How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

by John C. Maxwell

Spend time with the right people.

But the people I seek out and choose to spend time with all challenge me with their thinking and their actions. They are constantly trying to grow and learn.

You cannot wait until you feel like thinking to do it. However, I’ve found that once you engage in the process of good thinking, you can use your emotions to feed the process and create mental momentum.

Big-picture thinkers are never satisfied with what they already know. They are always visiting new places, reading new books, meeting new people, learning new skills. And because of that practice, they often are able to connect the unconnected. They are lifelong learners.

“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little.”

See the vision before their people do. They also see more of it. This allows them to… Size up situations, taking into account many variables. Leaders who see the big picture discern possibilities as well as problems to form a foundation to build the vision. Once leaders have done that, they can… Sketch a picture of where the team is going, including any potential challenges or obstacles.

Show how the future connects with the past to make the journey more meaningful. When leaders recognize this need for connection and bridge it, then they can… Seize the moment when the timing is right.

Let’s face it: some aspects of everyday life are absolutely necessary but thoroughly uninteresting. Big-picture thinkers don’t let the grind get to them, because they don’t lose sight of the all-important overview. They know that the person who forgets the ultimate is a slave to the immediate.

The only way to break new ground or move into uncharted territory is to look beyond the immediate and see the big picture.

Big-picture thinkers are comfortable with ambiguity. They don’t try to force every observation or piece of data into pre-formulated mental cubby holes. They think broadly and can juggle many seemingly contradictory thoughts in their minds. If you want to cultivate the ability to think big picture, then you must get used to embracing and dealing with complex and diverse ideas.

If you desire to be a big-picture thinker, then get out there and try a lot of things, take a lot of chances, and take time to learn after every victory or defeat.

Gaining insight from a variety of people doesn’t mean stopping anyone and everyone in hallways and grocery store lines and asking what they think about a given subject. Be selective. Talk to people who know and care about you, who know their field, and who bring experience deeper and broader than your own.

If you want to be a big-picture thinker, you will have to go against the flow of the world. Society wants to keep people in boxes. Most people are married mentally to the status quo. They want what was, not what can be. They seek safety and simple answers. To think big-picture, you need to give yourself permission to go a different way, to break new ground, to find new worlds to conquer. And when your world does get bigger, you need to celebrate.

The greater the difficulty of a problem or issue, the more focused thinking time is necessary to solve it.

you must shift from being expansive in your thinking to being selective.

“The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.”

For me, that means dedicating in-depth thinking time to four areas: leadership, creativity, communication, and intentional networking.

give your attention to the areas that bear fruit.

First, by maintaining the discipline of practicing your priorities. Don’t do easy things first or hard things first or urgent things first. Do first things first—the activities that give you the highest return. In that way, you keep the distractions to a minimum.

“If you’re trying to accomplish many things at the same time, you’ll get more done by focusing on one task at a time, not by switching constantly from one task to another.”

No one can go to the highest level and remain a generalist. My dad used to say, “Find the one thing you do well and don’t do anything else.” I’ve found that to do well at a few things, I have had to give up many things.

I practice the 10-80-10 principle with the people to whom I’m delegating a task. I help with the first 10 percent by casting vision, laying down parameters, providing resources, and giving encouragement. Then once they’ve done the middle 80 percent, I come alongside them again and help them take whatever it is the rest of the way, if I can. I call it putting the cherry on top.

help people to grow personally and to develop as leaders.

I try to focus on the one percent that gives the highest return.

most valuable resource you bring to your work and to your firm is your creativity.

“Highly creative people are dedicated to ideas. They don’t rely on their talent alone; they rely on their discipline. Their imagination is like a second skin. They know how to manipulate it to its fullest.”

To foster creativity in yourself or others, be willing to tolerate a little oddness.

“Creativity is especially expressed in the ability to make connections, to make associations, to turn things around and express them in a new way.”

Creativity demands the ability to be unafraid of failure because creativity equals failure.

creative thinking builds on itself and increases the creativity of the thinker.

The status quo and creativity are incompatible.

I’m Not a Creative Person Follow the Rules Don’t Ask Questions Don’t Be Different Stay Within the Lines There Is Only One Way Don’t Be Foolish Be Practical Be Serious Think of Your Image That’s Not Logical It’s Not Practical It’s Never Been Done It Can’t Be Done It Didn’t Work for Them We Tried That Before It’s Too Much Work We Can’t Afford to Make a Mistake It Will Be Too Hard to Administer We Don’t Have the Time We Don’t Have the Money Yes, But… Play Is Frivolous Failure Is Final

After all, you can’t do something new and exciting if you force yourself to stay in the same old rut. Don’t just work harder at the same old thing. Make a change.

“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.”

Why must it be done this way? What is the root problem? What are the underlying issues? What does this remind me of? What is the opposite? What metaphor or symbol helps to explain it? Why is it important? What’s the hardest or most expensive way to do it? Who has a different perspective on this? What happens if we don’t do it at all?

“Studies of creativity suggest that the biggest single variable of whether or not employees will be creative is whether they perceive they have permission.” When innovation and good thinking are openly encouraged and rewarded, then people see that they have permission to be creative.

Creative thinkers know that they must repeatedly break out of the “box” of their own history and personal limitations in order to experience creative breakthroughs.

Actions always have consequences; realistic thinking helps you to determine what those consequences could be.

If you plan for the worst-case scenario, you can minimize the downside risk.

There’s nothing like staring reality in the face to make a person recognize the need for change.

Disappointment is the difference between expectations and reality. Realistic thinking minimizes the difference between the two.

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.”

The process of realistic thinking begins with doing your homework. You must first get the facts.

“When you approach a problem, strip yourself of preconceived opinions and prejudice, assemble and learn the facts of the situation, make the decision which seems to you to be the most honest, and then stick to it.”

The first step in strategic thinking is to break down an issue into smaller, more manageable parts so that you can focus on them more effectively.

When most people begin using strategic thinking to solve a problem or plan a way to meet an objective, they often make the mistake of jumping the gun and trying immediately to figure out how to accomplish it. Instead of asking how, they should first ask why.

“Before it can be solved, a problem must be clearly defined.” Too many people rush to solutions, and as a result they end up solving the wrong problem.

“Strategic thinking is like showering, you have to keep doing it.” If you expect to solve any major problem once, you’re in for disappointment. Little things can be won easily through systems and personal discipline.

Every time you remove the label of impossible from a task, you raise your potential from average to off the charts.

“I tell people: If you don’t want to get into positive thinking, that’s OK. Just eliminate all the negative thoughts from your mind, and whatever’s left will be fine.”