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No human being can rise above his thoughts. The thought process is what is used extensively in planning. But experience shows that most people do not like to plan activity. They would rather take it as it comes. This is definitely not a good way of doing things. Whatever is not planned can hardly succeed. The difference between a human being and an animal is we humans have the ability to think. But the sad story is most human beings behave like animals and they hardly think beyond the immediate situation. People, cities and indeed countries that prosper at whatever they do are usually involved in the long term thinking processes.
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Dr. Edward Banfield embarked upon a long term study of the reasons why certain societies are more successful than others. In a study that covered over fifty years, he was able to find that the “long term perspective” was the singular most consistent factor of development advanced nations. To put it plainly, the most successful people in society are long term thinkers! Do you look into the future and determine the kind of person you wish to become? There is something called a self fulfilled prophecy. Give yourself a timeline to achieve a skill, a certain amount of money, a project or relationship. Think of the actions that would be necessary to achieve It and then take it on. Long term thinking applies to all the things you want to do in life: Work, career, money, personal conduct, everything! Thoughts allow us to develop ideas and concepts that we can embrace. All things are created twice: First in the mind of the creator, then in forging of the proto type which brings our thoughts to reality. Beyond all this is the run of the matter: If we don’t do our thinking, other people will think for us and that does not always end well.
Our thoughts and plans should not be an end in themselves. They should be a means to an end. If the human mind has a desire to achieve something, it means there must be a corresponding capacity to get it done. At an airport a mother is disappointed when she is told that she can’t take her daughter’s pram on board a plane because it is too bulky. After thinking about what can be done, she borrows a pair of pliers and dismantles the pram, strapping the components to one of her suitcases. The collapsible pram is born!
In strategic thinking and planning classes, I get to task participants to take their time and go through the thinking process to draw up a plan which is implementable. What is the use of having a plan if you cannot implement it? We begin the process by asking participants to ask and answer a sequence of logical questions: Such questions could range from three to seven depending on how detailed we wish the plan to be. Take a look at these questions for instance: where are you now? Where are you going? How do you get there? Now if you have a dream, a focus or purpose in mind, by asking these questions you are able to express into detail what needs to be done, how you can do it and perhaps what resources you need to accomplish your thoughts or dreams.
Everybody should have thoughts of a greater future and something interesting that needs to be achieved. Fatigue will dominate the minds of those who live without direction or have no inkling of a dream that they wish to accomplish. Life becomes all the more exciting if we know where we are going and we have a plan to get there! It is really your mind that can take you to your goals. Basically the core of this concept is we should increase the use of our minds by 10 percent. Many researchers in psychology have theorized that man hardly ever uses the capability of his mind to the fullest. What this means is we engage in a lot of self limitation by assuming that we have learnt enough and cannot think up new ways of doing things or new concepts that could aid our livelihood.
We all have a mind. It is a powerful tool that enables us to imagine things. Let us put it to work more frequently and more constructively. We ought to use it to determine how we can improve what we are doing. Whatever we are engaged in at the moment, there are ways in which it can be done better. But we shall never find those ways if we do not deliberately set out to do so. We hardly stumble on great ideas, most of the time they are thought out searched for and then found! So here are a couple of things that you and I need to do on a regular basis. Spend some time every work day of the week thinking on how to improve your work, learning all you can about the company you work for and processes and procedures that are needed to succeed. We should consistently prepare for and search out opportunities for personal growth and development. Our economy, no matter how bad it appears to be at the moment, would reward a person that consistently pursues growth and development. Only preparation can ensure that we are ready for opportunities when they come. Remember, preparation plus opportunities lead to success. Everybody desires a greater future, but very few people are prepared to think, act and work at the basic things we need to make it happen. If you can spend regular time thinking, researching and acquiring knowledge and strategies about ways you can improve, the possibility of you being ahead of the competition is very high. But do take note: it begins with a thought that should spur you into action. Why not start today?
By Alex Ogudadegbe
