Thinking Productively (Part 2)

Obsession vs Thinking (the not-so-thin line)

What’s your dominant thought? What’s on your mind most times?

If you’re like most people, it has something to do with success, family, happiness, some pursuit or related and that’s okay. There has to be something you live for, a goal, or something you want to see at some point in your life.

The thing however is, how you think about it because it most definitely determines if you achieve it or not.

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” — William James.

There’s thinking and there’s being obsessed.

Obsessing is excessively focusing on an emotion or event, it is thinking but it’s not productive. On a contrary, it keeps you from taking necessary actions.

Thinking… productive thinking is using your mind in a creative, effective manner.

Productive thinking is asking questions, analyzing, planning, evaluating. When you’re thinking productively, there’s always something to do next. That’s how you’ll get things done.

So, you want a million dollars (for example) and all you think about is your new status in society and everything attached to the money except how you’ll get it. You can’t seem to get your mind off it. You are caught up in a cognitive loop

If you think a lot about a desire and you don’t think about it in light of the action you want to take, chances are, you are obsessed, and obsessing over a desire will keep you eliciting emotions like happiness, anger, fear of loss or not becoming, amongst many others.

So it becomes important that you write when you are thinking and that you have productive conversations in line with your thoughts.

Did you note that? Write and have productive conversations in line with your thoughts

Writing will help you think productively and take action. Warren Buffet (a man that thinks a lot) says, writing is a key way of refining his thoughts.

Richard Branson said “my most essential possession is a standard-sized school notebook”

If you’re not writing, you’re probably obsessed.

Write, talk about your ideas, talk about your fears too. Writing helps you get things off your mind.

Obsessive thoughts are toxic and may lead to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). We’ll talk about it in part 3.

In the meantime, get a writing pad or Evernote or google keep and as you think, write.