Thinking For a Change-Discussion 3 : Focused Thinking

Here are some of my thoughts on Focus Thinking Skill which John Maxwell talks about in his book “ Thinking For a Change”.

Focus can bring me energy and power to my daily activities, whether physical or mental.

I want to do well in my exam; focused thinking will help me to concentrate on preparing for my exam.

I want to do better in my gym, focused thinking while practicing will improve my technique in the gym

I want to cycle longer, focused thinking while practicing will increase my will power to persevere on.

Here are five suggestions to help you with the process of focused thinking and some of my practical example:

1.      Remove distraction:

I used to block off my time so that there is no interruption. I would make myself “disappear” or intentionally not connect with others. Lately, I would even stop my mobile data after 9 pm to prevent myself from using the internet.

2.      Make time for focused thinking:

Once you have a place to think, you need the time to think. My best thinking time occurs in the night after 10 pm, before my sleep. I stop my mobile data and don’t allow myself to look at the phone from 10 pm. Put all non-productive matters on hold so that I can create thinking time for myself.

3.      Keep items of focus before you:

Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade - in short, in all management of human affairs. To benefit from concentration, keep important items in front of you. I will record my top three priority things to do every day in my phone calendar. Also, I will ask my colleagues or family members to keep reminding me on the important things to do by bringing the topic up constantly.

4.      Set goals:

The mind will not focus until it has clear objectives. So, I believe setting goals are important.

A few months ago, my goal was to complete my DNS D exam by first weekend of October. This clear goal empowered me to get it completed.

5.      Question your progress:

Is what I am doing getting me closer to my goals?

I always do my self- reflection at 10 pm before my sleep and check the progress of my goal. I try to make sure I am headed toward my goal.

Let’s start your focused thinking with me and you will see the changes.

"Thinking for a change" - Discussion 2 - Big Picture Thinking

The last lesson of our Leadership Training class was on the topic of 'Big-picture Thinking' skill.

Big-picture Thinking! If you asked me before I read the book- 'Thinking for a change' if I had Big-picture Thinking...I would have answered Yes I DO. Previously I thought, as long as I accommodate perspectives and needs of others in my choices...I consider myself to be a big picture thinker. Further to that, I considered myself to be a Big-picture thinker when I had the ability to see a situation in a broader perspective for my family with reference to my professional perspective which would add value in the relevant matters. This to me was good for my family members; hence they should then follow my advice with my professional point of view.

 But I now think my understanding of Big-picture Thinking may not be completely true.

"We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon".

This line gave me a very big impact on the way I used to think; prior to this I understood the language but not the meaning of the line. I should not see from my own world/perspective when family members refuse to follow what I think is good for them. I should not limit myself by other people's opinion when I believe in what I see as best in a situation. People may choose to live in their horizons but I will be courageous to continue to see my horizon with the good thinking for my life and choices.

Learn continually, listen intentionally, live completely and look expansively are the mindset which should be adopted in the thinking process to achieve my horizon. From these, I have far more to learn.

During the discussion, we had to rate ourselves from the scale of 1-10 as a big picture thinker. Initially my big picture thinking is base on three different roles - me in my personal growth, me in my career, and me in my family. With this way of thinking, hence I have different ratings too! But big picture thinking is a skill; if it is a skill...it should not differ when in different situations. It should have one rating and not three! The mindset should be considered as a whole, it won't be totally different even at different roles.

I used to view challenges with a situational view of overcoming it. I found myself to be impatient easily when challenges crossed my path in a situation then. However, seeing another way of viewing my challenges, I have observed my new ability to be able to overcome the negative emotions (impatience) when I implement Big-picture thinking with a vision as a target, instead of just a good situation as a target. This enables me to prepare myself to deal with my challenges instead of trying to push it away.
The way I now think is...How free are you/me? If I have limitations in my mind because of what others think and say (the situation), then that will be the size of my thinking! - telling myself.

After attending the leadership class, I always link my past to current. I begin to connect all the dots and I now believe I have the potential to become a leader! I have never settled for certainty, I took up the challenge to study physiotherapy when I was 26 years old. I gave myself permission to expand my world; I put myself in an environment where the good thinkers are. I learn from every experience and gain insight from a variety of people; I try to understand what/why/how my seniors perform. I am not a leader YET to others, as sometimes I still sway in between the reality and idealism. But I have begun this journey by first beginning to lead myself from my dream and choices instead of from my situations. My situations do not limit my thinking. I have to unleash the potential of focused thinking to sharpen my thinking skill. How? To be continue, thinking skill 2- unleash the potential of focused thinking.

Shane Shing Mun Yin

"Thinking for a change" - Discussion 1

Everything begins with a thought.

“Life consist of what a man is thinking about all day”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

After following the three chapters in the book “Thinking for a change” by John Maxwell, thinking can be a powerful thing; it can either make you or break you. Having good thinking can change your life. According to James Allen, “Good thoughts and action can never produce bad results; bad thought and actions can never produce good results.” To me the statement seems logical and there is truth in what James Allen stated. The question that follows this thought of mine is  how do we define good thinking. According to John Maxwell there are only a minority of people who are good thinkers. During our discussion we talk about being good thinkers in different context. We must always strive to be in the minority group of good thinkers in whatever environment we may be in. There are many levels of depth of good thinking. It is important to know the WHYs as this will lead us to the HOW and WHAT in the process of reaching our goals and potential. People must learn how to think well to achieve their dreams and to reach their potential.

For me, an example of a good thinker is Lee Kuan Yew. As a leader, he had a vision of bringing up Singapore and making the country a landmark in the world map. He is able to see the details in the big picture and stay focus all the time, showing his consistency in striving to make his vision a reality. During our team discussion, one of our colleague mentioned that she viewed Tun Mahathir as a good thinker.To her, he was a great leader in bringing great development to the country and leading the country to the next level. Some of us also viewed P. Ramlee as a good thinker. We see him bringing great changes to the entertainment industry in our country. His legacy still stays on even though he has passed on many years. In our discussion, one of our colleague’s  mentioned that she viewed her husband as a good thinker. She identified him as a good thinker. She came to this conclusion because …(I quote her) “He is able to think through details looking at the issue from many different angles. He is able to then set clear goals and work towards it consistently.”

Another colleague mentioned that he admired his professors are good thinkers. He related back to his time of graduation, his professors gave him some books informing him to only read those books after he begins working. They told him to only read the books when he had new questions during his work which he could not answer. After a few years of working the books were extremely useful and thinking back to what the professors said, he saw his professors to be good thinkers as they were able to empower him with direction and guidance for his career even though they were not near him now. Nelson was also mentioned to be respected as a good thinker. He was able to walk the talk from the beginning until the end. He was able to influence people even from prison and what he planted was so strong that it influenced others to make a change. He was a great influence of demonstrating and  teaching to be forgiving.

In our discussion, good thinkers to us can be people very near to us or well known leaders around the world. It depends on which context we are referring to. Good thinking isn’t just one thing. It consists of several specific thinking skills. Becoming a good thinker means developing those skills to the best of our ability. After our sharing of thoughts, we came to conclusion that good thinkers in the context of leadership are people who have good thinking skills whereby they are able to influence and lead people in any situation in a positive way. The concept of leadership thinking is that you are able to have a VISION, and with the concrete vision you will start to have a MISSION with VALUES and OBJECTIVES hence having GOALS to work towards to.

We are not necessarily born good thinkers; good thinking can be acquired intentionally. It can be cultivated and refined. How are we to acquire good thinking skills? It starts with an intention of wanting to be a good thinker. It is discipline and consistency to acquire good thinking skills. It is important to put aside some time and find a place to think our thoughts; a place where we can shape our thoughts; stretch our thoughts; land our thoughts and finally fly our thoughts.

In the following lessons, we will be looking at eleven thinking skills that can help us to become a good thinker. Come follow us in this leadership journey of Thinking for a Change……..next, we will talk about the first thinking skill which is BIG–PICTURE THINKING.

Jacinta Lee