I am reading another important book that was given to me by my friend Filson Thomas, “How Successful People Think” by John Maxwell. Filson is a local john Maxwell trainer and speaker.
I have always coached my team that they need quiet time away from work and life to reflect. After all, when do we get the best innovative ideas? 
For me it is when I am digging in my garden, taking an early morning walk or sitting on the beach. For you it may be in the shower or at 3:00 in the morning. The point here is that it is when you are not thinking about what is urgent and needs to be done right now. You can see the problem already. If you do not schedule “THINKING TIME”, there is ALWAYS something taking up your brain space.
I also believe that the only way to improve your situation is to improve the quality of your thinking. Thinking, like meditation, needs to be practiced. Focused, strategic, realistic, creative, big picture thinking is an attribute of highly successful people. The good news is that it can be learned. I always use the analogy of the workman cutting down trees. The trees represent your daily tasks. Good thinkers know what trees (tasks) to cut down. Great thinkers know if you are cutting trees in the right forest. It is taking a look at your business and your life from the 10,000 foot vantage point. Ever hear the phrase, “He can’t see the forest through the trees.”? It takes practice to see the forest.
John Maxwell points to an interview that he had with Dan Cathy, founder of Chick fil A. He asked Cathy if he made THINKING a priority. His answer was that not only did he make it a priority but he has a THINKING SCHEDULE. He puts aside a half day every other week, a full day once a month and 3 days every year to just sit and think. Maxwell shares that Cathy learned that this helps him to fight the hectic pace of life that discourages intentional thinking. I have a weekly thinking schedule. It includes a Sunday night brain dump and includes the other points below.
I expose myself to good input. I read or listen to podcasts for 30 minutes every day.
I surround myself with great thinkers. This is why my TEAM at McCaffrey Professionals and the sharing we do is so important to me. This can also be said of my BNI group (Business Networking International). Both groups continually challenge me. “Sharp people sharpen each other”. I also try to meet oddball people in order to understand their perspectives and STORIES. As a Realtor, I also try to gather perspective from other Realtors from other areas of the country.
I blog almost daily– As US Senator S.I. Hayakawa stated, Learning to write is learning to think. You don’t know anything until you can state it in writing.”
I mentor my team. It is much the same as above. The saying is that you teach what you need to learn yourself.
I Journal– I have a special pink notebook that has the word REFRESH on the cover. Every seminar, book, podcast, I enter the key points so I don’t lose them.
I ask myself good reflective questions– Questions that start with, :What would happen if..?” or “How could I avoid making X mistake again” or “How could I improve…? Are great places to start.
I schedule THINKING TIME. See my previously blog on what my Sunday looks like. I have a time and place, 2 hours early Sunday evening sitting in my “thinking place”.
Developing better thinking is not a one size fits all exercise. Things that I do and get energy from, another will find just plain dumb and a waste of time. One thing I know for sure is that if you stretch your brain, your thinking and thus your life will never be the same. Change only comes through a change in thinking. If you want to change you need to change the quality of your thinking which in turn changes the perspective you have of everything.