New Year's Eve troubles do not allow us to calmly reflect on the past year. For many, the year ends with numerous reports on work. But now, when the fuss is over, and the New Year is celebrated, it's time to take stock. In this article, I offer you a very powerful way not only to take stock, but also for your self-development. Also these exercises will help you change your irrational thinking, and therefore your whole life.

The exercise consists of two blocks, but the principle in them is the same. It's about gratitude. I don’t know about you, but I will never start doing anything until I figure out how it works and what it will give me (two questions: how and why?). So first I'll tell you how it works.

Gratitude or appreciation is a positive feeling. When we feel gratitude, we feed on the positive energy that fills our memories. So, in our arsenal there is always an inexhaustible source of energy, which you can use at any time. Isn't this a miracle? What is the trick, you ask, and why is this method still not used by all of us?

The fact is that this is how the psyche is arranged - it's easier to see the bad than the good. Why this happens can be found in the article about. Our irrational thoughts have an evolutionary significance: they helped us survive when the world around us was really full of dangers, and man was weak and defenseless against the elements, before the animal world. Now, you will agree, most of us live in other conditions. Also, irrational thoughts for many of us come from childhood. In any case, we do not need these thoughts now, moreover, they prevent us from living. Because of them, we often see the bad and do not notice the good.

By Practicing Gratitude, We Can Reframe Our Thinking: focus on the good and not dwell on the bad. This does not mean that we will completely ignore negative developments. In fact, it is important to learn from problems in order to avoid them in the future. But more often than not, we simply chew and replay the negative event that happened to us, sinking even deeper into resentment and depression. Now you just need to stop doing it. Instead, look at the good things that happened in your life in a year or a day.

I hope you are already determined start the new year with positive changes in yourself. And now the exercises themselves.

Top 20 events of the past year/day

Just remember the good things that happened to you and brought you joy. Scroll through the entire year like a film, from beginning to end and highlight 20 important events that made you happy. Starting from meetings with interesting people, ending with a trip to the resort. Events may not be so grandiose, the main thing is that you remember them with joy and gratitude. As soon as your list is ready, you will feel your mood improve.

If you are interested in radically restructuring your thinking in the direction of positive, do this exercise every day, closer to bed. Be sure to take a piece of paper and a pen - write it down, what good happened to you during the day, for which you are grateful to your fate(God, Nature, Higher powers, yourself - choose the right one). You can record three such events, but the more, the better the result. Moreover, these can be obvious things: I am grateful to fate for the fact that I was able to get out of bed in the morning, for the fact that I smiled, for the fact that it was sunny / rainy. Write whatever comes to your mind. Make this exercise a habit, and your thinking will also take over the habit of thinking positively. This technique is simple and effective. Often the simplest things are the most effective. Try it!

Important: never thank for humiliation. And do not use this method to forgive or let go (in a relationship). At least don't get carried away. If there is really nothing to thank for, and you are trying, this is an attempt to artificially raise your self-esteem, significance, to put yourself above another. This is not good for you in the long run.

And one more exercise.

Gratitude visit

For this exercise, you need to remember the people who did something good for you in the past year. Start with the most vivid memory: perhaps it was your leader, teacher, mentor. Or your boyfriend / girlfriend, just a casual acquaintance. Or a close relative. Scroll through your memory of how he helped you, what was especially important and valuable to you.

When we feel gratitude, we feed on fond memories, and when we express it, we strengthen our bonds with others.

Usually we say “thank you” literally on the go, in between times, without attaching much meaning to our words. The Gratitude Visit exercise is an opportunity to give meaningful and purposeful thanks.

So, remember? Now write a thank you note and give it to the recipient in person.

Keep it short (300 words is enough) and to the point: focus on what the recipient has done for you and how it has affected your life. Tell us what you are doing now and how often you remember what was done for you. Do not skimp on praise!

Be sure to meet with the addressee in person, do not miss the opportunity to be closer to people who mean a lot to you. You can also write a thank you letter to the author of a book that influenced you, the director of a motivational film, a character you want to be like, any outstanding person you learn from (whether alive or not). If it is not possible to thank your assistant personally, take some free time, go to your favorite outdoor recreation area and read the letter aloud there. You will feel happier!

The Gratitude Visit exercise is taken from the excellent Martin Seligman's book The Path to Prosperity. A new understanding of happiness and well-being". I recommend that you read the book and learn about the many other benefits of positive thinking, as well as techniques to help you overcome your own irrational thoughts. You can buy the book on Ozone.

Why don't people live the life they dream of? What hinders the implementation of intentions? Where do problems "out of the blue" come from? Many troubles are the result of inefficient thinking. It is formed in the process of education, schooling, communication in society. How to develop effective thinking skills and pave your own path to success?

We learn attitudes and stereotypes that make us choose not the best option, but the “acceptable” one - imposed from the outside (by parents, teachers, peers, the media). This often slows down on the way to achieving the goal, makes it difficult to think rationally and extract the maximum benefit from all available resources.

Effective thinking: what is it and how does it manifest itself?

Effective thinking is such thinking that makes it easy to find new, more rational solutions to problems. At the same time, a person minimizes the cost of time, effort, money and receives the maximum possible results.

Those who are characterized by effective thinking are doomed to success. He gets more done in less time, gets tired less and hits his goals faster.

How to learn to think and act effectively?

Thought is the beginning of action. To perform extremely rational actions, you need to learn to think correctly.

Here are 5 tips that will help develop effective thinking, speed up the process of achieving the goal and improve results:

1. Constant search for new methods.

Man is a slave of habits. Each of us performs thousands of similar actions every day. We go to work by the same route, automatically brew coffee, habitually dine in the same establishments, and buy in “trusted” stores.

We stop noticing new details just because the brain is tuned to the sameness. He also thinks the same way. To change your thinking, you need to constantly update the "base" of habits. Make it a rule to take a different route from work every time, to do something new and unusual, to react differently to everyday things, to notice details.

When looking for a solution, be sure to consider all options, including those that you want to immediately discard as unrealistic. Take it for granted that everything is real, and every time ask yourself the question: “How to do this?”

2. Iterate over all options.

Another way to train yourself to think more effectively is to try all the ways in turn. Having determined for yourself the possible methods to achieve the goal, try them all, going through one by one. This will greatly expand your understanding of your own capabilities, tk. people usually choose not the most productive, but the most familiar and understandable way to solve a problem.

3. Use the brainstorming method.

Write down all the ideas and ways to achieve the goal that come to mind. Even if some method seems absolutely crazy and unrealistic to you, write it down and be sure to think it over.

4. Consider the law of diminishing returns.

It says that an increase in resource consumption does not always lead to a proportional improvement in the result. This means that if you spend twice as much time, effort and money on solving a problem, the result may be better, but definitely not twice as much.

You need to learn how to work not more, but more efficiently and productively. However, this does not mean that you should indulge your laziness.

5. Optimize, but don't over-optimize

Optimization is great, but don't become a fan of the process itself. If you are fixated on constantly looking for the most rational solutions, you may simply not have the strength to act. Write down your goals, plan ways to achieve them, and take action.

It can rightly be called the crown of human knowledge. It is a mental activity with its own goals, motives, operational functions and results. It can be characterized in different ways: as the highest degree of assimilation and processing of information and the establishment of causal relationships between objects of reality, as a process of displaying the obvious properties of objects and phenomena and, consequently, the formation of ideas about the surrounding reality, and as a process of cognition of the world, based on the incessant replenishment of the baggage of concepts and ideas about it.

But, regardless of the interpretation, it can be established that the better a person’s thinking is, the more effectively he can interact with the outside world and other people, study and learn, understand phenomena and truths. Thinking is formed as a person develops from his very birth, but life circumstances do not always develop in such a way that it continues to develop. It often happens that, having reached a certain level, development slows down. However, this process, like many others, each of us is able to influence. In other words, everyone is capable
, and how this is done, we will talk in this article.

But before we get down to the main material, a few words should be said about what thinking is in general. In total, there are several of its main types, studied by specialists most often and most of all:

• Visual-figurative thinking;
• Verbal-logical (it is also abstract) thinking;
• Visual-effective thinking;

Below we provide a brief description of each type of thinking and indicate effective and simple ways their development.

Visual-figurative thinking and exercises for its development

With the help of visual-figurative thinking, reality is transformed into images, and ordinary phenomena and objects are endowed with new properties. It involves the visual solution of problems and tasks without the need to resort to practical actions. The brain is responsible for its development. Visual-figurative thinking should not be confused with imagination, because. it is based on real objects, actions and processes, and not imaginary or invented.

Visual-figurative thinking can be developed in adults and children in the same ways. Here are some good exercises:

• Think of a few people you have interacted with today and visualize in detail their clothes, shoes, hair, looks, and so on.
• With just two nouns, one adverb, three verbs, and adjectives, describe the words “success,” “wealth,” and “beauty.”
• Swipe: imagine the shape of the ears of your pet or, for example, an elephant; count the number of apartments in your entrance and imagine how they are located in the house; and now turn the English letter "N" 90 degrees and determine what came out of it.
• Describe in words the following objects and phenomena: a flying swan, sparkling lightning, the kitchen of your apartment, lightning, a pine forest, a toothbrush.
• Replay in your mind the image of a recent meeting with friends and give mental answers to several questions: how many people were in the company, and what did each of them wear? What food and drinks were on the table? What were you talking about? What was the room like? In what position did you sit, what sensations did you experience, what taste did you feel from the food and drinks you consumed?

These exercises can be modified at your own discretion - you can do whatever you want, but the main thing here is to use visual-figurative thinking. The more you use it, the better it will develop.

You can also check out a course that will help you develop your thinking in just a few weeks. Check it out here.

Verbal-logical (abstract) thinking and exercises for its development

Verbal-logical thinking is characterized by the fact that a person who observes a certain picture as a whole, singles out only the most significant qualities from it, not paying attention to minor details that simply complement this picture. There are usually three forms of such thinking:

• Concept - when objects are grouped according to features;
• Judgment - when any phenomenon or connections between objects are affirmed or denied;
• Inference - when specific conclusions are drawn on the basis of several judgments.

Everyone should develop verbal-logical thinking, but it is especially useful to form it from an early age in children, because this is an excellent training of memory and attention, as well as fantasy. Here are some exercises you can use for yourself or your child:

• Set a timer for 3 minutes, write during this time the maximum number of words beginning with the letters "g", "sh", "h" and "z".
• Take a few simple phrases like "what's for breakfast?", "let's go to the movies", "come over" and "there's a new exam tomorrow" and read them backwards.
• There are several groups of words: “sad, cheerful, slow, cautious”, “dog, cat, parrot, penguin”, “Sergey, Anton, Kolya, Tsarev, Olga” and “triangle, square, board, oval”. From each group, select those words that do not fit the meaning.
• Identify the differences between a ship and an airplane, grass and a flower, a story and a verse, an elephant and a rhinoceros, a still life and a portrait.
• A few more groups of words: “House - walls, foundation, windows, roof, wallpaper”, “War - weapons, soldiers, bullets, attack, map”, “Youth - growth, joy, choice, love, children”, “Road - cars, pedestrians, traffic, asphalt, poles.” Choose from each group one or two words without which the concept ("home", "war", etc.) could exist as such.

These exercises, again, can be quite easily modernized and modified, simplifying or complicating at your discretion. It is thanks to this that each of them can be an excellent way to train abstract thinking, both in adults and in children. By the way, any such exercises, among other things, perfectly develop the intellect.

Visual-effective thinking and exercises for its development

Visual-effective thinking can be described as the process of solving mental problems by transforming the situation that has arisen in real life. It is rightfully considered the first way to process the information received, and it develops very actively in children under 7 years old, when they begin to combine all kinds of objects into one whole, analyze them and operate with them. And in adults, this type of thinking is expressed in identifying the practical benefits of the objects of the surrounding world, being the so-called manual intellect. The brain is responsible for the development of visual-effective thinking.

An excellent way to learn and train here is the usual game of chess, solving puzzles and sculpting all kinds of figures from plasticine, but there are also several effective exercises:

• Take your pillow and try to determine its weight. Then weigh your clothes in the same way. After that, try to determine the area of ​​​​the room, kitchen, bathroom and other rooms in your apartment.
• Draw a triangle, a rhombus and a trapezoid on the landscape sheets. Then take the scissors and turn all these shapes into a square, cutting once in a straight line.
• Lay out 5 matches on the table in front of you and make 2 equal triangles out of them. After that, take 7 matches and make 2 triangles and 2 squares out of them.
• Buy a constructor in the store and make various shapes out of it - not only those indicated in the instructions. It is recommended that there be as many details as possible - at least 40-50.

As an effective addition to these exercises, chess and more, you can use our excellent.

Logical thinking and exercises for its development

Logical thinking is the basis of a person's ability to think and reason consistently and without contradictions. It is necessary in most life situations: from ordinary dialogues and shopping to solving various problems and developing intelligence. This type of thinking contributes to the successful search for justifications for any phenomena, a meaningful assessment of the world around us and judgments. The main task in this case is to obtain true knowledge about the subject of reflection based on the analysis of its various aspects.

Among the recommendations for the development of logical thinking, one can single out the solution of logical problems (and this is also an excellent training of memory and attention in children and adults), passing tests for the IQ, logic games, self-education, reading books (especially detective stories), and training intuition .

As for specific exercises, we advise you to take note of the following:

• From several sets of words, for example: “armchair, table, sofa, stool”, “circle, oval, ball, circle”, “fork, towel, spoon, knife”, etc. you need to choose a word that does not fit the meaning. Despite its simplicity, this is a very effective technology for the development of logical thinking, and similar sets and exercises can be found in large numbers on the Internet.
• Collective exercise: get together with friends or the whole family and divide into two teams. Let each team invite the opposite team to solve a semantic riddle, where the content of some text is transmitted. The point is to define. Here is a small example: “The clergyman had an animal in the household. He experienced strong warm feelings for him, however, despite this, he performed a violent action on him, which led to his death. This happened for the reason that the animal did something unacceptable - it ate part of the food that was not intended for it. Thinking logically, one can recall a children's song that begins with the words: "The priest had a dog, he loved her ..."
• Another group game: a member of one team performs an action, and a member of the other must find its cause, and then the cause of the cause, and so on until all the motives for the behavior of the first participant are clarified.

Again, these exercises (in particular the last two) are excellent ways to develop logical thinking and intelligence, suitable for people of all ages.

Creative thinking and exercises for its development

Creative thinking is a type of thinking that allows you to systematize and analyze ordinary information in an unusual way. In addition to the fact that it contributes to the extraordinary solution of typical tasks, questions and problems, it also increases the efficiency of a person's assimilation of new knowledge. Applying creative thinking, people can consider objects and phenomena from different angles, awaken in themselves the desire to create something new - something that did not exist before (this is the understanding of creativity in its classical sense), develop the ability to move from one task to another and find a lot of interesting options for doing work and ways out of life situations.

Ways to develop creative thinking are based on the idea that a person realizes only a small percentage of his potential during his life, and his task is to find opportunities to activate unused resources. The technology for developing creativity is based, first of all, on several recommendations:

• You need to improvise and always look for new ways to solve everyday problems;
• No need to focus on established frameworks and rules;
• You should expand your horizons and constantly learn something new;
• You need to travel as much as possible, discover new places and meet new people;
• It is necessary to make learning new skills and abilities a habit;
• You should try to do something better than others.

But, of course, there are also certain exercises for the development of creative thinking (by the way, we advise you to familiarize yourself with our courses on the development of creative thinking and thinking in general - you will find them).

Now let's talk about exercises:

• Take several concepts, for example, “youth”, “man”, “coffee”, “kettle”, “morning” and “candle”, and select for each of them the maximum possible number of nouns that define their essence.
• Take several pairs of different concepts, for example, "piano - car", "cloud - steam locomotive", "tree - picture", "water - well" and "airplane - capsule" and select the maximum number of similar features for them.
• Imagine several situations and think about what might happen in each of them. Examples of situations: “aliens are walking around the city”, “it’s not water that runs from the tap in your apartment, but lemonade”, “all pets have learned to speak human language”, “it snows in your city in the middle of summer for a week”.
• Look around the room where you are now, and stop looking at any object that interests you, for example, on a closet. Write down on a piece of paper 5 adjectives that match it, and then 5 adjectives that are completely opposite.
• Think of your job, hobby, favorite singer or actor, best friend or significant other, and describe it (him/her) in at least 100 words.
• Remember some saying or, and write, based on it, a short essay, verse or essay.
• Write a list of 10 purchases you would make before the end of the world.
• Write a daily plan for your cat or dog.
• Imagine that when you returned home, you saw that the doors of all the apartments were open. Write 15 reasons why this might have happened.
• Make a list of 100 of your life goals.
• Write a letter to yourself in the future - when you are 10 years older.

Also, to activate your creativity and intelligence, you can use two excellent methods in everyday life - and. These ways to develop creativity will help you break all stereotypes, expand your comfort zone and develop an original and unlike anything else type of thinking.

In conclusion, we say that if you have a desire to organize or continue your education and develop your thinking more efficiently, then you will certainly like one of our courses, which you can familiarize yourself with.

For the rest, we wish you every success and comprehensively developed thinking!

Effective thinking is the ability to come to logically sound, useful and correct conclusions; the ability to set goals and build algorithms for achieving them.

Effective thinking is a rather multifaceted concept, which, in essence, does not need to be introduced. Everyone understands that it includes such qualities as speed, objectivity, effectiveness and originality. But how to achieve this efficiency? Is this ability given by nature, is it a talent, is it brought up in childhood, or is it developed through training? Of course, in many respects the prerequisites for the development of a “thinker” are laid down in genes and parental upbringing. But the formation of effective thinking can also occur in adulthood - for this it is only necessary to consciously approach the process of "thinking" and improve your results with the help of classes and exercises.

But first, let's deal with the question of what prevents most people from thinking quickly and efficiently.

Enemies of Effective Thinking

The main enemies of efficiency in thinking are the habits of thinking in a certain way. Thought glides along the knurled road, because our parents or friends thought so, mankind thought so for decades. And we thought so, and nothing bad seemed to happen - which means that our way of thinking is quite normal and suitable for life. And the truth is - it is suitable for the average life of a person living from paycheck to paycheck. But it has nothing to do with the efficiency of thinking, which helps to realize far-reaching plans or make discoveries. To break out of the quagmire of standard thinking and move on to effective thinking, you need to get rid of a number of patterns.

1. Fear of change

This property of the psyche is inherent in almost all people and humanity as a whole. Any new trend, whether it be a scientific thought, a creative breakthrough or a technical innovation, is initially viewed with suspicion, ridiculed or condemned. For example, many inventors tried to create a steam locomotive, but they all ran into the skeptical attitude of society. The idea was called a ridiculous fantasy, the steam engine was called a fiend, and traveling by rail was considered too dangerous. Indeed, at a huge speed of 40 kilometers per hour, passengers will not be able to breathe, they will begin to have convulsions, hallucinations, they will go crazy and die right in the trolleys! It is now that you are smiling while reading these lines, but in the 18-19th century, when the steam locomotive was slowly making its way to mass use, these were serious arguments.

In the same way, the idea of ​​photography, television and flights to the moon was ridiculed. Well, I think everyone knows about the fate of Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei.

What drives these people, so zealously resisting the new? Laziness and fear. Laziness - because each innovation causes a laborious process of reforming many areas of life, including the way of thinking that we are talking about today. Innovations pull a chain of inevitable changes, under which, willy-nilly, you will have to adapt - and this is difficult and not always pleasant. Fear - because not everyone is able to go through these changes. People are afraid that they will not be able to do this, they are afraid of failure and shame, they are afraid to be on the outskirts of civilization, unable to adapt to its development. Therefore, they diligently inhibit this development.

Get rid of fear and laziness, learn, at least, to consider new items from an impartial position, without clinging to the usual stereotypes. Of course, not everything new is good - you should not immediately rush into the arms of novelty. But you don't have to be afraid of it either.

2. Compliance with the rules

In itself, it is not bad - there are useful rules that preserve our lives, health, help us understand each other and control social relationships. There are grammatical rules, traffic rules, laws - their observance makes our life easier, and experiments on this basis do not bode well.

But there are also rules that can be called controversial - the rules of morality, social traditions, religious dogmas. They are embedded in us as patterns of thought and behavior; deviating from them, we demonstrate nonconformism. For creative people and inventors, he is a symbol of the search, for hypocrites and snobs - the quality of renegades and outcasts. Yes, nonconformists have always been white crows, but it is they who make discoveries in science and creativity, change people's lives for the better, helping to get rid of outdated and useless models and traditions.

Conformity stems from cowardice, the fear of going against society and being a "lone psycho". We begin to obey the general rules in order to preserve the status quo. But by doing so, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to think creatively and see solutions in non-standard situations. It is sad that often we are pushed to this by the closest people who are worried about our well-being - parents, friends, teachers. We are taught to keep a low profile and live by the rules, thereby depriving our personality of the individuality that is inherent in it by nature.

The best way to get rid of blindly following the rules is not to look at the opinions of others, but to live your own mind. As my mother said: “And if everyone goes to jump from the roof, will you go too?”

3. Self-deception

Many people deceive themselves, although it would seem that this is impossible. Alcoholics and smokers are sure that they can quit at any moment, obese people are convinced that they eat little. Idlers blame others for their failures, and bosses for low wages.

The salt of self-deception lies in the fact that a person changes his thinking depending on the situation. He thinks the way it is more profitable for him to think, while forgetting the old agreements and his own decisions made earlier.

Often self-deception becomes the inertial effect of deceiving others. Someone pretends to be knowledgeable in some area, creates a certain illusion, an improved image for others, and over time he himself begins to believe in this image.

How not to fall into the trap of self-deception? Remember that the first decision made is usually the right one - it comes solely from our logic, personal morality and conscience. When we get involved in the process and face difficulties, negative character traits such as laziness, envy or greed begin to work. These emotions force us to make new decisions that benefit the dark sides of our ego. Therefore, in order not to confuse yourself, you need to learn how to cleanse your thinking from these whispers.

4. In the name of saving the image

In every person, at the subconscious level, there is a need to maintain a positive image that he created for himself and others. Making mistakes or some unsightly deeds, he tries to do everything to protect his image from destruction, and his reputation from stains. And the most interesting thing is that he will deceive himself first of all, and then the rest.

The most common way to maintain a positive image of yourself is to justify. Everyone justifies their actions with external factors, from a small child who broke a vase to a murderer. “I was forced, I had no other choice, I could not have done otherwise, it happened” - a standard set of excuses, accompanied by spatial explanations of the circumstances.

Another scenario in saving the image is the fitting of facts. This is the sin of the media - in pursuit of a certain goal, they choose the facts that confirm their theory, and discard those that refute it. True, they do it consciously, while the average layman adjusts the facts to fit their theories unconsciously. Usually this is done in hindsight, when the deed is done - it remains only to create a competent explanation of your actions. Basically, it's the same excuse.

The subconscious impulse in any controversial situation is to deny involvement and look for facts confirming innocence. This urge stems solely from the fear that our ego will be crushed and humiliated. As you understand, this approach is not constructive. You need to learn to honestly assess your role in the development of events, to be objective in your judgments about your guilt or innocence, and not to exaggerate the importance of external factors.

5. "Your own shirt is closer to the body"

Each of us has an interesting property of the psyche - we always consider our own better than someone else's. Your friends are good, strangers are irresponsible hooligans. Their children are smart and loved, strangers are not good for them. They say that the grass is greener in the neighboring meadow - but this is far from always the case. In many situations, we value two absolutely identical objects differently just because one of them is directly related to us.

This effect is best seen in wars and civil strife. The soldiers of their own army are "hero-liberators", the enemy - "invaders and murderers". Their "forced to take action", others - "outrageous". In the USSR, there were even two different concepts: intelligence officer and spy. The first was proudly called agents of the Soviet special services, and the second, disgustedly, were foreigners and defectors.

People tend to divide everyone into "us" and "them", considering other people as the worst. This is the source of racism, male chauvinism, unhealthy feminism, misunderstanding between people of different ages, classes and financial status. Yes, we are different in many ways, but such a division alienates people from each other as if they are from different planets.

This effect makes us subjectively relate to the actions, achievements and proposals of different people, depending on personal sympathies. You can rush around with the embodiment of a ridiculous idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe person you are in love with, discarding the suggestions of intelligent specialists; you can invest in a failed project of a friend, refusing to invest in a good startup. To be able to choose the best, it is necessary to learn to put friends and strangers on a par, guided solely by an assessment of the quality of the offer or achievement itself.

6. Stereotypes

We all know stereotypes are bad. The winged “all women are fools” and “all men are goats” immediately come to mind.

But things are a little different. In fact, a stereotype is a product of induction when we draw a general conclusion from multiple recurring premises. The brain automatically forms stereotypes so as not to compose new reaction algorithms every time - once in a similar situation, it will remember the same one and react the same way. The problem is that not all stereotypes are true. And to be more precise - every stereotype has a weak point. And it comes from a simple logical rule that says that the truth of inductive reasoning is never 100%. In addition, stereotypes tend to become obsolete.

For example, having learned from various acquaintances that in some store they hang and sell stale products, you will come to the conclusion that it is better not to go to this store, and you will be right. Maybe they don’t hang it every time, and not all products are stale, but it’s better to play it safe. But now the management of the store is changing, a new policy is being introduced, unscrupulous employees are being fired. Those people who have not heard about this store will make a purchase there and create a new stereotype - they will advise the store to friends and go to it themselves. You will continue to bypass it, following an outdated stereotype that can persist for many years after conditions change.

In general, the idea is clear - you should not make total generalizations and blindly trust them, you should not be led by social stereotypes, because they could be outdated long ago, and even stereotypes created by oneself can often play a bad joke with their creator.

Learning to think effectively

So we've talked about what not to do. Now let's turn our eyes towards techniques that can help develop quick and effective thinking.

To begin with, thinking intersects with many inextricably linked components, each of which needs to be systematically developed - these are intuition, logic, creativity and fantasy, memory, concentration and intelligence.

An effective way of thinking cannot be developed, for example, without a certain knowledge base, attentiveness, the ability to analyze and compare facts, the ability to remember complex information, and many other useful things. It's like a language - to speak it, it's not enough to learn the words - you need to know grammar, punctuation, style, idiomatic combinations and a lot more. Let's take a look at each of the components that form fast and effective thinking.

Since our site is dedicated to self-development, there is already a lot of material on the development of important components of mental activity. In order not to repeat ourselves and not to write an article that is too long, we will simply make references to these articles.

1. Logical thinking

We are simply incapable of thinking effectively without relying on basic logical laws. Successful people have strict logical thinking, which helps them come to unexpected and at the same time correct conclusions, using obvious premises available to everyone. While a person with lame logic will look at the facts and not understand what's the matter, the logician will put everything in order, sort it out, build a beautiful and clear logical sequence. This difference is shown in the examples of Hastings and Hercule Poirot in the works of Agatha Christie, Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle.

2. Creative thinking

Effective thinking presupposes the presence of creativity, because it is it that helps us get rid of stereotypes, banality, narrowness of perception. A person can read books as much as he wants and retell the encyclopedia by heart, but as long as he does not know how to go beyond the boundaries of the known, he will think in other people's thoughts - nothing more.

Creative thinking, or as it is also called, creativity, is mandatory for anyone who creates their own product, and does not copy others - whether it be intellectual creativity or industrial inventions. We can think effectively only when our imagination embarks on an endless journey, throwing us all new ideas.

3. Strategic thinking

Tactics and strategy are military concepts that have migrated into everyday life. Planning and organizing any activity implies strategic inclinations. The strategist must be able to keep in mind the actions planned and already taken, to anticipate the steps of the enemy and other external factors beyond his control, to assume all the possible results of his actions and ways to respond to these results. He needs to have a good memory, an analytical mind and the gift of foresight. To develop a strategic mindset, learn how to play chess and turn-based strategies like Heroes.

Well-developed logical, creative and strategic thinking is precisely the basis for effective. But there are also auxiliary components, without which it is impossible to do.

4. Memory, attentiveness, concentration

These are smart tools. And we all know that blunt or rusty tools will never be good development aids. Anyone who does not remember information well will not be able to operate with it. One who skips details will not be able to put together a picture of events. Anyone who is not able to concentrate on a mental task will perform it for a long time, being distracted by all sorts of nonsense. What is the efficiency here?

All these tools must be in a state of constant readiness, they must be trained and used. Here, as in sports - while the athlete is engaged, he is strong, fast and agile. But as soon as he quits, after a while the muscles become flabby and weak. Returning to classes, after a while he will restore his form and again be as strong. With the tools of thinking - the same story. Train them to always be in mental shape.

5. Intuition and emotions

It would seem, where are these irrational and uncontrollable properties of the human soul? Very much so. Let's start with the fact that they are not so irrational, and not so out of control.

Intuition is a subconscious appeal to existing experience - using its help, we operate with minor details that elude consciousness. No wonder there is such a term as professional intuition - an experienced specialist sometimes cannot explain in detail why he chose this particular way of solving a problem. But his choice almost always leads to a positive result.

Emotional intelligence is also not from the realm of fantasy. It exists on a par with rational thinking, having less accuracy, but greater volume and efficiency.

Both of these phenomena can both help and hinder effective thinking - it's all about how to set them up and how much to rely on them. And, of course, they need to learn to control.

6. Cleaning the mental space from trash

No matter how smart, creative and educated we are, if we have chaos in our head, our thinking will not be effective. To make your head clear, you need to follow two paths - the purification of the information field and the calming of thoughts. Our society is overloaded with a huge flow of information, and not always of high quality - you should not even try to digest it all.

When thoughts jump from one to another, you get nervous, and the brain panics and frantically mixes useful operations with useless ones - not at all up to efficiency.

Effective Thinking Techniques

In any activity, theory is always followed by practice. After all, a lot of buzzwords are, of course, good, but specific recommendations for putting all this information into practice are simply necessary. Each technique of effective thinking affects one of the above areas of human mental activity - memory, logic, attentiveness; helps in solving certain problems:

P.S.: In this extensive article, such a concept as intelligence was not touched upon - not because it was unfairly forgotten, but because in many definitions intelligence is thinking. There is also a broader concept of intelligence - as a person's ability to mental and mental activity, which includes thinking, memory, perception, imagination, sensation, etc. There are many of these qualities, so only those that are directly related to the effectiveness of thinking were mentioned.

Regardless of the social status and age of a person, everyone can learn to think effectively. Our BrainApps team is convinced to learn, how to think effectively, everyone can, the main thing is to train and properly distribute forces. After all, what is effective thinking? This is the development of memory, creativity, concentration. Our simulators will help you quickly and efficiently “pump” your skills, and you can find out about the results in your personal account. But already now you can start thinking effectively, using our advice.

The art of thinking effectively and positively

Every day, most of the thought flow in the mind of a person is a repetition of yesterday's thoughts. That is, in order to learn to think more efficiently, you cannot wait for instant results. At the very least, it will take a few weeks before you and your loved ones notice an improvement, until the renewal of the habitual thought flow is over.

Have you noticed how negative thoughts negatively affect the fate of a person? Many losers do nothing but repeat that they are unlucky. And the lucky ones, meanwhile, affirmatively declare: “I'm lucky!”. From year to year, a person himself programs his consciousness.

The American geneticist Bruce Lipton proved in his research that directed mental influence can change the human genetic code of an organism. But for this it is necessary that the desire is in the subconscious of a person. Examples would be cases where the undeniable belief of a pregnant woman that her child would be healthy after birth baffled many doctors on the planet who were sure that the fetus would not survive.

Therefore, it is very important not only to think effectively, but also to think positively in order to change your life for the better. If you have problems - lack of time, energy or health, just stop and think about ways to solve them, and soon several optimal options will appear in your brain.

How to think effectively and manage thoughts?

To learn how to think effectively, you should put things in order in your head and manage your thoughts. Modern man is overwhelmed with gigabytes of information. The flow of words, sounds, smells comes from everywhere and sometimes it is necessary to take time to be alone with yourself. You can put your thoughts in order on a walk in the fresh air, sitting at home or traveling, the main thing is that no one distracts you.

Be sure to follow the direction of your thoughts. How often do you have to "head in the clouds"? Effective and rational thinking must meet the following criteria:

• Thought flow directed. People who think about everything at once, as a rule, do not succeed.
• Thoughts should be structured and written down. More effective and successful are those people who have a diary (and often more than one).
• Thoughts love order and silence. Make time for relaxation.
• Parallel processes are a destructive force for mental activity. It is impossible to think effectively while doing something at this moment.

Phenomenal intelligence with BrainApps

We are convinced that everyone can acquire phenomenal abilities if they practice regularly. The development of memory contributes to effective thinking and helps in everyday matters. Your intellect will develop if you write down your thoughts more, learn to structure them, divide them into tasks and subtasks. Successful people with effective thinking strive for self-knowledge and self-learning. Don’t let the fact that you don’t know something stop you, explore any question and problem with meticulousness, look for extraordinary solutions and don’t let your brain “dry out”!