THINKING -the art of problem solving! (6)

THE DOMAIN OF THOUGHTS AND THE DOMAIN FOR THINKING – your mind!

In the previous part of this series on THINKING –the art of problem solving part (4) and part (5), we looked at real nature, definition and the right attitude towards problem. We concluded that problems were a vital part of life and if one is to advance in life, solving problems was inevitable. In this part of the series, we shall be discussing the medium through which thinking is actually being carried out. It is important to understand this before moving ahead to explain how thinking itself is actually done. Before you can learn and develop the skill of how to think, it’s of utmost importance you understand first what you use to think – your mind.

The human mind is where thinking is done and it’s what we use to think, an understanding of how it works is crucial. Not understanding how it works can certainly hinder how you make use of it while thinking. One of the reasons why many people find it very difficult to think is because of their inability to control their mind. This is because ‘thinking’ involves the use of the mind and the human mind has a reputation for being unstable which makes it somewhat difficult to capture ideas vividly. The human mind, owing to its highly sensitive nature, is very swift to capture things. In a space of about two minutes it can record two or more different thoughts simultaneously. It’s never idle, you are either consciously feeding it with your own choice of information, or its busy gathering whatever comes its way. Like a young child, it can be hard to keep it interested in something or one particular thing per time. It has a tendency to wander off and do something else. This habit of the mind constantly drifting away can be attributable to distractions from two major sources; internal and external.

There are five kinds of internal distractions which can affect our ability to control the mind. They are;

(1) Doziness – “sloth and torpor”

Sloth and torpor is when we’re not short of rest, but the mind finds dozing off / shutting down attractive. Examples include; physically dozing off, Mental haze.

(2) Hassle – “restlessness and anxiety”

Examples include;

• Physical fidgeting etc.
• Mental worry
• Remorse and regret
• Panic attacks: “I should be doing X”, “how am I going to do Y?”

(3) Craving – “desire for sensuous experience”

This is different from actually enjoying something pleasant; this is the unfulfilled or neurotic craving for it.

Examples include;

• Obsessive greed for sex, food, music, holidays, drink
• Fantasies
• Drifting into pleasurable ideas etc.

(4) Resentment – “ill will”

This is when you feel “Like picking up a hot coal to throw it at someone else”

Examples include;

• Anger
• Irritation
• Carrying on arguments in your head
• Desire to hurt and harm

(5) Stuck ness – “pathological skepticism”

This is different from doubt and intellectual skepticism, which are quite wonderful tools for finding out things. Pathological skepticism become a problem if we use them as an excuse for never doing anything, never making choices, never committing ourselves to doing something beneficial.

• “I can’t meditate – other people maybe, not me”
• “I can’t ever change – it’s always going to be like this”
• “I’m not even going to try anything that I’m not already familiar with”
• “Why bother? Nothing’s any use anyway”

The external distractions include;

• Being uncomfortable
• Sudden noise etc.

These distractions are ways the mind stops us from engaging it and controlling it. How is this so? you might want to ask. I will explain. The human mind is like a magnet, a magnet is known for attracting pieces of metals close to it from all directions. Likewise, the human mind attracts pieces of information that are exposed to it from all directions at a speed faster than the processor speed of most computers. The funny and most complicating thing about the human mind is how it functions totally on its own. I mean the human mind seems and very much so, acts like it has a mind of its own. It does things and functions completely by itself. With little or no supervision, the human mind is still very effective constantly capturing, processing and storing series of information in nanoseconds. It barely waits for our instruction codes before it switches into full action. It literally functions without our permission. The human mind, unlike other parts of the body, won’t announce to you, the supposed owner that it wishes to capture, process or store a particular piece of information and thus, needs your approval or permission to go ahead. It simply just does its own thing. We all know the leg won’t move until we instruct it through our brain to. The same thing applies to our hand, eyes, mouth and other organs of the body; they don’t act unless we instruct them to, except of course in horror movies, where one part of the body, say the head, starts to act or talk in the absence of the body. Other than that, other parts of the body are controllable by us. That is, they function only by our permission. This is because other parts of our body, unlike the mind, are consciously controlled by the brain.

But the mind is not so. The mind is both consciously and unconsciously controlled. The mind according to Psychologists is divided into two parts: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The term ‘conscious’ refers to a state of being aware, it means what you knowingly do or what you do deliberately or intentionally. It is doing (action) based on knowing (knowledge). The conscious mind therefore refers to that part of the human mind that is aware, logical and objective capable of gathering, processing, storing and converting raw data into useable information and instructions that we use to deliberately influence our actions and behaviours. It acts in a linear, step by step fashion processing just a few pieces of information at a time before moving on to the next thing. The art of ‘Thinking’ is actually done using the conscious part of the mind. That is; the logical analysis of things, events or experiences and the logical creation of ideas, solutions or strategies.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR WHEN YOU DIE?

Try to imagine the day of your own funeral, everyone gathered around your coffin; family, friends, work/business colleagues all crying and sober for losing you. And there you are, standing over your own liveless body …WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE SAID ABOUT YOU BY THOSE WHO CAME FOR YOUR FUNERAL?

WHILE STILL THINKING …..READ THIS! (Im sorry it’s kinda long, believe me I tried my best to make it shorter)

Shortly before 5pm on Monday night 5th Jan. 2009, Adolf Merckle, whose estimated $9.2 billion fortune put him 94th on Forbes’s list of the world’s richest people and Germany’s fifth richest man, quietly put on his coat, told his wife “I have to go to the office for a while”, and drove to a railway embankment near his home, where he lay on the frozen tracks and waited patiently for death.

To casual observers, it appeared that the 74-year-old businessman had committed suicide because he was unable to cope with losing the sort of riches the rest of us can only dream of.

Yet the trappings of wealth meant nothing to Merckle; to him money was simply an inevitable by-product of his success, never a goal in itself.

He lived so modestly that he cycled to work on a 15-year-old bike for most of the year, and in bad weather he drove a four-year-old VW Golf. He had no bodyguards or servants, lived in an unimposing chalet-style house in the small town of Blaubeuren, his home for the past 60 years, without so much as a CCTV camera for protection, and stopped off at his local pub on his way home each night to share a drink with the regulars.

So why did the man kill himself? Every one asks, but I ask,

(1) Who was this man during his stay here on earth?

As he built up his companies, becoming the world’s 94th richest man, according to Forbes magazine, he created thousands of jobs and enriched the local community by paying for a sports hall, kindergarten and other facilities.

(2) What was said about him after he left this planet?

As flowers, cards and candles continued to be laid by well-wishers outside the Merckle family home, Sabine Wildermut, who works for the local council, said: “You’ll find this town in mourning because no one can comprehend what has taken place.”

Elisabet Schmidt, a neighbour, said: “No one begrudged him his success. He was just one of us, one of the community. If you met him you would never have guessed he was a billionaire.”

Ernst Junger said: “He was always generous to the local community, but he never lived the high life. He always flew economy class on planes, he cut coupons out of the newspapers if there were special offers, and his wife shopped at Aldi, the same as everyone else.”

Unlike George Bailey, the character played by Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life, Merckle had no guardian angel to bring him back from the brink of suicide by showing him how much he was valued by his family and friends, and how little they cared about the profit margins of his companies.

Everyone of us will die, the question is not about how, when or why we die, but what will be remembered and said of us when we are eventually gone? Unlike Adolf Merckle who his now dead, Friend, you are still alive. Stop and think NOW what you want to be said about your life here on earth when you are gone, For surely, someday we all shall be as Adolf Merckle!

THINKING -the art of problem solving! (5)

In the previous article , the focus was on the meaning of problems, in this article we shall be examning the right attitude towards problem.Before I start to teach on how to think, this is what I often tell people; “the problem is not the problem, but rather, how we ‘think’ about the problem”. In other words, the real problem is not with the problem itself, but the way we see or perceive the problem. The real issue is with how we define the problem. It’s our attitude towards a problem that often makes finding a solution very difficult. Often times our attitude influences and affects the way we ‘think’. A person with a wrong attitude towards problem will always find it difficult to arrive at a solution when thinking. Before a person can know how to think, he/she must be willing to cultivate the right attitude for thinking and this can only be achieved when they change their attitude towards problem. If you hate or have a negative feeling about problems, then knowing how to think and mastering the ‘art of thinking’ might not work out well for you. I suggest you first address and change your attitude toward problems first. You cannot hate one and like the other. Before you can arrive at a destination (solution) you must acknowledge where you are coming from (problem). If you must know how to think and master the ‘art of thinking’; then you have no other choice, but to develop a positive mindset for problems. The greatest achievers in life are people who literally fall in love with problems; here are some of their views about problems;

“It’s not that I am so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer” – Albert Einstein

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem”. - Theodore Rubin

“A problem is a chance for you to do your best” – Duke Ellington

“Problems are to the mind what exercise is to the muscles, they toughen and make strong”

– Norman Vincent Peale

“Money is the reward gotten for solving a problem” – Sam Adeyemi

“Problems are only opportunities in work clothes (disguise)” – Henry J. Kaiser

“Problem solving is the purpose of any business enterprise” – Peter F. Drucker

“Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally or spiritually. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity to solve problems.”

- M. Scott Peck

I want to believe those quotes have helped to steer up within you a positive attitude toward problems. The truth is this; problems are necessary challenges we all have to conquer if we must achieve our greatest dreams in life. The road to success, fulfillment and significance in life lies right in the middle of many problems; that is, there will always be missing links (gap). To get to our set goals and visions, we have to be prepared to solve all the problems life will bring our way; close or fill up the gaps. You’ll notice I didn’t say, “Problems life may bring our way”, but rather “problems life will bring our way”. This is because; problems are an essential part of life. They are not what may happen (probabilities); they are what will happen (certainties). Just as passing an examination is the only way for a student to get promoted into a new class; likewise, our ability to solve problems are our only chances of moving ahead in life. If we must rise to the next level, phase or stage in life and in business, then solving problems have to become our second nature. It’s not a choice, but a must (necessity). Hence thinking cannot be regarded as a convenience but a necessity if we must get beyond survival to really living.

THINKING -the art of problem solving! (4)

THE ANATOMY OF PROBLEM

The way you define a problem determines how you will solve it.

-James P. Lewis

I took my time to explain the differences between thinking and worrying because your ability to tell the one from the other is the first step in knowing how to think. Now, I am going to digress a little, I want to talk less of thinking here and more about problems. Since it’s been discussed previously that the sole goal of thinking is to come up with solutions or ideas to solving problems, it’s therefore necessary at this point to also examine and analyze what problems really are.

So what exactly is a problem? A problem is a gap between where you are and where you want to be, with obstacles existing that prevent easy movement to close the gap. This definition was given by James P. Lewis a project manager. In my opinion, no one understands problems better than project managers whose only task is to plan and schedule solutions to problems. I picked this definition because it’s so direct, no stories, simply straight to the point. A problem is nothing other than a gap! Having this mindset helps you get over the phobia of problem. The definition is so accommodating, rather than making you see problem as something to avoid, it presents problem as a gap; a missing link; an obstacle, and these are less threatening. When you begin to see problem as a gap (missing link) it enables you to consider options you wouldn’t have naturally considered before. This is because you recognize the problem as what is hindering you from accomplishing what you had set out to accomplish. That alone, makes you want to go all out to find ways of dealing with the hindrance. At that point, the problem is not regarded as an option that can be overlooked, but rather, an obstacle that must be overcome if the goal is to be achieved.

Each time I’m called upon by a client to solve a problem, before getting into the consulting process, this is what I often ask them; “Are you prepared to find a solution to this problem?” Most of the time they get turned off by this question, to them, if they weren’t ready to solve the problem why on earth would they call for me in the first place. No matter how ridiculous this question may sound, I have discovered through experience that people naturally want a goal achieved but are seldom willing to pay the required price. They allow themselves to be buried by the weight of the problem. The very mere mention of a problem seems to knock out any form of idea that could have led to a possible solution. Because of the way they dread problems, finding a way out of a problem becomes almost impossible. People, rather than focusing on solutions tend to be more comfortable concentrating on the problem itself. Thus, rather than thinking, they find themselves worrying. John C. Maxwell once said “50% of getting what you want is knowing what you have to give up in order to get it.” The truth is this; if you truly want it you will go after it and get it at any price. I’m sure you are familiar with the saying that “fortune favours the bold”; here is a better way of saying it; “life makes way for the problem solvers.”

You see, there is always a way out of every problem we encounter in life. The very fact that we are faced with a problem is a proof that the solution lies somewhere. The problem with most people is not that they don’t know how to think (although this is equally true) but that they always want to run away from problems. This is why finding a way out of a problem seems very difficult. You cannot overcome that which you are afraid to confront. They don’t look beyond the problem to see the goal which must be accomplished. The very moment the problem surfaces, they seem to lose sight of the goal they initially set out to accomplish. One thing is certain and that is what I want to point out in this part of the article; problems arise only when we are in pursuit of something. Life has been designed in such a way that makes us all lacking in one thing or another, no one is self sufficient and as a result, everyone is after something at every point in life. This is because; Life is built and governed by the principle of exchange. Yes, nothing goes for nothing! The principle is simple and states that; you cannot get unless you are willing to give; you cannot find unless you are prepared to lose. There has to be an exchange; something for something.

Ever wondered why we humans breathe in oxygen (what plants breathe out) and the plants breathe in carbon dioxide (what we the humans breathe out?) Ever wondered why rain falls down to the ground and later goes up back into the cloud during photosynthesis only to form another rain? Why are the waste products of animals being used later as fertilizers in the production of food for man? All these, point to one fact, life is designed for exchange. Nothing is ever wasted in the universe. No one is an island of itself; we were created for connection and that’s what makes the exchange possible. In order to get something, you must give up another. The problem with most human is that they often want to get ahead in life without playing their part in life. If you are one of those that think you can get without first giving, I suggest you try living elsewhere and not on this planet earth. A principle cannot be broken, principles are to be obeyed. Giving comes before getting, just as sowing comes before reaping.

Thus, problem is nature’s way of bargaining with us each time we want to get something from life. Every time we set out in pursuit of something and eventually encounter problem along the way, nature wants to know how bad we really want that thing and what we are willing to do in exchange for that thing. For every problem thrown our way by nature, we humans must proffer solutions if we ever want to move ahead in life. This is why the ability to think is perhaps the greatest skill worth developing by anyone who desires to be anything at all in life. We are both the recipients of nature’s gifts as well as the instruments for nature’s needs. We only get the gifts of nature when we meet the needs of nature. We get only when we fulfill the requirements for getting which is giving. The gifts are not meant for nothing, they are given in order to fulfill needs. Solutions to problems are what we give to nature in exchange for our advancement in life. Without solutions to problems, there will be no advancement and development of life. Hence, choosing not think by avoiding problems is simply choosing not to make any progress in life. Think about it, has the greatest inventions by man through out history contributed to the advancement of life here on earth or not? The answer is very obvious; each time man solves one of nature’s problems the world is better off for it. Solving problems is our only way of making any meaningful progress in life and thinking is the only tool given to us to achieve this.

THINKING – the art of Problem solving! (3)

THINKING vs WORRYING

“Worry is like rocking a chair – it   gives you something to do but won’t take you anywhere.”
–Unknown Author

Worrying is “thinking” aimlessly; not having a definite purpose or objective in mind. It’s focusing on a problem and all its negative attributes rather than focusing on possible solutions. When we worry, we keep going round a particular problem and never being able to arrive at any possible solution. We think of all the other things associated with a problem, except its solution. When faced with a problem, ‘worrying’ is the medium through which we propound the problem. Rather than looking beyond the problem to arrive at a possible solution, ‘worrying’ looks inside the problem so that it can come up with any suitable explanation. Worrying is a negative emotional state. Thinking is a rational process. One has a negative outcome, the other a positive outcome. Worrying has never been known to solve a problem; rather it enlarges them. When you spend your time focusing on the negative side of an issue or problem, looking at things only from the unpleasant angle; then you are worrying and not thinking. If all you ever do is pointing accusing fingers or looking for explanations for your inactions and predicaments, then you are worrying.

Thinking leaves you motivated, inspired, eager and refreshed; worrying leaves you depressed, de-motivated, sorrowful, and angry with yourself. Thinking is searching for options and solutions; worrying is searching for excuses and explanations. Thinking liberates – it sets your passion loose, it ignites your creativity. Worrying depresses – it shuts down all your creativity, weakens your passion and awakens all your negative emotions. You can never come out of ‘worrying’ and feel better than you went in; NO! You will always feel worse than you were before you started worrying. This is because worrying is counter productive, it’s a negative exercise. It can never produce anything fruitful.

Thinking is productive, it’s an attempt to generate answers or solutions to problems and not an attempt to create more problems or find excuses for the existing ones. While thinking aims at finding a way out of a problem, worrying tries to find a way to justify the problem by putting the blame on something or someone else. Thinking is progressive; it leads forward and gives you a new direction. It focuses on lessons learnt from mistakes made; it’s ever ready to accept corrections. It’s projective – opens up new ways. Worrying is regressive; it always leads backward trying to justify your present condition or situation. It’s starting with the things you cannot do or have limited resources to do. Worrying is refusing to change; doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result. It’s thinking about the ‘good old days’. Worrying focuses mainly on one’s weaknesses, keeping records of all the things one is unable to get, the things you don’t have. It’s playing the blame game; “if only this …, then ……. That”.

Worrying is not the same as thinking. To ‘think’ means to birth, generate ideas or solutions and to draw up plans or strategies for implementation. ‘Worry’ on the other hand, is focusing on a problem and all the unpleasant things surrounding that problem. Thinking is the deliberate use of the mind to achieve a specific end; this end could either be (1) a generated idea or solution and (2) a formulated plan or strategy. This implies that the ‘art of thinking’ always has a specific agenda it wants to accomplish; it’s never an exercise in futility. Each time we think, at the back of our mind there’s always a set aim or objective we want to accomplish, this could be a pressing problem or need. Thus, thinking is the medium through which we work out the ideas or solutions and formulate plans or strategies that can be implemented to accomplish our desired aim or objective. ‘Thinking’ as a rule, must always yield a solution and not just a conclusion. A solution is a way out of a problem; a conclusion is an explanation for a problem. Within every problem lies both a difficulty and a possibility; thinking is searching for the possibilities while worrying is searching for the difficulties. This is what clearly differentiates thinking from worrying; because the former produces a course of action (solution), while the later finds a reason for inaction (conclusion).

There are two ways to tell whether you’ve been thinking or worrying. First, by asking yourself this; “what exactly am I focusing on, the problem or a solution”? If your focus is totally on the problem; then you are worrying, but if your focus is on finding a possible solution; then you are thinking. For example, if a person’s problem is that he doesn’t have a job, ‘thinking’ would be to search for a possible solution – “how can I get a job?” while ‘worrying’ would be to try to justify the situation – “why is it so hard to get a job?”. The emphasis here is on result, what exactly do you want, a solution to the problem or an explanation for the problem. The second way to tell whether you’ve been thinking or worrying is by looking at your mood. If you’ve been thinking, you will feel very excited, uplifted and energized, you will have a strong urge to immediately implement the ideas or solutions you’ve been able to generate. And if you’ve been worrying on the other hand, then the opposite is the case. You’ll feel weak, upset, downcast and self pity will immediately set in. Rather than generating ideas or solutions, you’d have succeeded in creating more issues to brood over. The bottom-line is this; Thinking is reasoning with the mind; worrying is reasoning with the heart; one is rational, the other emotional. I’ll conclude with this beautiful quote by Denis Waitley, I think it’s a perfect summary; “Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer”.

THINKING -the art of problem solving! (2)

In this second article, I’ve decided to unveil the mystery behind ‘thinking’ so that the ‘art of thinking’ can be learnt, understood and applied effectively by the average person. Thinking is a skill and just like every other skill, it can be learnt and developed. It’s my aim through this article to explain as clearly as possible what ‘thinking’ really means, point out the differences between ‘thinking’ and ‘worrying’ and how you can tell the one from the other; take you step by step through the whole ‘thinking process’ where you will develop the right attitude for thinking and learn how ideas are actually generated; and finally, show you how to get the most out of your ‘thinking’ by subjecting your generated ideas to practical test through ‘effective thinking’. Let’s now go ahead and explain in details what ‘thinking’ really means.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THINKING?

“Thought is action in rehearsal”

- Sigmund Freud

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, ‘thinking’ means the use of the mind to consider something; to form connected ideas; to try to solve problem(s). It also means; to have ideas, words or images in your mind; to intend something; to have a plan about something.

Hence, ‘thinking’ can be defined as the art of using the mind to generate ideas, find solutions to problems and to formulate a plan or strategy for implementing the ideas or solutions generated. Put succinctly, thinking is the art of creating answers or solutions to existing problems. It involves primarily the use of the mind, which means ‘thinking’ cannot be seen, but imagined; it can’t be touched, because it’s invincible. Thinking occurs on the inside, which makes it passive and not active. It’s not something you do (action) but something done through you (inspiration). The ‘art of thinking’ is like the art of conception; the two of them are similar since they are both internally formed and can yield results that are externally visible. Since the end point of ‘thinking’ is the generation of ideas; and conception leads to the creation of babies, then ideas, like babies, are not something we create (do) but rather are creations (something done through us).

This is why ‘thinking’ is regarded as an ‘ART’ and not an ‘ACT’; because it’s only after thinking that we discover the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ to do. That is; the knowledge of ‘what’ to do and ‘how’ to do is derived from thinking. Hence, it’s not an action in itself, but has the potential to produce an action or course of action. The art (inspiration) of thinking produces an act (action). Thinking is our spirit in action. While thinking, all may be still and motionless on the outside, yet so much could be happening on the inside. You could be physically seated on the outside, and yet in your mind’s eye through the process of thinking you could be standing or running. It is a journey which takes place internally; the process involves going out of one’s immediate circumstance or situation and connecting into the imagination through the subconscious mind. Thinking is looking for options that are not physically seen or present and giving birth to things that didn’t exist before.

‘Thinking’ going by its definition has mainly two objectives. Firstly, to generate ideas or find solutions to existing problems, and secondly, to formulate the generated ideas or solutions into plans or strategies that can be implemented. Combining these two objectives, the essence of thinking is to birth new ideas or find solutions to existing problems and converting the ideas generated or solutions found into workable plans. This is the sole essence of thinking; anything short of these two is another exercise, the opposite of thinking known as worrying. If after thinking you are unable to draw up a plan of action based on the ideas or solutions you generated, then you’ve just finished ‘worrying’ and have not been thinking.

THINKING -the art of problem solving! (1)

“Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.”

- George Bernard Shaw

The ability to think is perhaps the greatest asset of the 21^st century and any man alive today who doesn’t think or know how to think, is as good as dead. Thinking shapes our life, directs our actions and influences our decisions. Thinking governs our life. All modern civilization came as a result of thinking. The chair you are sitting on right now is the by-product of a tree; it wasn’t as it is today. Through thinking somebody was able to see a chair in an ordinary tree. Where you are today is a result of the thoughts of yesterday. What you think is what you become; no one can go beyond the boundaries of his own thinking. The sum of your life is a direct function of your thoughts, if you can change your thinking, you can change your life.

Most people are stuck in life because they haven’t unlocked the power of their mind through thinking. They find it difficult to forge ahead in life because of their inabilities to solve problems through thinking. And if you can’t think to solve problems, you’ll find yourself paying more for solutions created by others who put their thinking to use. Your life can never be better than it is if your ability to think is not developed. This is because problems are a part of life and your ability to solve problems is what guarantees your success in life. People don’t pay for problems; they pay for solutions to problems. To be wealthy, successful and fulfilled, your ability to solve problems is very crucial, and problems are only solved through thinking. Hence, there is need for everyone to master the ‘art of thinking’, because he that does not think will eventually sink.

Though thinking is as old as man and as common as money, yet only a few people have successfully mastered the ‘art of thinking’. Owing to its popular use these days, the true and intrinsic meaning of the word has been diminishing. People tend to use the word ‘in’ and ‘out’ of context totally ignorant of its power and value. A lot of people who somehow have recognized the enormous value of thinking want to practice it but not knowing how, end up worrying. This is because there’s a thin line between ‘thinking’ and ‘worrying’ which quite a number of people are unaware of. In between this line lies a huge difference between the two of them, and only those who have mastered the ‘art of thinking’ can tell or separate the one from the other, thus, reaping the benefits inherent in thinking.

So many books have been written about this subject (thinking) and a lot of lives have been transformed just because they imbibed the ‘art of thinking’. Books like ‘the power of positive thinking’ by Norman Vincent Peale, ‘As a man thinketh’ by James Allen, ‘Think and grow rich’ by Napoleon Hill, ‘Thinking for a change’ by John C. Maxwell and ‘New Think’ by Edward De Bono have all pointed out the importance of thinking as a major skill anyone who desires to be successful has to develop. No wonder, when the great Industrialist Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Corporation was summoned by a group of elites and was accused of not being educated answered and said “I don’t need an education to know what to do, I pay the educated to do what I tell them to do and spend my time doing the hardest job only few men can do; thinking.”

The importance of thinking cannot be overemphasized; it’s a must have for anyone who desires to be successful in any work of life. The greatest men and women, who have left their footprints in the sands of time, were all masters in the ‘art of thinking’. All the groundbreaking inventions, innovations and discoveries ever made by man, came as a result of thinking. According to Bible scholars, even the world we live in was formed out of the bowels of thought. This the scientists confirmed after so many years of study that everything created in life, either by God or by man, passed through two stages of creation. They discovered that everything in life was created twice; first in the mind through ‘thinking’ and secondly, in the physical by ‘doing’. These two stages of creation are called the mental (thinking) and physical (doing) creation. What we see as reality today, were originally ideas conceived in the mind during the first phase of creation which I refer to as the ‘thinking stage’ and then translated into their material form in the physical, during the second and final phase of creation, the ‘doing stage’. Based on their findings, they concluded that; ‘thinking’ precedes ‘doing’; the mental precedes the physical.

In my four years in the field of consulting, both as a small business coach and IT consultant, I have come across clients who have been faced with diverse problems in their business and personal life, simply because they do not recognize or value the power and benefits of thinking. In our rush to do because of our innate believe in physical labour, we often do things without thinking and by so doing, we miss the first and most vital stage in the creation circle; the thinking process. What is unknown to many is that, the bulk of the work to be done during the second stage (doing stage) is actually determined and planned in the mind at this vital stage of creation – the thinking stage.

The fact that we cannot physically see what’s going on in our mind is no proof that the things which take place there are not real or cannot influence our reality. In fact, it’s been scientifically proven that what happens in reality is a direct function of what we think about in our minds. We reduce our chances of loss and the number of mistakes we make if we learn, develop and master the ‘art of thinking’. Mistakes can only be corrected in the mind during the first stage of creation. The moment they are translated into their physical forms in reality; we cannot but suffer the consequences of those mistakes. In life, there are only two kinds of failures; those who think and never do, and those who do and never think. The choice is ours, it’s wiser and safer we ‘think’ before we ‘do’.

THE TEST OF CHARACTER

Trust is a very sensitive issue, and that’s the more reason why people often shy away from it most times. To trust someone 100% is certainly an issue open to discussion. The main trouble is not whether we should trust someone 100% or not, but rather, how can we tell when to give someone that 100% complete trust? It’s not a matter of preference, whether we should or shouldn’t trust completely, but a matter of knowledge, when to give away such level of trust. The aim of this article is not to tell whether one can ever trust someone 100% or not. My aim is to explain as best as I can how you can tell someone’s character to a certain extent by removing the protective shield placed on them by our physical presence. Before you can tell whether to trust someone 100% or not, it depends solely on the person’s character. Character is the foundation on which trust is built and developed. Hence, to trust or not to trust cannot be determined by someone else other than you, because character is not spoken or taught, it’s something you have to painstakingly find out yourself. Trust is earned and not given, so it’s your duty to ascertain whether a person is worthy of your trust 100% or not. This can only be known, when you can tell their true character.

The true test of a person’s character is revealed not in the absence of what they greatly fear, but rather in the presence of what they fear. The real nature of a person is known not when he is restricted from what is bad or evil, but when he decides and chooses to do good and what is right in spite of the evil he or she may find themselves. To fully comprehend the idea behind this statement, it’s important we talk a little bit about the true meaning of character.

How can we possibly know what a person can or cannot do if we deny them the opportunity to do and restrict them from the freedom of doing? If we so desire to know the true nature of people, we must then be prepared to take the risk of removing the limitations placed on them by our physical presence. For we can only know what we do not know about a person when we give them the freedom to reveal their real self. Until we can create the room for people to exercise their freedom, we will never be able to tell or know the limits of their actions. It is in freedom that a person’s real nature is fully expressed and revealed. Not in restriction.

For instance, how do you know if someone truly loves you if they have never been given a room to hate you? How do you tell whether your kids truly obey you; if they have never been in a position to disobey? People naturally will behave in a manner parallel to our expectations of them. We know the real nature of someone when we give room for doubt, that is, we have no form of expectation whatsoever from them. This is what God the creator did with mankind. He created us, showed us both good and evil and then gave us the freedom, choice, freewill, and liberty to choose whichever we preferred of the two. He never kept us away from the evil just because he wanted us to always do good; he let the two go together because only then would our true nature be revealed. You can’t be hiding evil from a person and think the person is a good person. A man’s character is only revealed when he is exposed to what he greatly fears.

This is the bottom line; until a person is actually given the freedom to exercise his or her choice completely, every other thing we think we know about that person is only an assumption. Until you are willing to let go, take the risk, embrace doubt, expect the unexpected by letting loose your lover, your kids, your workers, you will never know for sure what they are really capable of doing. The true knowledge of a person’s intention can only be known by removing all forms of restrictions that may hinder them from being tempted. Exposure to temptations is what truly reveals a person’s true nature. How would a man really know if his wife truly loves him and is faithful if he never allows her to be in the company of other men? How would a parent determine the extent at which they have gone in bringing up a child if they wouldn’t let the child out of their sight for once? How would I know what you could do with a gun if I never allowed you to come in contact with one?

Philip Yancey, author of Disappointment with God certainly was right when he said “a person can only learn obedience when tempted to disobey; can only learn courage when tempted to flee.” It’s only by exposure to temptation and not prevention from it that a person’s true character can be tested.

HOW TO OBTAIN WISDOM

Wisdom is the application of knowledge and experience to a particular situation in order to make sound decisions. It is how we apply our knowledge (what we know) and experience (what we have been through) to what we do (action), how we think (perception) and how we evaluate (judge). Wisdom basically means application of what we have learnt. It is the doing part of learning. Wisdom therefore, comes from doing (application). Without carrying out what we have learnt, one cannot obtain wisdom. You can’t read wisdom; you can’t memorize wisdom; you can’t recite wisdom; you can’t learn wisdom; you can only obtain wisdom through application (doing) of what you have read, memorized, learnt or recited. It is only by doing that one can obtain wisdom. Wisdom cannot be gotten through inaction (idleness); wisdom must be put to use (applied) before it can be activated.

What you must understand is this; wisdom is part of a sequence of events associated with developing our mental capacity and ability. It is found in the second stage of our intellectual development as humans; it seats right in the middle of two other interrelated components without which one’s mental or intellectual capacity cannot be fully explored and exploited. To understand how wisdom can be obtained, you must first understand how it relates and is dependent on two other factors that complement it. So this leads us to the three pillars of intellectual development.

LEARNING: this is the first step in the journey towards intellectual or mental development. This is how every mental or intellectual development begins; it is defined as the deliberate attempt of acquiring specific information on a given subject or issue. Simply put, it is the acquisition of information. Learning is the process of gathering, getting or acquiring knowledge or information. Thus, the result of every learning process is the possession or acquisition of knowledge or information. All you are ever going to get from learning is nothing but knowledge, which means information in mind. That is to say; information is retained or stored after any learning process is completed. Thus, the endpoint of every learning you go through is to obtain knowledge on a certain subject or issue. The possession of knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean you are wise or smart, it only means you are knowledgeable; a carrier of information. As the old saying goes; he that knows and does not what he knows is no different than he that doesn’t know and therefore cannot do. This is why learning (knowledge) alone isn’t sufficient if one must attain a high level of intellectual or mental ability. Hence, the need for application which brings us to the second stage in our journey towards intellectual or mental development; the doing or application stage (wisdom).

DOING: this is where what you have learnt during the first stage of your journey towards intellectual or mental development will be activated. Since the goal of learning is to acquire knowledge or information, the knowledge acquired is usually in a dormant state waiting to be activated. All that you have learnt, either through reading, observation or experience is equal to nothing if it isn’t carried out or put to use (applied). The value of learning is not in the acquisition of information or knowledge but rather, in its practical usefulness when applied to a real time situation or circumstance. This is the source of wisdom; applied knowledge or information. In order to obtain wisdom, one must first get knowledge or information through learning, only then can one activate what has been acquired so as to obtain the wisdom therein. Wisdom resides in knowledge or information rightfully applied. Knowing a thing by learning it (knowledge) is quite different from knowing a thing by doing it (wisdom). The outcome of both actions is totally different. While it is true that you cannot have one without the other, it is equally true that they both yield two significantly different results. The doing stage is very crucial to one’s mental or intellectual development because therein lies the power to internalize and personalize what has been learnt. The doing stage allows you the opportunity to bring life into what was dormant thereby making you a creator rather than a possessor of information or knowledge. We become wiser when we apply what we have learnt because we gain deeper insight from using the dormant version of the knowledge or information acquired into something more real and active. The doing stage is where knowledge or information is converted from a dormant (passive) resource to a practical (active) resource. When we learn our goal shouldn’t just be to know, our goal must also be to put to use (apply) what we have known. This is only how wisdom can be obtained. Why then is wisdom so important in our quest to develop mentally and intellectually? Without wisdom, understanding cannot be attained. Thus, we come to the final process in our journey towards mental or intellectual development; understanding.

UNDERSTANDING: this is the interpretation of knowledge and experience in order to gain or grasp the meaning there of. Understanding is your own perception of the knowledge, experience or information acquired having applied it to a practical situation or circumstance. It’s the thing being x-rayed through your mindset. To understand more, you have to expand your mindset by learning (knowledge) and doing (wisdom) more. Understand comes only when you must have applied what you had learnt. In other words, understanding comes only when you must have rightfully made use of what you had previously learnt. That is, only a wise person can gain understanding, because understanding comes only after you must have done.

Hence the sequence, KNOWLEDGE (learning); WISDOM (doing); and UNDERSTANDING (interpretation). Learning allows us know what to do, wisdom equips us on how to do, while understanding helps us interpret and put into proper perspective what we had learnt and have done. Understanding is where we interpret and bring into perspective both knowledge (what we learnt) and experience (what we have done).

WOMEN: There is more to Life than just your man!

Wouldn’t it be rather boring if all there is to a woman is being with a man? Wouldn’t it have been a colossal waste if women were only created for men? Yet, these few days what I have come to realize is rather mind boggling. My findings have rather been disturbing than appealing. In my study of the women in my life, I mean those I consider close to me (including my ex-girlfriend), I suddenly discovered a shocking reality; all of a woman’s life seems to revolve around a man or men!

I know you are probably saying “so what’s the big deal?” Well, the thing is this; what role is a man in a woman’s life? Is he “part” of her life or “the whole” of her life? It would surprise you to know that most ladies or women have the mindset that a man or men are not “part” but rather the “whole” of their life! Believe me; I was equally astonished by this reality. Naturally, they wouldn’t admit this plainly as I have just put it, but then their every action and reaction point to this rather troubling reality.

I mean, how else would one qualify this? If two out of every three women consider being with a man or getting married as the number one focus, priority and goal of their life? Here is what I mean. I asked my ex-girl to write out her 5-year goal and here is what it looked like;

§ Get admitted into school to study pharmacy

§ Get married and pregnant with first child

§ Own a duplex of her own

§ Get employed in a better company in order to earn more

Out of mere curiosity, I asked her to tell me which one of the goals from the list was more paramount, exciting, inspiring and motivated her the most. Well, I am sure you most have guessed her answer; getting married! Or in her words, “knowing who or the man she’s going to end up with.” Somehow, I wasn’t too surprised knowing how much she loved me and wanted us to be together, hopefully, forever; it was only natural for her to pick that as her main priority for the next five years.

But then, the surprise came when I showed it to another woman, this time, a married woman with three kids. I asked her the same question and got the same answer! While some may say this happened by accident (coincidence) or that it’s their nature (providence), I say it’s a matter of misplaced priority (nonsense). I don’t get it, how can the centre, main agenda, central focus of a woman’s life be a man? Pardon me if I a may sound naïve, but is being with a man all there is to a woman? Are women created only to end up as men’s property? Do women exist for the purpose of men? Were they solely created by God just for the sake of men? Isn’t there more to a woman’s life apart from ending up with a man?

Ladies, I have news for you. You may be wondering why this is coming from a man, shouldn’t I be supporting the motion rather than opposing it? My answer is a resounding NO! Women, like all of God’s creatures were created for much more greater purpose than merely being a man’s companion! God did create women to be marriageable, but never did he make it the sole aim of their existence. There is more to being a woman than just being with a man. As clearly as a woman looks differently from a man, so also is her destiny different and much bigger than just being with a man. You ladies have as much rights as a man to pursue your destiny. With respect to the fact that a man truly is a woman’s head; being the head is not quite the same as being the “whole” of her life. Your role as the head is to be her leader, and not her owner. You are to help her become better than what she was before she met you. You are to develop, nurture, aid and empower her and not to hinder, possess and frustrate her dreams. As long as such dream doesn’t obstruct her role as a wife and mother to your kids, I see no reason why a man shouldn’t be in support of a woman’s dream and destiny.

Women, being married or being with a man is not all there is to your life! You have a much bigger role to play in the universe than just living with a man you call your husband or partner. Don’t make marriage the end of your life, is just a part of your earthly responsibilities and obligations to God your creator as he has commanded us to be fruitful and replenish the earth and to be joined in holy matrimony with a man. It’s not an end in itself; it’s a means unto a greater end; one which both of you; the man and the woman must continually work towards.