Thinking for a Change | Book Review

A teacher gave me this book eight years ago as a graduation gift, and it's better than many other kinds I could have gotten instead. Although I tried to read it before, I don't think there's been a better time than now for me to gain its insights. What I have learnt from it has helped me deeply understand how thinking influences every part of my life and different ways to shape and harness it.

You're always choosing. At the end of the day, you're always choosing what to think, and it ultimately decides what you feel and what you do. If you have good thinking, well, you're going to have favourable results. But what does it really mean to be a good thinker? And how does one intentionally develop good thoughts every day to see the change they want to see?

The Wisdom of Big Picture Thinking

Let's paint this picture together. While every other person in the world was thinking of how to move around, people like the Wright Brothers were thinking, "How else?" And that's how we have the planes today. They thought about the bigger picture. Big-Picture is how all of the inventions and innovations in the world started.

John teaches the wisdom of big-picture thinking in Thinking for a Change and how such a mindset can think beyond themselves and process ideas with a holistic perspective. He also explores the importance of preparation. Inspired my thoughts for How wide is your field of vision?

The Power of Strategic and Realistic Thinking

Speaking of preparation, "The will to succeed is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare." ^[1] A quote that hit hard and made much sense after I went through The Power of Strategic Thinking, a chapter where John explained how planning pays. And it had me rethink how to better approach situations and develop a system to follow in order to be more efficient and effective.

While most of the ways of thinking John talked about in this book had me hmming and ahhing in excitement, realistic thinking had me humbled. Creative thinking and possibility thinking touch on thinking outside the box and doing what no one else is thinking of doing; realistic thinking teaches on the difference between what we wish and what is.

"Actions always have consequences; realistic thinking helps you determine what those consequences could be." ^[2]

The book gives many insights into positive thinking strategies that John C. Maxwell teaches for making meaningful change. And he uses examples and anecdotes from his life and from other inspiring people, such as Star Wars creator George Lucas.

At the end of every chapter, there's a thinking question. An introspecive question followed by some more questions or statements to help one assess their thinking and actions to take to do better. It's a 250-page book with many inspiring and thought-provoking quotes to learn from.

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_{1 - Thank Yost, 2 - John C. Maxwell}