Now Reading: How Successful People Think by John Maxwell

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my life and what the future may hold for me.  That statement at first glance may appear to be pretty deep, but really it was all driven by feelings that I’m not applying myself as I could be…and really should be.  I was having a conversation with my dad yesterday, just catching up, and we somehow got on the topic of reading.  He mentioned to me that if I was looking for books that I’d be able to apply to my life, pick up something by John Maxwell.  Of course my next question is, “Which book should I read”.  His response to me, “Just pick up anything and I’m sure it will be good.”

I chose to pick up “How Successful People Think”.  I’m only a chapter into the book, and its already proving to be exactly what I was looking for.  The book gives the author’s opinion of which distinct characteristics belong to those successful people that he considers “thinkers”.  The author goes a step further to explain why people in general do not spend a ton of time thinking…his answer was simply because REAL thinking is hard work.  There are pointers in the book on how to establish the discipline to think.  Here are a few points that I’ve taken down thus far that I thought were worth taking note of:

There also were a few quotes that the author mentions in the book that made lots of sense.  I’ve been interested in getting into blogging more (thus this entry), and hopefully it will prove worthwhile.  As an example of a good quote, here is one that Maxwell uses..

How much sense does THAT make…right?  It is a statement that is blatantly obvious when you read it, but taking it…internalizing it….and putting this to work is something that I don’t do, and I’d dare to say there are many others that are in my same boat.  I’m beginning to realize more and more the importance of writing down thoughts, and developing those in the process.  Maxwell also makes another point that I’ve clearly acknowledged prior to picking up this book, however by reading the book I’m gaining a bit more clarity and focus which can only aid as I determine the things I’d like to do.

One last quote from Maxwell, then I’ll wrap this up.  The other day I posted a quote that I saw on my timeline on twitter.  The quote says “Always see the person from where they stand, not from where you stand.”  I liked the quote because I feel that more often than not, when there is a debate we fail to step back and try to view the situation from the other person’s vantage point.  This isn’t an easy thing to do.  The book dives into this a little in the first chapter.  “Who you are determines what you see – and how you think.  Big-picture thinkers realize there is a world out there besides their own, and they make an effort to get outside of themselves and see other people’s worlds through their eyes [...] To see how others see, you must first find out how they think.  Becoming a good listener certainly helps with that.  So does getting over your personal agenda and try and to take the other person’s perspective.”  I took this excerpt in its entirety (almost) because it is something that we all should work on.  More “big-picture” thinking in this world would certainly be a step in the right direction.

I’ll likely follow up with more as I read more, but its been a really good start.  Sustained focused thinking is a problem area of mine, but I’m working on it.  If its a problem of yours too…this book appears to be a good place to start.