HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE THINK-Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
by John C. Maxwell
About the Author
John C. Maxwell is a renowned author, leadership expert, and speaker. He is also the CEO of an organization that trains many people around the world. He is often called upon to give speeches in front of government leaders and in large companies. Maxwell has also been a New York Times and The Wall Street Journal bestseller author.
Introduction
“Think big, step out of your comfort zone”, “Everything you want is beyond your fear”.
Have you heard this saying before? Are you tired of hearing these sayings? But there is a reason why these sayings are so famous: and that is that these sayings are absolutely true.
Always keep yourself in such a way that you can grow, doing this opens up many new avenues for you. Then whether it is related to career, social relationships or personal growth.
You become successful when you change your mind about almost everything. Having an empty mind will get you nothing. If you want to be successful then do listen to this summary completely.
Cultivate Big-Picture Thinking
If you are a good thinker or can think well then you can go ahead in any job. But it is not only good for career growth but it also helps you to grow as a person. A good thinker is capable of being successful in everything. Would you like to hear even better news? Everyone can change their mind. Even you.
Before you turn your life around, there are a few things you should remember. Your thinking will not change automatically. Just like a muscle, you have to work on your way of thinking everyday in order for it to get better. You have to work hard for this. It may be one of the most difficult things you have to do, but keep in mind that it can change your life. We guarantee it.
Thinking big or thinking about the long term is one way to become a better thinker. Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric, thought exactly the same way. He told his employees that it is very important to have a good relationship with the customer. Even this is more important than the sale of any important product. Good customer relationship means that there will be more sales in the future.
Thinking big means increasing the scope of your thinking. It is not just about focusing on today, it means that you should also think about what opportunities you may have in the future. Spend time with like minded people. You will see how different and unique his outlook on life is. Big thinkers have these qualities:
Always a learner – They do not get satisfied with their current knowledge rather they are always hungry to know more. They love to visit new places and meet new people. You can follow the excitement of getting more and more new information in your everyday life.
• Looking at your calendar and to-do list – what days or what new skills do you want to learn someday? It is important that you definitely find such a day. Prepare yourself mentally to pay more attention to any work that day. Understand that this is taking you towards your success.
• Listen carefully – To be a good thinker, it is important that you also have humility. You may not know many things. This thing can change when you start listening to things carefully. Hear about those things from experts because they are experts in those things.
Suppose as an example, the author of this book – John C. Maxwell talked to 900 football coaches. He curiously asked them about their teamwork. All the coaches were impressed by his eagerness to learn something new and answered all the questions asked by him. John knew he still had a lot to learn. He never missed an opportunity to increase his knowledge.
• Live Freely – You are free to do whatever you want but you only have one life. Big thinkers want to live a good and fulfilling life. For this reason, they always look for opportunities to grow. They want that when they look back at their life, they should be satisfied with the life they have lived.
• Thinking big opens your mind. This allows you to empathize more with people and their thoughts. It’s good to listen to people whose views differ from yours. If you do not do this then you will become ignorant and biased. If you stick to your stubbornness, you will never be able to grow and your vision will remain small.
By thinking big, you can understand which thing you should do first and which later. Everyday life can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes you put your energy into the wrong things. Before you do something or react to something, ask yourself a question. Would you like to do this for a long time? If yes then go and do that work. If not, then forget that work and move on.
Make Creative Thinking
Thinking creatively is another way to become a good thinker. Being creative does not mean that you always come up with new ideas. Rather many great artists were inspired by other people. New and original ideas are very rare. To make something creative means to take an existing idea and add something new of your own.
Here are some of the values creative thinkers hold:
• They value ideas – just like big thinkers, creative thinkers are open-minded. They simply do not claim that they are creative. They put their heart and soul to become like this. You cannot have ideas until you appreciate the ideas of others.
• They look for options – It’s no surprise that creative thinkers are not afraid of lots of opportunities, they look for more. This is because opportunities further enhance their thinking ability. This thing has been seen by many people like author John liked many options. This is because he was able to find the best answer for himself from the maximum number of options.
• Not being fixed on something means not afraid of uncertainty. This value is very similar to the first one. Creative thinkers are not afraid of something not being fixed. They believe that if something is not fixed then they will get a chance to explore opportunities even more. They will be able to fill in the gaps in any story or plan by using their imagination.
• They are not afraid of failure – many opportunities means chances of failing many times. For this reason people are afraid to think creatively. It is obvious that using the old idea is easy and safe too. But creative thinkers like to think things beyond thinking. If it is really important to fulfill such an idea, then it can be failed 99 times.
So how do you awaken the creative thinker in you?
• Eliminate things that kill your creativity – Try not to restrict yourself as much as possible, especially mentally. Don’t say that you are not a creative person. Don’t give up on an idea just because it seems illogical or nonsense to you. The most important thing is that you should not be afraid to fail. You have to believe in yourself and the creative potential within you.
• Ask the right questions – Obviously a mind that is not creative can recognize a wrong answer. But a creative mind can always spot the wrong questions. Wrong questions are worse than wrong answers. Wrong questions block your creative avenues. They don’t let your mind think properly. Now the next time you face a problem, ask yourself these questions –
Why does it have to be this way? Is there any other way to do this? What are the reasons for this problem? What if you don’t do this?
With these questions you try to make your mind creative. A creative mind can come up with many good solutions.
• Spend time with other creative people – creativity spreads from person to person. So that’s why make friends with such people who are not afraid to explore different opportunities. Have you ever been part of a good brainstorming session? Has it not happened to you that after listening to the ideas of others, you got an amazing idea? After that session, you too must have found yourself full of energy. That’s what creative thinking does to you. It tells you that you don’t have to do things in a strict way.
Use Strategic Thinking
This may sound a bit scary, isn’t it? It reminds you of army men. It reminds you of war movies. But strategic thinking can easily be applied to your everyday life.
What John saw was that – people plan their lives on a day-to-day basis. You wake up in the morning, make a to do list and go to work. Some people plan their life on a weekly basis. He looks at his calendar, checks his appointments, and then goes to work.
John plans his life according to 40 days. They look at their schedule and decide on which days they want to travel. They also include activities that they can do together with their family. Then they fix a few days for their project. His way of planning is the reason why John has achieved so many things in his life.
Strategic thinking makes you efficient. It shows a straight path to achieve your goals. It also increases your strength.
Are you nervous or nervous about a big project? So strategic thinking will help you in this so that you can divide it into manageable pieces. When you plan something step by step, it becomes easier.
Strategic thinking can be built in 6 easy steps –
First, break any task down into chunks – As mentioned, breaking down any task into smaller chunks will make them seem less intimidating. It will also help you to complete your task in a better way as you will be able to focus on each piece of the task better. How you divide a task is up to you. You can divide it on the basis of your purpose, level of responsibility or function.
Second, find real goals and focus on them. Don’t be in a hurry to solve a problem. Most of the time, the problem you find will have many other problems hidden in it. Give time and go to the root of the problem. It is important in this whole stage that you remain objective.
Third, pay attention to your resources. how much time you have ? Do you have the money you need? Do you have everything you need to complete your project? What can you borrow? You will have to answer all these questions.
Fourth, make a plan. John believes that the process of making your plan depends on how complex your plan is. But he suggests that you start with the first step. For example, suppose you are going to shift to a new building. So the first step would be to find out its area in the city. This will keep a momentum in your team. With this, the people of your team will be excited to work.
Fifth, put the right people in the right places. A lot of things can go wrong if you don’t put the right people in the right places. Your strategic planning will not be able to be applied properly. What if you give a task to the wrong person? This will only give you problems, anger, irritation and regret. That’s why it is important that you carefully look at the abilities and weaknesses of every person.
Sixth, repeat the process. Small problems can be solved with discipline. But for big problems it is necessary to have strategic thinking. For this you have to repeat these seven steps continuously. In the beginning it will not work without effort. That’s because right now you are figuring things out for yourself. But gradually becoming a strategic thinker will come naturally to you. Every problem, whether it is small or big, you will be able to solve it easily.
Learn from Reflective Thinking
Nowadays action is given more importance in the society than thinking. Action gives concrete results, whereas thinking often does not. John does not say that there is no power of action but he believes that thinking especially reflective thinking can give you better results. Reflective thinking means thinking deeply about something.
Reflective thinking gives you a true perspective. After the holidays, John always asked his children two questions, what did they like best and what did they learn from that trip? This was John’s way of teaching his children the power of thinking. People mostly do not pay much attention to their experiences. If you do not reflect, you will not know what you have learned from your experiences.
Emotional honesty can also be developed through reflective thinking. When you are in a situation where you are very emotional, you cannot think. You can only focus on how you are feeling. It is not your fault to focus on your feelings. But doing so can make your judgment wrong or blurred. That’s why reflective thinking is necessary.
Remembering an emotional experience will give you a vision. From this you will be able to see how you could have handled the situation better at that time. This will help you to deal with the same situation in future.
Another advantage of reflective thinking is that it makes you more certain. Are you a person who always doubts your decisions? Then you need reason to look back on them. Give yourself time to think about every decision you make. The next time you face a problem, your thinking will be better than before and soon you will develop your intuition.
How can you develop reflective thinking?
First, give yourself time to reflect, that is, give time to think. This is an important step but people do not pay much attention to it. They say they can’t focus, it’s boring and so on. But every successful person gives time to think. If you don’t do this then maybe you will never be successful.
Second, rid yourself of distractions. You need peace to think, so find a room where no one will disturb you. Do not carry any kind of gadget with you. John feels calm everywhere. Then whether it is sitting on a stone outside their house, sitting in a park. What matters is that no one should disturb you.
Third, check your calendar or diary daily. Yes, these things will help you plan your day better. But it can also be a means of developing reflective thinking. Find out what you want to do during the day and how you want to spend the day. Then make concrete plans and actions based on your thoughts and feelings. Are you feeling very tired from your work? So you can distribute some of your work among trusted people.
Calendar & Diary lets you know how you are spending your time. It tells you what your priorities are. Then you can think whether the things you are spending your time in are worth your time or not. Will it help you grow as a person? Will it help you strengthen your relationships with your friends and relatives? Will it help you in your career? Reflective thinking helps you to find out all these things.
Fourth, turn your thinking into action. Now that you have reflected, take action on your thinking. This is important because it can change your life. Have you ever attended a conference that inspired you? Perhaps you have listened to the speaker very carefully, you have also made his notes. You have promised that you will work on yourself too. But when that conference is over, you haven’t worked on yourself, you haven’t even looked at those notes.
Reflexive thinking is of no use if you do not take action. Always remember that by thinking you will get three things –
First, it will give you a perspective. Second, it will show you the right path for the future. Third, it will help you grow as a person.
Question Popular Thinking
It is easy to do what other people do or agree with their words. If you follow everything that your boss says, then you will never face any problem. Tradition is easy to follow. If most people believe in it, then we assume that it must be true. This is called popular thinking, that is, assuming that what most people are thinking is true.
But it is not necessary. Do you remember Copernicus? In his time, people used to think that the earth is in the middle of the universe, but Copernicus told that there are stars and other planets in the universe. He had proved everyone wrong. He told that the solar system revolves around the sun.
Popular thinking promotes lies. People are so afraid of being alone that they are ready to walk on the same path that everyone else is walking on. No one wants to be separated from any group. Humans also find change scary. A routine makes you feel safe. But this is not always the right way.
To be successful, you need to challenge tradition. In this, you also know how to explain to your boss that which method of work is inefficient. Not going towards popular thinking is a sign of a good thinker.
To leave popular thinking, it is necessary to question whatever you hear. Slowly asking questions will come naturally to you. Here are some other things you should do:
First, before you follow something, think about it. Many people start following others without thinking anything just because they are popular. Sometimes a person follows a belief because it is the easiest to do. You can take John as an example. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, many people became afraid to visit New York. Many booked flights were also cancelled. Now very few people used to go there. But John and his wife saw it as a good opportunity to go to New York and went there. He saw the low cost of plane tickets and less crowd as a good opportunity. He was not even scared because after that incident the security there had become more strict.
Had John also followed popular thinking, he and his wife would not have saved so much money on their New York trip. By not keeping popular thinking, you can get a chance to select the best option according to your situation.
Second, promote thinking that is different from your own. To be successful it is very important to be humble. Give respect to the fact that people’s thinking will be different from yours, rather their thinking will teach you something good. Don’t reject their methods, no matter how different they may be from yours.
Give yourself the opportunity to meet as many people as possible who come from different backgrounds. Then no matter how different they are from you in terms of studies, job, interest. This will allow you to open your thinking even more.
Third, always question your own thinking. So now you have learned how you can break free from popular thinking. Now you can continuously question your thinking and then finally you can find out a way which suits you. It is easy to hold on to this kind of thinking for a lifetime. This will definitely work for you even if this method is not so popular.
But if you refuse to change your thinking, you will not be able to grow. You will be stuck in those things which you think is right and easy. You will also miss many good opportunities by this. So keep challenging yourself continuously. Those people who accept the change, their future is bright.
Fourth, try new things and new ways. Make it a habit to try something new every month. New experiences can give you new ideas. It is not necessary to do something new, to do something very dangerous. You can make changes to your routine slowly at first. You can choose a new way to go home, or when you go to a restaurant, order something you’ve never eaten before.
When you do something over and over again, your mind becomes dull. He cannot think of new ideas, that is why it is necessary to have new experiences. It refreshes your perspective. It makes you realize that the old ways are not always the best.
Fifth, befriend being uncomfortable. People having unpopular thinking always have to face some or the other resistance, which you will not get used to. New thinking can make others feel uncomfortable. Make the base of your thinking on that thing which you think is the best. Most of the time, this won’t be the most popular choice, but go for it anyway.
People will question you, make you feel bad but remember all great people in history have gone through this phase. His ideas were so intimidating for the people that people even considered him as their enemy, but these great people only gave birth to a wave of change with their thinking. Someday your different idea will be appreciated like these, just always keep the spirit of asking questions.
Conclusion
So first you learned that successful people have one thing in common that apart from being successful they live in other ways. They perform tasks differently from ordinary people and face challenges differently.
Second, you learned that what makes successful people different is their thinking. He thinks big. This means that they take decisions keeping their future in mind. Before you do something, ask yourself this question: will it help you grow as a person?
Third, you learned that being creative is another sign of successful people. Being creative makes your mind work faster. It not only gives you the right choice but also gives you the best choice. It takes you out of your comfort zone because that’s where success is waiting for you. Being creative means not being afraid to fail 100 times.
Fourthly, you learned that you should have a strategic thinking for every work. It helps you to work in a better way. It takes care that every step you take should help you achieve your goal. Strategic thinking means dividing your work into several parts so that you do not get overwhelmed.
Fifth, you learned that you should always look back and think about your experience. Reflective thinking helps you to make the right decisions. It teaches you to look back at a past situation and see what you could have done better in that place. Successful people always learn from their mistakes.
Sixth, you learned that it is very important to have a different thinking. All great people in history have questioned popular thinking. Dare to think out of the box.
Remember again, strategic thinking, reflective thinking, creative thinking, thinking big and thinking out of the box. These are the things that you have to practice every day. Now you know how successful people think. That’s why practice these steps and become successful. If you can change your thinking then you can change your life too.