Reason? For What Purpose?

That’s what strategic thinking training is about, what strategic planning training is about, and what creative thinking training is about. These are all thinking skills that are connected to BEING.

Have you noticed in your conscious moments that we are called “human beings”, not ‘human doing”?

So when I ask people “do you know the way to think?” I mean all that plus, do you have the thinking skills to think ahead, plan ahead, think out of the box,  and most importantly decide your own future and destiny?

The power to change is in us. Right at our fingertips.

It is in us, learning to think our way to better being…

Strategic Thinking Skills Analogy

In this article, I want to give you a simple way to think about all this issue so when you are asked “Do You Know The Way…” you can always say with confidence “No, I don’t but I know how to find out.”

So here is another analogy that may help.

We all know what slot machines are, don’t we? So here we have one, but it’s a special one. It’s a slot machine that you can only win with. Your earnings will always double the investment you put in.

It gives you a return according to the value you “insert” into the machine. Each of the coins represents a different value or different quality of thinking.

• Penny value thoughts,
• Nickel value thoughts,
• Dime value thoughts and,
• Quarter value thoughts.

There are the lowest value Penny thoughts, and when you insert pennies, the slot machine is extremely generous and gives you back a lot more than what you put in. Yet, curiously you somehow feel that you are always penniless!

Then there are Nickel value thoughts. Here also you get large returns from the slot machine but there is a feeling of having slightly more to keep, than with pennies.

When the Dime value thoughts are inserted the machine gives you a nice return on your investment and you start to feel like you accrue some wealth. You get a sense of satisfaction that wasn’t there before with the Pennies and Nickels.

With Quarter thoughts it seems that you get the same “double your investment” return, but when you check what you have, you realize that you have much more than you thought and the sense of quality and intactness is greater. You feel enriched and satisfied.

So how does that relate to strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking and strategic planning are all about consciously and selectively thinking and planning for the future, by being fully functional in the now.

How we think and what we think about collects energy and that is the slot machine. We will have a bank account of thoughts that grows on our behalf where we decide the quality and quantity of what accumulates.

What accumulates will be there for us in the future.

Our strategic thinking capacity will determine what level of thinking we want to have in the future and why and the level of strategic planning will determine the accuracy of putting these thoughts to practice.

For you to answer the question ‘do you know the way to think?’, you need to know the different quality of thoughts that are available so your consciousness has enough data to run on.

Penny Value Thoughts

These are personalized ego-based thoughts, mundane thoughts of Gain, and Loss that are regurgitated endlessly by the masses of people.

They sound like the following:

“I am not good enough. They are better. I am better than them. I’ll show the. They hate me, judge everyone who doesn’t agree with me. I am an idiot. They are all against me. I like it, I don’t like it. It’s not fair. I should have, etc. etc.

Nickel Value Thoughts

Blind Ambition-How can I get away with doing the minimum to get the maximum? How can I take advantage of everything?

Get results in any means, lie, cheat, step on everyone on the way, say whatever it takes to get your way, and then once you got what you wanted, deny you ever said that…I am the center of the world…more ego-based but more directed to a result, the end justifies the means

Dime Value Thoughts

These kinds of thoughts revolve more on what can be done to improve all-around performance and conditions. Skill improvement, how to help others improve. Willingness to learn and put to practice creative ideas, stretch one’s comfort zone, and breathe the fresh air that is “out of the box”.

Quarter Value Thoughts

This is where you answer the question ‘do you know the way to really improve your life?’, where you bring an updated set of thinking skills to your everyday life.

Here we enter a new realm of quality thoughts where there are a greater purpose and reason at play. The greater the purpose the greater the inner motivation.

How to become an agent of change that leads by example from the front, a motivational leader that understands that tapping into the power of positive thinking is a key to long-term success.

This is a level of personal and collective leadership thinking that always finds new opportunities and new ideas for problem-solving, and provides hope for a better future.

A Quarter value person is not perfect… they also have penny, nickel & dime value thoughts that they need to put in their right place.

However, their center of gravity is pivoted around personal growth and personal effectiveness, they are focused on long-term results and are motivated by reasons that go beyond just their personal profit.

Finally – What Does This Practically Mean To You?

What that means is that people determine their future by how and what they think. They carve the tunnel of their own life-leadership and leadership of others by how they think.

It puts the responsibility squarely on our own shoulders.

Responsibility is the ability to respond to the needs of the moment where sits the answer to the questions the ability to answer the question ‘Do You Know The Way To Think, To Be, To Do?’

When people think the same low levels (penny) thoughts, habitual (nickel) thoughts, new knowledge (dime) thoughts or, “out of the box” high-quality strategic thinking, creative thinking, critical thinking (quarter) thoughts, they will always get double of the same in the future.

In other words, the way they think today will have a huge impact on how they think tomorrow. This will define the decision-making level, leadership capacity, and their ability to develop new levels of personal effectiveness.

Ultimately, the quality of thinking is the main single parameter that shapes a person’s character and how others will view and think about them.

Change comes from How You think!

My Training Programs

The Thinking Coach Leadership Seminars include high levels of soft skills tools, such as strategic thinking, strategic planning, creative thinking, and critical thinking programs that demonstrate how to think your way into success and excellence by using simple and effective training techniques that utilize both sides of the brain.

The seminars will challenge old ways of thinking and provide for practical tools for professionals, to rediscover mental toughness and emotional intelligence and blend them together to a much higher level of excellence.

My training programs will help you develop the confidence of “how to think” about anything in a productive way rather than passive-automatic fashion that only relies on the past.

Times are changing rapidly and the last 6 month since we learned about the Coronavirus has shown us that the question Do You Know The Way To Think About Crisis is a key feature and a strategic thinking skill we must all have if we are to move forward and adapt to a brand new circumstance.

“Think What You Want to Become (strategic thinking), Do It (strategic planning training), Become It (life leadership training), and lead others by example (leadership training)” are key features in all of my professional training seminars.

Thinking is where the way to real change begins, any other starting point is doomed to fail.

Call on Me I am here for you, for personal coaching, zoom seminars, and soon, frontal training.

Eli Harari

The Life Coach for Professionals™