What It Means to Be a Better Thinker
By: One For All
Tags: Critical Thinking

In the heart of Croatia, there lies a series of sixteen terraced lakes, all of which are joined by waterfalls. One emerald pool cascades its water into the next. The source of the lakes is a river called Matica, which in English means “origin.” As Matica’s fate goes, so goes that of all of the lakes. If a pollutant is added to the river, all of the lakes will successively have their waters sullied. If it floods, the lakes will overflow.

The outcomes we experience in our own lives are like the very last lake in the series. Before every outcome lies a series of actions, and before the actions are our thoughts. Those thoughts-their quality, range, and beauty-are the origin of our actions, and they are what determine whether we experience a desirable outcome or an undesirable one.

Consistently achieving the outcomes you want requires learning to think in every way necessary to achieve them.

When we do not achieve the outcome we want, our instinct is to swan dive into the outcome lake. But the headwaters are where we should focus. They are the thoughts that affect everything downstream. If we change those, our outcomes will change. Thus, every outcome we arrive at starts with thinking. Yet many times, when we do not get what we want, we do not change the thinking that gave rise to it.

Think of the last time you did not get what you wanted. You may have been wanting a raise or a promotion, looking for a complementary partner, or just trying to make an edible dinner. When you did not get the result you wanted, how did you react?

Many people hold outside forces responsible and try to alter them. Some might think of other actions to take, getting a different but not better result. Others might get stuck in the same thinking that yielded the outcome they did not want. And unable to think in the ways needed to change the outcome, some might give up. Since your thoughts are the origination of every outcome, the best way to change the outcomes in your life is to think again-but better. Thinking better means thinking in the ways necessary to achieve the results you want.

There is a challenge, though: Our experiences, parenting, education, and philosophical, psychological, and other constructs create habitual ways of thinking that make this hard. These habits are useful and simultaneously stand between us and better thinking. They put a box around what and how we can think, blocking awareness of what is outside of it: more complete and accurate information. Deconstructing the box gives us access to this. And when we have that to act on, we are more likely to achieve the outcome we want. This is the result of thinking better.

The quality and success of your life-both today and for the rest of your life-is determined by the quality of your own thoughts.

Improving that quality is a skill that you can develop, and you can use it to reshape your life. Next week, we’ll start exploring how to do this, beginning with how to become aware of your thinking patterns. In the meantime, take some time to think about what is keeping you from thinking better than you currently can. Jot down a few notes on your own habits you’re aware of along with some ideas for how you can begin to eliminate them-and achieve the outcomes you have always wanted.