Different types of Thinking to adopt

I became fascinated about the broader scopes of thinking after reading The Art of Thinking Clearly by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli. It's a waste when bad thinking hinder us from living our best life.

In the post below, you will find various forms of thinking which are good to adopt, enabling you to transform your life. As the saying goes: Change your thinking, change your life.

Making sound financial decisions require various types of thinking. I hope this article will help you to be more mindful on which thinking to adopt, at various time.

Big picture thinking

Learn continually. Be a lifelong learner
Think about what learning opportunities you can pursue
Listen intentionally
Step out and see from others' perspective
See the big picture and know the destination
Look beyond the immediate
Embrace & deal with diverse, complex ideas
Be comfortable with ambiguity
Be okay to try and fail
Think beyond yourself. Think big

Possibility Thinking

Stop focusing on what is "impossible"
Eliminate negative thoughts
Give yourself the permission to believe that what you want is possible
Look for possibilities in every situation
Dream one size bigger than you usually do

Reflective Thinking

Question Popular Thinking
Think before you follow - Don't follow the popular opinions automatically
Think what's best, not what is popular
Question what is given thoughtfully
Appreciate thinking that is different from yours

Long term thinking

Have clarity of where you want to be and work backwards to know what you need to do in the present
Make a 5 year plan
Be intensely future-oriented
Consider the consequences of your decisions and actions today
Pay the price today - have self discipline, self mastery and self control

Slow thinking

Slow down & think with greater precision
Useful for important & long term decision
Think methodically and consider carefully each action to improve decision making

Informed thinking

Get the information to make the right decision
Look before you leap
Search for the hidden flaw in decision making that could prove fatal to the outcome
Take time to be informed and gain knowledge
Never stop learning & gathering information
Be prepared to fail. Failure, trial & error is essential to ultimate success
How to think about failure
See it as a resource - learn how to manage & embrace failure
Don't see failure as an indication to incompetency

Goal-oriented thinking

Be absolutely clear about what you really want to achieve
Have a clear, specific written goal and plan that you work on daily
Organize your life around the roadmap to reach the goal
Have clarity, focus and concentration.
Concentrate single-mindedly on 1 thing at a time, stay with it until it is completed
Work all the time you work - Only work on the highest value activities
Be clear about your goal but flexible about the process of achieving it
Be absolutely clear about the right thing to do, commit wholeheartedly to the new course

Results oriented thinking

To get maximum results, ask

What you are trying to do
How you are trying to do it
Are you getting the results you want
What are your assumptions
What if your assumptions are wrong
Could there be a better way to achieve the results

Strategic thinking

Know what you want to achieve
How you expect to achieve it
Target date to achieve it

Productive thinking

Do fewer things
Do important things, only 20% of the things that produce 80% of the results
Get better at each important task

Positive thinking

Let go of limiting thoughts
Have a rich & abundant mindset
Visualize what you want
Accept complete responsibility with no excuse
Don't fear failure and criticism
Practice positive thinking
Don't impose self-limiting beliefs
Let go of the past
Don't complain, criticize, judge, blame or condemn others for anything
Don't be sensitive and critical

Flexible thinking

Overcome fear by trying something new. Be experimental
Be resourceful. Don't be helpless

To increase flexibility & mental agility,

Rethink
- Pause, recalibrate, take a time out and look at your situation objectively
- Ask: what am I trying to do, how am I trying to do it, could there be a better way?
- Prospection: Think many steps ahead and generate alternative scenarios
Re-evaluating
- Practice Zero-based thinking (ZBT). It is a decision-making process by imagining yourself at the point before particular decisions were made, and free to make those decisions with the knowledge that you have now about their outcome.
- Consider doing things completely different

Re-organize
- Look for ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness

Restructuring
- Pareto principle: Do 20% of the work that will account for 80% of the results
- Identify the skill that, if you were excellent at it, would enable you to make a more valuable contribution. Set a goal to develop this skill, create a learning plan then work to master this skill

Reinventing
- Continue to imagine what would you do differently if you were starting over again today. Eliminate sunk cost.

Regaining control
- Take control of the situation and make tough decisions if needed
  - Think what you should do more of, less of, start or stop
- Be realistic and get the truth
- Do the homework to get the facts then think with certainty
- Think through the pro and con
- Be ready for the worst case scenario

Creative thinking

To unlock your creativity, do more of the things that will give you results today, do less or stop the things that are not working out and start doing something completely new or different
Have ideas, explore options and imagine
Embrace ambiguity, explore gaps and connect the ideas that may be unrelated
Don't fear failure
Be innovative. Form a better idea, based on a good idea
Seek faster, better and easier ways to accomplish your goals
CANEI principle: continuous & never ending improvement

Keep an open mind
- Be open to new and different approaches to any situation
- Consider every aspect of a problem before jumping into a conclusion
- Be willing to consider different ways to achieve the same results

Keep asking why, why not, what if

Rich thinking

To be wealthy on the outside, think like a rich person on the inside
Focus & concentrate on excellent performance, on getting better consistently at the most important work you do
- Wealthy people don't lose money, successful people don't lose time