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March 3, 2011
How Successful People Think
John C. Maxwell
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
Summarized by permission of the publisher, Center Street, New York, New York. All rights reserved. ©2009 by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 978-1-59995-168-3
Introduction
In all aspects of life, from the professional world to family interactions, good thinkers help solve problems. For 40 years, John C. Maxwell has studied and analyzed successful people and how they think. He has concluded that the way successful people approach the thought process is a key differentiator. In How Successful People Think, Maxwell discusses the 11 skills that good thinkers exhibit
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6. Repeating the process. To continuously generate good thoughts, it is necessary to repeat the thinking process over and over again. Maxwell has found that it is useful to have a designated place to think, shape, stretch, and land one’s thoughts. To shape a thought, a person must scrutinize it and fine tune it. Landing a thought occurs when it moves from abstraction to application. This requires buy-in from key influencers in an organization, as well as those people who will be most affected.
Key Concepts
In How Successful People Think, John C. Maxwell discusses the thought processes used by successful individuals and describes how these techniques can be learned. He outlines the 11 types of thinking and the important skills attributed to each. People succeed by: 1. Seeing the wisdom of big-picture thinking 2. Unleashing the potential of focused thinking 3. Discovering the joy of creative thinking 4. Recognizing the importance of realistic thinking 5. Releasing the power of strategic thinking 6. Feeling the energy of possibility thinking 7. Embracing the lessons of reflective thinking 8. Questioning the acceptance of popular thinking 9. Encouraging the participation of shared thinking 10. Experiencing the satisfaction of unselfish thinking 11. Enjoying the returns associated with bottom-line thinking
Big Picture Thinking
A big picture perspective brings a level of maturity to an individual’s thinking.
Self-assessment exercise also showed self-leadership skills, such as the ability to listen well, think logically, and make quality and timely decisions. At the workplace, such listening skills facilitate the effective sharing of information between the management and employees. Most importantly, critical thinking is essential in the workplace because it helps solve issues experienced at the workplace (Montana and Charnov 31). A good leader is expected to show the direction to followers as they assume their leader is competent and can provide good guidance. In the absence of a good leader, teamwork can be associated with stumbling blocks due to conflicts. At this time, a team leader needs to think critically to identify ways to solve difficult situations. The aim is to make the team achieve its objectives. For these reasons, logical thinking and creative skills are
Heather Collins defines successful thinking as “carefully reasoning about and actively engaging with your environment” (Collins). Successful thinking aids in building a more efficient brain and involves three processes: becoming aware of your thoughts, and express interest in what is going on in the world around you. To be a successful thinker is to think about your own thinking, go beyond the superficial surface of thinking, and thrive by continuously learning new information.
Over the course of the last six weeks, I have come to realize that critical thinking is an important asset as I continue my journey in life. I have found this course to be both challenging and rewarding. Most importantly, I find myself viewing problems and conversations in a completely different light. While I would not consider myself an expert at critical thinking, I would assess myself in as a Beginner Thinker. Paul and Elder point out in the beginning thinker stage an individual actively begins to take command of their thinking process across multiple facets of their life (Paul and Elder, 2012). Furthermore, we recognize that there are problems in the way we think and begin to consciously attempt to better understand we can improve our thinking.
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Match the letter of the answers on the right to the questions on the left.
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integrating the fictional story of one man's life with the task of teaching the reader about
Successful Thinking Successful thinking is similar to critical thinking. “Critical thinking is the process of reflecting deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence” ( King 5). “Successful thinking is carefully reasoning about and actively engaging with your environment”(Collins). First,successful thinking involves being aware of what is being thought and metacognitive awareness (thinking about thinking). Second, successful thinking is being curious about the world and ways to improve it (Collins).
By cultivating the positive Critical Thinking Habit of Mind of being Systematic in my life it will help me achieve my healthcare career goals. I try to implement this in many aspects of my life and it has gotten me where I am today. Mainly by being persistent and going after what I want staying focused and knowing what I want and where I want to be.
In John C. Maxwell How Successful People Think, in chapter 1, he talks about the topic of Cultivate Big-Picture Thinking. During the chapter, Maxwell primarily tries to focus on two main topics: Why you should receive the wisdom of big-picture thinking, and how to acquire the wisdom of big-picture thinking. In the chapter, Maxwell says that big picture thinking can be very beneficial to anyone in any profession. Also, he thinks that successful people hold the trait of big picture thinking. Those some people have some common characteristics such as they learn continually, listen intentionally, look expansively, and live completely. I personally agree with Maxwell, if you want to be successful you need to have those traits.
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How do you explain why some people are able to achieve things that seem impossible? Did you know that Steve Jobs, a co-founder of Apple, or Richard Branson, whose net worth is said to be roughly $4.9 billion, did not graduate college? What we take from it is that a driven personality always finds a way. An education can either be a stepping stone on the side, or it can be a road block on the path to achievement. I had hardly finished sending my applications, when I realized that education proves to be an obstacle in going my own chosen route. Nowadays, what you may be aware of is that in the information age there are many ways to learn and develop the skills you need to become a successful human being.
The first article titled “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, focuses on the different strategies and ways your mind can “work to discipline itself” and challenge your thinking. Good thinking ultimately leads you to being prepared and avoiding
When we look at people who have achieved big things in life and have made a name for themselves, we wonder: what is it exactly that makes them so successful? What do they have that we don’t? Well, here’s a list of 15 traits of highly successful people. Read on and adopt these for yourself so you can also taste the true feeling of success!