Think About It Archives - Page 40 of 63

Thought Process Or Auto-Pilot?

Posted on November 26, 2021

Are you on auto-pilot too often? I know it’s easier. But sometimes we need to re-evaluate how we think and how we are coming to the conclusions we do. Is it simply that we listen to our favourite news source or podcast? Do you just nod and agree?

Do you investigate the ideas of people who hold our might have different and even opposing views?

Are you giving these things thought or simply accepting a third party view? Try understanding what others are saying. You may agree more often than you think.

Action Observe Think About It

What Am I Contributing To?

Posted on November 24, 2021

Before taking action, ask yourself this question. What am I contributing to? If everything goes well, what would it look like? However, if things go wrong, how could that end up? Do you need to take this action or is it simply a desire?

I will guess that we have all had moments, that in hindsight looked like we made a less beneficial decision. We can’t undo those but we can try to minimise them going forward.

Grabbing a pitchfork to join the mob is rarely a good idea. Not being able to admit that you were wrong on something, or that you misunderstood the detail, shows a lack of moral intelligence and possibly cowardice. It’s ok to admit you spoke too soon or didn’t wait to get accurate details, but even better is to have the patience to find out the relevant details first next time.

What am I contributing to? We don’t always know in advance but when we do begin to see the adverse effects of our actions or words, we should straighten things out very quickly.

Observe Think About It

Mindsets Are The Most Divisive

Posted on November 23, 2021

Think about this calmly without any bias and preconceptions. A couple of the words in the subject line may have already sent you in one direction or another. That is down to your mindset. The words did not involve your gender, sex, skin color, political affiliation or level of credentialed education.

Your current mindset, with its lens for every single possible topic, will determine which group you will self-categorise with. For example, someone with a slightly conservative philosophy will really challenge some people’s thought process, particularly if they also happen to have black skin, prefer same sex relationships, or both.

Everything I’ve written will be run through your mindset and you will decide whether you agree or disagree and if you like the points or not. I could know nothing about your background or affiliations, but your response to the above ideas will tell me a lot about how you think. Can you see things for what they are, or do you look through a particular lens first? That lens highlights or magnifies the bias in your mindset.

To be a good critical thinker we need to discover our own biases and minimise or eliminate them. If you look and listen carefully, you may find that people aren’t so bothered by the things you think they are but rather by different mindsets. And mindsets are the most divisive.

Action Observe Progress Think About It

Lazy Or Lacking Purpose?

Posted on November 22, 2021

It can be easy to say we are lazy or observe others and come to that conclusion. We become unwilling to work or use our energy when we don’t have a clear goal or outcome in mind.

You might feel lazy when you have competing deadlines. It can be easier to curl up on the sofa and hope they disappear. Or go for walks, lunch with friends or to the pub – whatever distraction we prefer. It can feel all too hard. So, we just avoid the whole thing.

Although this can be one way to deal with things, we should edge toward greater discipline. Do one thing to move the situation forward. Make that phone call, write a few lines or add some context for someone. Just the idea of getting started can propel you to keep going. Then, once you are 10 minutes in, it can be hard to stop because you are so engaged in the process and can see the outcome.

Are you lazy or lacking purpose? I would suggest we all have a lazy tendency if we allow it. However, if we set an exciting goal to pursue, we will find that purpose propelling us to greater heights. When you are driven by enthusiasm for you objective, you need less discipline. You can simply be obsessed.

Gratitude Health & Fitness Observe Progress Reframe your thoughts Think About It

Why Choose Anger?

Posted on November 20, 2021

You can choose your focus. Sure, different thoughts, good, bad and odd, come into your mind. However, you get to choose which ones you will focus on or hold onto.

You don’t have to swing at every pitch. You can let a few thoughts go by. Generate good thoughts. Let poor thoughts pass on by.

If you’re not doing this, ask yourself why. Do you enjoy the intensity of feeling? Are you keen to solve everyone else’s problems? All 8 billion people need you to help them?

There might be injustices in the world but your anger won’t reverse them. If you want to calmly write letters, lobby people with power to change things or put forward sensible arguments, then do it.

Try to stay away from the outrage, the anger, the poor thinking and the cherry-picked opinions and facts that keep you as a prisoner in that state of mind.

From what I can tell, the vast majority of issues come from a few people who have made poor decisions in life or else from misunderstandings or accidents. We would do better to reduce our involvement where accidents are more likely to occur. Also, take the time to understand a situation very well, from all sides, before being an outraged judge of it. Finally, volunteer to help kids and youth to improve their thinking and their decision making so they grow up to be good and useful members of society rather then destructive ones.

Redirect that powerful energy. Why choose anger? Especially when you can choose positive impact!

Action Observe Think About It

Everyone Has Their Role To Play

Posted on November 14, 2021

You can play any role. Although, some will suit you better than others. It may be best to pursue a role that highlights your superpower. If you don’t know what that is yet, go with your intuition.

Whatever feels right is the best option. However, you can train your mind or body to create another superpower if the first one isn’t to your preference.

Things can take awhile. But everyone has their role to play. So get out there and make it happen.

Action Observe Think About It

Completing Your Book Cover

Posted on November 10, 2021

Part eulogy and part posing, the book cover requires some real crafting to do it well. You have to put things in the bio to make it useful but interesting. It’s got to stand out on the shelf and sizzle a little to captivate the audience. Striking the right balance can be a challenge.

Like a best man’s speech, after dinner toast or company presentation, you need to make every word work hard.

Completing your book cover is a challenge. We may have completed mine by noon Thursday.

Action Observe Think About It

I See Your Priority

Posted on November 5, 2021

What you do tells me what is important to you. What you say tells me what you would like to be, or what you think should be, important to you.

If your Mother requires medical attention and you go on a three day camping trip, I’ll know where your priorities lie.

When you need to complete some important work and you go out for coffee or do other things, we know what you prefer to do.

Sometimes we want to do short term fun or more pleasurable activities or ones we know how to do. We then avoid doing the more important ones.

What we need to do is break the pattern, put our head down, sit still and think our way through each line item. Yes, it can be painful. No it is not usually fun. However, you do the hard now and life gets easier later. Do the easier now and you are bound for hard later. You can’t avoid the hard. You simply need to decide which hard you’re willing to bear.

I see you priority. Do you?

Action Gratitude Progress Think About It

What Would You Give Up To Save The Planet?

Posted on November 4, 2021

You can blame big oil companies if it makes you feel better. However, their products (oil, gas, plastics, etc) exist to quench people’s demand. They are not discovering, extracting, refining, shipping and storing oil and gas in the hopes that one day they will find a use for it and be able to sell it.

So governments and corporates can set the stage for change but it really comes down to the consumers of the world to make changes (forced or willingly) before we will see significant or meaningful change in environmental or climate impact.

With the world population expected to grow to just under 10 billion by 2050 there will be some additional strains on the environment. If countries haven’t been able to reach their Paris Accords targets previously, adding an additional 2 billion people in 30 years, a 25% increase, is unlikely to make the challenge easier.

So to reduce environmental impact, consumers will need to switch to new, clean energy sources in 2022. They / we will have reduce more, reuse more and recycle more if the world population has any chance of making a noticeable impact. To that end, what would you be willing to do? Give up on that new electric toothbrush and buy a bamboo one? Drive less? Stop air travel? Buy fewer clothes and plastic items? Only buy food from your country or local area? Reduce meat and dairy consumption to once per month?

I think most people find it incredibly difficult, or undesirable, to significantly shift their personal consumption habits whether it is to benefit climate change or not.

What would you give up to save the planet?

Health & Fitness Observe Progress Think About It Time

When Does The Covid Pandemic End?

Posted on October 26, 2021

It might be 2026 or as soon as spring 2022. It could be any other time too. I hear one of my favourite phrases in my head, “It depends”.

Who will declare the pandemic is over? What criteria will be used? What will happen after? Has anyone thought this through? I am sure lot’s of people have considered the idea of this pandemic finishing. It will be interesting to see how that plays though.

Will some countries like New Zealand and Australia maintain a Moat status with frequent lockdowns for another 5 or 10 years? Denmark seems to have opened up internally, though there are still some border restrictions, which could end by November. The UK is fairly open and almost back to 2019 activity and freedom of movement.

So it depends on what the ruling parties want to see in each country, state, province, territory etc. Some leaders are aiming for zero new cases, some want zero hospitalizations or deaths. Other leaders are being more pragmatic and are ok with many cases as long as hospitalizations and deaths stay relatively low. Another view is the number of vaccinated people.

However, even if there was a 100% vaccination rate, people would still catch it and pass it on. The vaccine reduces symptoms and can aid in reduction of the spread but it does not stop the spread or eliminate Covid. So people will need to get their head around that. Perhaps comparing it to the seasonal flu and how we dealt with that would be possible for some. If not, prepare for masks, social distancing, semi-annual booster jabs, frequent testing, occasional lockdowns and stressful travel for the next 3,650 days.

When does the Covid pandemic end? It depends.