Thinking is not art, but a skill which needs to be mastered.
In his book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Winston Churchill once said, typically people think 2-4 hours a year and I practiced doing it each day and that is what got me here.
In today’s world of fast changing and adapting technology, only the one’s who practice thinking are making strides in every aspect of their lives. So, how do we begin thinking like a pro?
Thinking is the function of both the left and right brains. It needs constant practice and the will to make your thinking impactful. While the left brain focus’s on understanding the small picture, verbal communication, linear and logical thinking, positive emotions, math, and EQ; the right brain focus’s on understanding the big picture, non-verbal communication, IQ, math reasoning, information interpretation and negative emotions.
Thinking is a tight balancing act between the left and right brains. Like any other balance activities, even the brain needs to be taught and practiced thinking.
If we go with the statistics quoted by Churchill, we would not spend more than 240 hours thinking in our lifetime (3 Hours a year for 80 Years). For us to reach at least 50% of the mastery level, setting a goal of 10 years, we need to practice thinking 500 Hours a year. This translates to an average of 0.057 Hours each day, which is less than 20 minutes.
When you begin learning a 2 wheeler/4 wheeler, you focus on keeping the balance of the vehicle straight on the road while combining using the Accelerator, Brake, Clutch and the Gearbox. Initially, it would be difficult, but the more your practice, the easier it gets.
Similarly, thinking like a pro needs practice. Practicing a combination of activities will help sharpen our thinking. It is not mandatory that one understands every aspect of the functions of brain and practice them, but identifying the right combinations coupled with the passion helps better the chances of the thinking process.
Next time when you have to think about something, try a combination of the skills required and then your output will be much better than it was the last time.