Reorient Your Thinking With Four Thoughts
I went on to ask myself the other day, what is the biggest difference between successful and unsuccessful people? After much thinking and research, I got to learn that the efficient use of the cerebral cortex is the difference between these two types of people. The cerebral cortex is a part of our brain responsible for most of our thinking, analysis, reasoning, i.e. the cognitive function part of our brains. So indeed, the use of the mind determines how big or small one is in this world and this can be seen through human behavior, habits and decisions. Most of us would therefore agree that what makes life valuable and interesting is the ability to think and progress in our personal philosophies. Meaning that we are able to critically look and analyse things in our lives that make the most difference and to invest our limited time on earth thinking and doing those particular things. One of the ways to achieve this, I believe, is through re-orienting one’s thinking. Here are some definitions from the online Merriam-Webster dictionary for these terms:
Orient — to direct (something, such as a book or film) toward the interests of a particular group
Re-orient — to orient (someone or something) again or differently
Perhaps, before one starts thinking or considering reorienting their thinking, they first need to understand the status quo of their thinking: How is their thinking oriented currently? Is there a need to change that orientation? If yes, how do we change it for the better ? It is important to think about this taking into account this statement:
the essence of life is progress, just like the essence of work is fruitfulness, but all these things need thinking.
If our thinking is stuck in one place, that disables us from making progress in constantly changing times and environments, and essentially this requires us to always check where our thinking is, lest we be convicted by Einstein’s old philosophy:
It’s foolish to repeat ineffective actions. One popular formulation presents this point harshly: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Action comes from our thinking, or rather our personal philosophies, and if these are not consciously orientated and reoriented from time to time, we risk spending a lot of years without adding much value and being effective for ourselves and those around us. So how do we go about re-orienting our thinking in environments and times that require us to ? Here are a four tips below that I hope help you as they have helped me:
1. Populate your mind with good things and do it appropriately.
There are three questions we should ponder on:
- What leads to good living ?
- What can we learn from farming ?
- Would we ever get an apple from tomato seeds ?
These three questions highlight what I think are the three most important facts about life. One, we decide what kind of life we live based on what is populated in our minds (that’s what the world gets), we re-orientate what is already inside our minds and decide if we want to add more to it. Ultimately, we become what our mind is filled with. Two, farming teaches us about doing things appropriately and at the right time. We work the soil, sow the seed, water the seed, wait on the seed to grow, wait a bit longer and we harvest at the end. The important questions to ask therefore become, what are we populating (sowing) our mind (soil) with and are we doing it correctly ? Three, and last point, we do not sow tomato seeds in the ground and expect to harvest apples later on. Knowing what populates our mind is sometimes the best way to replace possible errors in the future because we can diligently know or rather estimate what to harvest. If failure is truly repeating ill-judgements everyday, then knowing and controlling what populates our minds should enhance our everyday judgement for the better.
2. Actively research different perspectives and apply them quickly.
Perspective –taking, seeking and coordination (learning from the perspectives of others) has supplemented to how one can re-orient their thinking, especially when perspectives are not viewed from an ethical and moral point of view. Take for instance eagles, they have a different perspective compared to ducks, chickens, dodo, emu penguins, etc. Their perspective give them an advantage when it comes to surviving. There are less predators in the sky compared to land. Since eagles can fly, they can take their prey from land to sky, which is unfamiliar territory for the prey, unfamiliar territory requires new adjustments techniques and can be harmful to the prey, i.e. snake. Speakers like Myles Munroe, Jim Rohn and John C. Maxwell put emphasis on attitude, attributes, aptitude and altitude when it comes to self-leadership. Understanding your personal perspective and learning from other perspectives gives you the edge when it comes to working, training and developing your natural gifts to operate like an eagle. Active research on perspectives is seeking, taking and coordinating different perspectives with the intention of applying their learning in your life to enable progress, development and fruitfulness.
3. Who are you and who surrounds you ?
Have you ever thought why lions hunt most of the time in packs (‘pride’) ? We might at first think this is because they are in need of each other for hunting, mating or for the reduction of loneliness. Primarily, because of the type of habitat lions hunt in (wide and open) and the line of sight (gap between prey and predator), lions need to frequently live and hunt in a pride to adapt to any kind of prey and environment (though they still have to fight and share the spoils in that same pride). We are fed by those around us, so the question to answer is who do we hang around with and how do we add value to them and how do they add value to us. Studying our attitude through understanding our belief system helps us understand our selves in the process (our ‘being’), understanding ourselves should lead us to determine who ought to contribute to the further development of ourselves and how this ought to happen. To end this point, Colin Powell once mentioned:
“A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.”
4. Your attitude will take you everywhere or nowhere.
What do you personally believe about why you exist, who you are and about other people ? Because if attitude is really the product of your beliefs, then you as a human being can surely alter your attitude towards life through changing your beliefs. Your life is a painting and it shows what you believe about others, yourself and the world around you. To re-orient your thinking, you need to check these beliefs and engage with them critically and uncomfortably so to arrive to a point of change and acceptance.
I firmly believe that once you grab on these thoughts you would be able to re-orientate your thinking and enjoy the following:
1. Celebrate life and what life has given to you.
2. Add value to yourself and other people.
3. Have less concerns and anxieties in your life journey.
4. Experience the wholeness of life.
