What does it mean to think?

Have you ever thought about what it means to think?

Have you ever taken time to consider the process involved in creating an idea?

To answer that let’s start with the basics by looking at the Cambridge Dictionary definition of thinking:

“the activity of using your mind to consider something.”

Did you know that thinking is an activity? Just because it’s an internal action and can’t be seen, doesn’t mean it lacks the process of activity.

What is your process of thinking?

When was the last time you thought about your thoughts? Where do they come from? How are they created?

Have you ever considered how to develop thought processes to benefit a career success plan?

Reasons to explore the how of thinking and the what of thinking as part of a career growth plan include:

*Clarify the meaning of thinking.

*Develop a thinking process to support the creation and maintenance of career success.

How and what do you think?

How do you think and what do you think are the topics of focus in this Section of the Thinking Overview.

~How do you think is about the process of thinking.

~What do you think is about the content of thinking.

FIRST – The Process

The process of how you think involves the actions of:

  • Analyzing
  • Prioritizing
  • Organizing.

The Career Growth Basics System uses a methodical and deliberate thinking process for the creation of a career progress plan.

SECOND – The Content

What do you think is concerned with the ideas generated through the thinking process. Do you know where these ideas come from? The main sources that influence our ideas are:

  • Experiences
  • Emotions
  • Curiosity.

The CGB System encourages the growth of thinking skills to harness the power of the mind to build:

your career

⬇️

your success

⬇️

your way.

Benefits of building critical thinking skills.

Benefits to be found while building critical thinking skills include:

  • Boost curiosity.
  • Stimulate creativity.
  • Encourage research.
  • Improve self-confidence.
  • Elevate critical thinking skills.
  • Organize thoughts.
  • Get better at problem-solving skills.
  • Improve decision-making skills.

My thoughts about the benefits of improving thinking center on these factors:

  • Advances brain power.
  • Opens new possibilities.
  • Places the individual in charge of the creation of a plan to lead to career success.

This personal perspective is based upon:

  • my experiences
  • my research.

You can go HERE to read about the Origins of the Career Growth Basics System.

Can thinking habits be changed?

Thinking is a habit and habits can be changed.

These organizations support the idea of the ability to enhance the power of the mind.

The Foundation of Critical Thinking states on its website that there are:

“…9 strategies that any motivated person can use to develop as a thinker.”

Matthew X. Joseph, Ed.D., in an article on Linkedin writes that:

“We can’t predict the jobs, but whatever they are, students will need to think critically to do them.”

In the article ‘Positive Psychology and Physical Health’ published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, Park, et al conclude that:

Retrieved from NIH National Library of Medicine

“It is clear from research that experiencing frequent positive emotions, having sense of life purpose, paying attention to what is positive in life, and living a more socially integrated life is linked to one’s quality of life across the lifespan.”

Positivepsychology.com discusses on its website that Solution-Focused Therapy

“…highlights a client’s ability to solve problems.”

It goes on to state that a main principle of Solution-Focused Therapy is that:

“…it holds that people have an inherent capacity for responsible self-direction.”



Additional Thoughts

A quote from Socrates who gave us the Socratic Method of Thinking.

“To find yourself, you have to think for yourself.”

 

And here is what Albert Einstein had to say about thinking.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”



Take the next step in the CGB System by following curiosity to the CGB DESIGN IT and CREATE IT Thinking Guide.

This is where work begins on creating the action steps of the Thinking Section of the CGB System.

Download a free copy of the CAREER GROWTH BASICS NOTEBOOK to record your answers to the questions in this Thinking Guide Section.

Live in the possibilities.

Best,

Andrea

PS Stay current with Career Growth Basics updates. Join the CGB News Cats.


Alphabetical listing of referenced sources

Cambridge Dictionary

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/thinking

1/10/2024

The Foundation of Critical Thinking

9 strategies that any motivated person can use to develop as a thinker

https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-in-everyday-life-9-strategies/512

12/2023

Joseph, Matthew X., Ed.D.

Linkedin

Teach Students How to Think not What to think.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/teach-students-how-think-what-matthew-x-joseph-ed-d-

12/2023

Park, N., Peterson, C., Szvarca, D., Vander Molen, R. J., Kim, E. S., & Collon, K. (2014). Positive Psychology and Physical Health: Research and Applications. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 10(3), 200–206. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827614550277

Retrieved from: NIH National Library of Medicine

12/2023

Positive Psychology.com

5 Solution-Focused Therapy Techniques

https://positivepsychology.com/solution-focused-therapy-techniques-worksheets/

12/2023