Better Thinking, Better Results in Six Simple Steps

I wanted to share this video with you because I was intrigued, inspired, and humbled by the ideas that were presented and how Mr. Mistry used information, his know-how, and resources together to put his ideas into action. Many of us will go through our lives accomplishing things that are less dramatic than what you see here, however, we can use the same methods to create success.  This reinforces in my mind that any successful strategy for accomplishing a goal begins with knowing what we have to work with and then implementing a plan using what we have learned.
Since my daughter turned eighteen we get together every Tuesday for breakfast to discuss her goals, strategies and tasks as part of her resolve to, "do my own thing," as she puts it.  Recently, at a breakfast following her first real world job interview, I felt that it was important to reinforce some key points that had come up in our conversation the day of the interview.  That day I called her to find out how everything went. She had concluded that it was, "bad."  Wanting to be positive and productive in my approach, I began to scan my mental database for something appropriate to say. I had done my "homework" and the conversation was successful in that it accomplished my objective with positive results.

"I needed to call in reinforcements."

In the days leading up to our meeting I happened to have been reading articles on success and failure, discussing it with friends and writing about the topic. Recognizing that I needed to be somewhat diplomatic, allow her to feel as if she was handling the situation well on her own, and yet drive home a lesson that would prepare her for future let downs, I needed to call in reinforcements and gather more information. So I began resourcing people I respected and knew I could trust. My conversations about how to guide her through this jungle resulted in some very usable information to keep her focused on what she was learning and how to apply it to future interview experiences. The key was to get her to ask questions that would lead her to connect ideas and draw on the information she had gathered to improve her confidence in future interviews.

"Fear is the twin brother of failure and can become an enemy to success unless used constructively."

As my daughter and I talked through the situation I began to ask her questions like, "Why do you think that is?" and "How can you use this information to improve your next experience." The point that caught her attention and seemed to make the most difference for her was how empowering information could be when collected and used properly. We discussed how successful people are resourceful and that information was one of their most powerful tools. After a calm and productive conversation I felt that she had what she  needed to take the world on by storm, okay, maybe not that far, however, it certainly seemed to change her confidence level going forward.  Which leads me to the reason I wanted to share this with you. My daughter was able to see that fear was extinguished with information, and information could be gathered by asking questions about an experience, which, would lead her to use the information to her advantage the next time a similar situation arose. Many fears have reared their ugly heads throughout the course of my business experience that have shaken my confidence and tested my resolve. I recognize that fear is the twin brother of failure and can become an enemy to success unless used constructively.

"How we use information can be the difference between success and failure"

While growing a business, information about the many facets of business as well as our competition and customers can fuel our desires to take our products to market. How we use information can be the difference between success and failure. Information is something we have in spades. With access to information from all over the world at our fingertips we need only to identify how to collect the information we need and then put that information to work for us. Consider the questions and answers that fueled Mr. Mistry's ideas and how he used information and resources to develop his ideas into real applications. Practice methods that help you to build good critical thinking skills and will lead you to the information you need to accomplish your goals. According to the work of Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul of the Foundation for Critical Thinking you can develop the quality of your thinking and in turn the quality of the information you collect by practicing some simple principles.

1. Clarify your thoughts. Be specific. Create a statement that begins with, "I think..."
2. Create a chain of questions and answers that develop a single idea. Ask: "How is this connected? How is that connected?"
3. Ask questions for clarification about things you do not understand.  Ask, "What information do I need to answer this question?"
4. Ask questions about a subject in more than one way. "Is there another to look at this question?"
5. Be flexible in your views and willing to change your mind as you build your understanding of the information.
6. Recognize when destructive  modes of function; thinking, feeling, acting, or sensing are holding you back from discovering something.