Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement (23 page)

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TWO FACTORS THAT HOLD YOU BACK

There are two major factors that stand in the way of you using more of your natural intelligence. They are
psychosclerosis
and
homeostasis
.

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Psychosclerosis is another name for “hardening of the attitudes.” This is experienced by a particular type of person who is rigid, inflexible, and unchanging. This is the kind of person who develops fixed attitudes on a certain person or subject and then resists any attempt to change his mind. This is often called the
mechanical
way of thinking.You probably know people who suffer from it.

The opposite way of thinking is more open and flexible. This is called the
adaptive
worldview. Adaptive people keep their minds open to new information. They are curious and interested in new ideas and developments. They are more concerned with
what’s right
than with
who’s right
. They are willing to abandon an old idea if someone can come along and show them that a new idea has more merit. They are more concerned that the new idea works to solve a problem or achieve a goal than they are with being right themselves.

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THREE QUALITIES OF GENIUS

Geniuses have been studied extensively over the years. One of the most remarkable conclusions the experts have arrived at is that geniuses are not necessarily people with extraordinary high IQs. They are often ordinary people who use their intelligence in a superior way compared to average, or even smarter, people. What this means is that you can function at genius levels if you learn to think the way that geniuses do.

Geniuses seem to have three characteristics in common, each of which you can develop and make into a regular part of your thinking.

First, geniuses seem to have
open minds
. They are curious, questioning, flexible, and willing to consider a wide range of possibilities in dealing with a question or problem. This adaptive mind-set is like an open door that allows ideas to blow through from any direction, or source. This is the mind-set of the genius. And you can learn it by practicing it.

Second, geniuses seem to approach problems and decisions
systematically
. They don’t throw themselves at a problem like a dog chasing a passing car. Instead, they approach every difficult situation by asking structured questions in a logical order, like solving a problem in math.

Third, geniuses approach problems with a series of
questions
.

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QUESTIONING OPENS YOUR MIND

Geniuses first ask,
“What exactly is the problem?”
and
“Why is this
a problem in the first place?”
They then ask,
“What would be an ideal
solution to this problem?”
and
“What holds us back from achieving
such a solution?”

They ask:
Why does this situation exist? How did it happen? What
caused it? Where and when did it first occur? Who is involved in it?

What are the different ways that we could solve this problem? Of all
the different ways, which solution seems to be the most acceptable, all
things considered?

The very act of
questioning
opens your mind and expands your options. It increases your creativity and stimulates your imagination. Questioning enables you to think more effectively about the problem, and ultimately reach a better decision.

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JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

People with
mechanical
mind-sets tend to jump to conclusions. They see a problem and they immediately decide on a solution.When two events happen close together, they assume that one event is the reason for the second event.
They confuse correlation with causation.

Once they have made a decision, they look for evidence to confirm what they have already decided. Their egos quickly become involved, and they then become reluctant to change their minds.

There seems to be a direct relationship between the quantity of ideas and approaches you develop to solve a problem and your likelihood of coming up with the best idea that will solve the problem in the very best way. For this reason, you must discipline yourself to resist the temptation to jump to conclusions, or to rush to judg-ment.You must proceed more slowly, like a genius, and keep asking questions.You must keep your mind open.

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CREATIVITY IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT

If the truth were known, you are an
idea-generating organism
. Creativity is your birthright. You are a highly intelligent individual with a continuous flow of good ideas that you can use to accomplish ccc_tracy_8_136-153.qxd 6/23/03 2:48 PM Page 146

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goals and improve your life. In fact, even if you have not used your creativity for a long time, and most people have not, you can stir it up, like sugar that has sunk to the bottom of a cup of coffee, by stimulating your mind with methods that we will talk about in the next chapter.

There is a Law of Probabilities that applies to creative thinking and tapping into the powers of your mind. This law says that the more ideas that you are exposed to, the more likely it is that you will be exposed to the right idea, exactly when you need it.

The most successful people today are those who are constantly exposing themselves to new ideas from a variety of sources. Unsuccessful people, in contrast, are those who continue to recirculate the same tired old ideas with little imagination or creativity.

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LOOK FOR IDEAS EVERYWHERE

When you attend a seminar or a lecture given by an expert who is sharing some of the most current ideas in his or her field, you will often receive a bombardment of new insights that you can use to improve parts of your life. Many people’s lives have been completely changed as the result of attending a single lecture given by a single intelligent person who gave them a single insight that was the key to their future.

Imagine what would happen if you attended courses, seminars, and lectures on a regular basis.You would be continually bombard-ing your mind with new ideas that would keep your mind alert and aware, and keep your creative juices flowing.

Creative people are constantly reading, not only in their own fields but in other fields as well. They read primarily nonfiction.

They subscribe to a variety of magazines and newspapers. They are continually scanning through the tables of contents and through the critical articles.

Always read with a pen or highlighter in your hand. Even better, learn how to speed-read so that you can scan material at a thousand words a minute, or faster. Speed-reading is a skill, like riding a bicycle, that anyone can learn with a few hours of application. Forever after, you will be able to process more information than perhaps you ever imagined possible.

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GET AROUND THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Effective people make a habit of associating with other positive, creative people. They are constantly sharing ideas and experiences, learning from each other. They cut clippings out of magazines and newsletters, and pass them on to their friends. They recommend books they have read and audio programs they have listened to.

Their friends do the same for them. Sometimes one good idea that you get from someone else can change the direction of your life.

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A FOOLISH CONSISTENCY

The second major factor that holds people back is
homeostasis
. This is defined as a “striving for constancy.” It is a deep desire to remain consistent with what you have done and said in the past. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay “Self-Reliance,” “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” He was referring to the natural tendency of individuals to try to remain consistent with previous opinions and behaviors. This form of rigidity blocks off almost all possibilities for growth in the future.

To resist the tendency toward homeostasis, you should be willing to abandon your old ideas when someone can prove that there are newer, better ideas available.

One way to escape the mental trap of homeostasis is for you to
be willing to admit that you are wrong.
The mark of the superior person, in a time of rapid change, is to always remain open to the possibility that one’s most cherished ideas are incorrect. This takes tremendous courage and maturity. But it stimulates more ideas and insights.

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WRONG DECISIONS

According to the American Management Association, at least 70

percent of your decisions will turn out to be wrong in the fullness of time. This 70 percent figure is an average. Some people will be wrong even more often. But you can assume, as a rule of thumb, that 7 out of 10 decisions that you make regarding your life and work will turn out to be wrong in the long run.

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Here is a question for you. If 70 percent of the decisions that managers and executives make turn out to be wrong, how can the world continue to function? The answer is simple. Superior people—those who rise to the top of any organization—are those who are willing to cut their losses. They are willing to admit quickly that they have made a mistake and rectify the situation rather than persisting until it gets worse.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people fall in love with their past decisions, and once having made them, they are reluctant to give them up, even if all the evidence is against them. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, resolve to be the very first to recognize that a decision that you have made or conclusion that you have come to has been invalidated or disproven by new information. Be prepared to drop the old decision and embrace a new solution or new way of doing things.

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FLEXIBILITY GIVES YOU STRENGTH

According to the Menninger Institute, the most important quality that you will need to be successful in the twenty-first century is the quality of flexibility, especially in the way you think. Flexibility refers to your willingness to change and try new things. It especially means that you have the ability to continually abandon old, out-moded ideas in favor of new, more effective ideas.

Many people spend much of their time arguing, rationalizing, and justifying their behaviors. They are determined to continue doing things the same old way even when it is perfectly clear that the old way no longer works.The way to avoid this tendency is to remain flexible, especially when you are most convinced that you are right.

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THE MIRACLE OF

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

One of the great turning points in my life came when, as a young man in my early twenties, I discovered the miracle of personal development. My life has never been the same. I learned that through personal development you can indeed pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. I learned that, by learning what you need to learn to ccc_tracy_8_136-153.qxd 6/23/03 2:48 PM Page 149

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achieve the goals you have set for yourself, there are virtually no limits on what you can do, have, or be.

The truth is that
the future belongs to the competent
.You could lose all of your money tomorrow, but as long as you still had your ability to think and reason, you could make it all back and more besides.

The future belongs to those who are better informed. The future belongs not to those who
have more
versus those who
have less
, but to those who
know more
versus those who
know less
.

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RAPID OBSOLESCENCE

Knowledge and information in your field are doubling every two or three years. Whatever information base you have is rapidly becoming obsolete. You must be in the process of continually taking in new information and ideas just to stay even.

Fortunately, there is a simple, three-part program that you can use to keep yourself ahead of the pack. I have used it and taught it to many thousands of people, and I have files full of letters from people whose entire lives have been changed as a result. The three keys to continuous personal and professional development are
continuous reading
,
continuous listening to audio learning programs
, and
continuous training
.

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READ EVERY DAY

In order to stay on top of your job, you should read in your field at least one hour per day, underlining and taking good notes. Anything less than one hour per day will put you in danger of being passed by your competitors. My friend Jim Rohn advises,
“Work at least as
hard on yourself as you do on your job.”
At the very least, you should get up every morning and read 30

to 60 minutes in something educational. Take careful notes. Review your notes on a regular basis. Reflect on what you have learned, and think about how you could apply the new ideas in your daily life.

Use your powers of visualization to imagine yourself using the new information in some way. This will dramatically increase the speed at which you learn and retain the new ideas, and increase the likelihood that you will use them at the first opportunity.

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book per week. One book per week will amount to about 50 books per year. Fifty books per year will total about 500 books over the next 10 years. At the very least, you will need a bigger house just to hold your books, and you will probably be able to afford it as well.