Six strategic secrets to thinking proactively
We live in the era of hyped activity, everywhere you turn to there is an increasingly emphasis on action based life. However, activity is not always productive, some people engage in an endless activity with nothing to show for it, this is because they think actively instead of productively.
Active thinking leads one to become actively engaged in things and most times without bringing out tangible results, you can call it analysis paralysis. Academic institutions and the society encourage this form of thinking, that is why people are advised to go to school and blend into the society by getting a 9-6 work. Unfortunately active thinking subtly stunts your growth, and limits your ability to birth new things, therefore it becomes important to take active thinking a notch higher by engaging in proactive thinking.
Proactive thinking is the ability to originate a set of thoughts and systematically translate them into new tangible results. It can also be viewed as being productive in your thinking, that is thinking of ways to invent, innovate and bring about new products and ways of doing things. Proactive thinking does not just think but translates every thought into action.
There are strategic secrets that will transcend your thinking from that of ordinary active thinking to the one of proactivity, thereby, yielding endless forms of innovation, inventions and productivity. There are many of them, but the five below are the core and foundational ones
GET OUT OF THE CROWD:
The world is crowded, there is so much noise everywhere, from the social media to the work place and family life, there is an ever increasing presence of harmful delightful distractions. These distractions reduce the quality of time people give to thinking, so many think with their eyes glued to their phones, their ears clogged with sounds from ear piece and their thoughts on a million and one things at the same time. These make it very difficult to think through an idea and clear the fogs around it. It has been proven that thinking in a quiet environment produces a clearer and better insight on anything. Research has also shown that productive and ultra creative people have laser concentration abilities and they do that by eliminating every form of distraction around them. They deliberately move away from the crowd, and take time to mentally analyze ideas and look deeply into them, after which they come out to put them into action. You too can do this.
WRITE YOUR THOUGHTS DOWN:
To become productive in your thinking, you require to pen down your thoughts. There is this amazing vibe that comes from writing down what you are thinking. Most great innovation and inventions came as a result of deliberate documentation of insights and thoughts about ideas and concepts. Some times incredible insights flash through our minds, if we do not record them, the chances are high that they will be forgotten. Even when you are not sure if they will work, or if they are viable, please write them down, after a while go through them again, you will be so amazed how a new dimension of it comes up. Documenting things emphasizes them and imprints them on our subconscious mind, so that without our knowing, the mind is working, developing and structuring them into workable concepts. My advice is to have a note pad as often as possible.
TALK ABOUT IT:
One proactive way to think well and better is to talk about your ideas. I know that this sounds tricky, but it is very healthy to discuss your concepts and ideas with someone you trust and hold in high esteem. A mentor is the most appropriate person to do this with, because he will help you iron out some rough edges and point out errors in the concept. However, discussing your ideas with people can be very sticky, because many will misunderstand you, and you will probably look too forward and arrogant. So there is a twist to this and it is wise for you to subtly inject your ideas in conversations without letting others know. This will enable you know their un compromised reactions to the concept as well as see if they had thought in that direction before. One important thing is only discuss ideas you have gone 70% into, not just formless ones.
QUESTION YOURSELF:
One strategic way to clear the confusion surrounding anything, is to ask yourself questions. Introspection is the key to self discovery and the catalyst for change and productivity. Therefore, ask yourself questions relating to your thoughts, this will help you clear the assumptions you are likely to harbor in your subconscious. When you question yourself, you are putting yourself on the edge of discovery, because one right question answered correctly is a milestone to getting a tangible result. Question your assumptions towards the idea, ask what am I ignoring that I am meant to know, use or research on, with that a new ray of possibilities would emerge.
BE OPEN TO POSSIBILITIES:
Life always comes with serendipity, one quest can become a life changing voyage, therefore, be open to twists, turns, uphills and downhills your idea comes with. One single step can wreck what you worked very hard for, another can make you become an overnight wonder to the world. In the cause of looking for something else, most great inventors and innovators stumbled on another thing altogether that brought their eureka moments. Who told my friend Archimedes that the answer he sought would be found in a bathroom, from a bucket? No one knew, so too, you do not know, neither do I know what that idea you have right now will birth into reality. Just have an open mind for possibilities.
TAKE ACTION:
The difference between active thinking and proactive thinking is ACTION. Step out and engage your thoughts in real world events, that way you discover what works and what doesn't. Many people have amazing concepts with them, but they are doing nothing about them so the ideas lie dormant and useless. The only way to truly know if what you are thinking can be done, is by acting it out. William Shakespeare once wrote, 'ACTION IS ELOQUENCE' therefore, think through an idea and start taking deliberate, calculated steps. The core secret is think and act simultaneously, do not wait to figure out everything rather start from the known and surely you will get to the unknown.
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