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This is one of 150+ Web articles about improving personal, relationship, and family health and satisfactions. This brief introduction describes the site's purpose, author, and the best ways to use this information. Each article is part of a mosaic of related ideas, so the more you read, the more sense they'll all make.        This article is one of a series describing effective thinking, communicating, and problem-solving concepts. The series summarizes seven learnable communication (relationship) skills that are essential for building high-nurturance relationships and resolving internal and social conflicts effectively.         The unique guidebook Satisfactions (Xlibris.com, 2001) integrates the key Project-2 Web articles and resources in this nonprofit Web site, and provides many practical resources.                 Before continuing, stop and reflect - why are you reading this - what do you need?

        How effective are you at thinking? If you could significantly improve your effectiveness, what might happen in your daily life and key relationships? What might happen to your self respect and self confidence? Do you know anyone who has intentionally improved the effectiveness of how they think? You can.

        This article provides...

• premises about why we think, and effective thinking,

• a way to assess the effectiveness of how you think in important situations,

• premises abut what causes ineffective thinking, and...

• practical ways to think more effectively when you need to.

        Have you ever thought about how you think? On a scale of one to 10, how would you rate the effectiveness of your thinking - in general ___ and in stressful situations ___?

        To get the most from this article, first study...

• these slide presentations introducing communication-basics, and normal personality subselves. If you have trouble viewing the slides, see this, or read this text version. Then read...

• this article about normal personalities like yours, and these frequently-asked questions about personality subselves; and study...

• this summary comparison of common behaviors indicating a dominant true Self, or a well-meaning false self.

If you're skeptical about normal personalities being composed of talented subselves like players on an athletic team or orchestra, read this memo with an open mind, and try this safe, interesting exercise. See what you learn!

Perspective

        Have you ever explored why you think? We need an answer to define effective and ineffective thinking. Let's say that...

Communication exists to help animals like us reduce current emotional, physical, and spiritual discomforts or needs. Effective communication fills primary needs well enough.

Thinking is the spontaneous process of internal communication among personality subselves in three domains: conscious + semiconscious + unconscious. So...

Thoughts (inner voices), hunches, senses, and some fantasies, memories, body sensations, and dreams are our subselves expressing themselves.

This ceaseless inner-communication process uses sensory information, learned concepts and word-symbols (a vocabulary), inner images, and information-processing rules like logic, reasoning, grammar, and syntax) to help us...

• "make sense" of (decode, understand) sensory information and perceived environmental events, so we can...

• identify and prioritize our current needs sensibly, and...

• choose behaviors that fill our needs well enough. 

Effective thinking means "combining conscious thoughts with reflexes, hunches, and unconscious inputs to (a) identify current primary needs clearly, and (b) decide how to fill them well enough."

Ineffective thinking (internal communication) interferes with these goals.

        So - people (like you) can learn to...

• manage their conscious thinking within limits ("I'm going to think about vacation now, not doing the taxes."), and...

• intentionally improve the effectiveness of their thinking by wanting to...

  • learn new concepts and refine old ones,

  • increase your vocabulary,

  • try options for improving your memory,

  • become more personally and environmentally aware, and...

  • discern and improve your information-processing rules - like learning how to dig-down and problem-solve effectively. 

        The communication skill of "clear thinking" in family Project 2 and its guidebook is based on these premises. Do they seem reasonable to you?

         From almost 20,000 hours of listening to over 1,000 therapy clients, students, and others since 1979, I conclude that all kids and most adults aren't aware of how they think. This is part of typical adults not wanting to be more aware in general.

        Implication - most of us aren't aware of how ineffective (unfocused, irrational, fragmented, vague) thinking" hinders filling current needs. It's encouraging to read that researchers are starting to study the epidemic phenomenon of "mind wandering" and "not paying attention."

        The rest of this article offers practical options for raising your mental effectiveness. An interesting way to start is to ...

Interview Yourself 

        Discover what you know and believe about "thinking." There's no right or wrong here. Options: (a) print this and fill it out in an undistracted place and time; and (b) use this questionnaire to interview another person you want to know more about - e.g. a child ...  T = true, F = false, ? = I'm not sure, and X = I don't care

    Right now, I'm aware of...

1)  I believe the purpose of thinking is ...

2)  I'm aware of how - vs. what - I'm thinking  _ never  _ rarely  _ fairly often  _ very often  _ always

3)  If a space alien asked me "What is this thing humans do called 'thinking'?", I'd say...

4)  For me, the difference between a "thought" and a "feeling" is ...

 5)  Some people I know who are or were specially effective thinkers are ...

6)  I know I'm thinking effectively when ... 

7)  For me, the key differences between thinking and knowing are ...

 

8)  The experiences, people, and ideas that have had the greatest impact on shaping how I think are ...

9)  Some people that I feel are or were often ineffective thinkers are...

 

     because they...

10)  Thinking is ineffective when...

11)  I have an unconscious mind which is thinking something all the time.

_ absolutely  _ probably  _  I don't know or care  _ probably not  _ no way

12)  When conflicted, my unconscious mind overrules my conscious thoughts.

_ always  _ often  _ sometimes  _ rarely  _ never  _  I don't know

13)  My unconscious mind is created by my talented personality subselves    (T  F  ?  X)
 

14)  I can think clearly without always being "logical"  (T  F  ?  X)

15)  I can learn to think more effectively if I want to -  (T  F  ?  X)

16)  If I focus on how I think - alone and with others - I'd probably learn ...

17)  I think "better" (more effectively) when ...

18)  The bigger and clearer my vocabulary is, the more effective my thinking will be.  (T  F  ?  X)

 

19)  Typical males think more clearly than females -  (T  F  ?  X)

20)  College graduates think more effectively than people with less education.  (T  F  ?  X)

 

21)  Thinking is different than believing.  (T  F  ?  X)

22)  I routinely have different "inner voices" - i.e. there are different sources of thought-streams within me.

_ true  _ false  _ unsure  _ only at certain times (which ones?)

23)  Some people are born "better thinkers" than others, so there's a limit to how well I can learn to think.(T  F  ?  X)
 

24)  Anyone who really wants to can _ become aware of how they think, _ develop a clear concept of "clear or effective thinking", and _ improve gradually, via practice and feedback.  (T  F  ?  X)

 

25)  Some people in my life who's way of thinking (vs. communicating) stresses me are...

       because...

26)  The main differences between my thinking and my values are ...

27)  People who are unaware of their thinking can communicate effectively.  (T  F  ?  X)

28)  Recently some things that have been more important than improving the effectiveness of my thinking are ... 

29)  Relative to thinking effectively, what I'd most like to give the children in my life is...

30)  Most people who know me would describe my way of thinking (vs. what I know) as ...


 

31)  I'd rate my current and/or past partner's thinking-effectiveness as ...

32)  My current and/or past partner would probably describe her (his) thinking effectiveness as...

33)  If my partner and I chose to help each think more effectively, then...

34)  My true Self just responded to these items.  (T  F  ?  X)

 

As I finish this exploration, I'm aware of ...

 

 

        Have you ever interviewed yourself like this before? Is there someone you'd like to show this to, or discuss these ideas with? Why? Now that you've focused on your thinking, see what more you may discover by looking more closely at...

What Is Effective Thinking?

Premise: the purpose of thinking is to "make sense" of (understand) our current inner and outer environments so we can decide (a) what we need now and (b) how to best fill these needs. Can you think of other reasons you think?

        Implications: thinking and feeling automatically build a huge data base (memory) about all the inner and outer things you've experienced. For example, you learn that butterflies and broccoli are safe to touch, and scared rattlesnakes aren't.

        Your un/conscious minds use this ever-growing data base to "make sense" out of current perceptions and sensations. Recent medical research reveals that normal kids and adults have several different brain regions which act as a network of temporary and long-term data bases.

        There seems to be at least two levels of "making sense." One is via "thoughts," which are inner strings of learned words. Words are symbols we began collecting in infancy to represent thousands of things and concepts.

        Because "a picture is worth a thousand words," thinking can also involve our innate ability to form inner images, and weave them among our words to enrich and simplify making sense of the world. Some people are more "visual" than others. They have a wider capacity to recall or invent ("imagine") meaningful inner images, and/or they use more images in their information-processing than other people.

        Are you a visual person? Do you know someone who is? Common alternatives are kinesthetic (touch-and-action oriented) and aural or audible (sound-oriented).

        The other level of "making sense" of the world seems more primitive, It may lack word-symbols and "reasoning" like a newborn infant does. It reacts to perceived information (stimuli) via a fluid mix of vaguely felt hunches, intuitions, instincts, dreams, senses, ("I sense you're angry now") and/or knowings. These form the mysterious province of our unconscious mind. It can be thought of as a crisis backup system to help us survive when we're not consciously thinking "too well." 

        Distraction-free meditation and our learned vocabulary can help us consciously discern and identify (attach word-labels to) some feelings, hunches, and instincts. Doing so adds them to the database your conscious mind uses to define, rank, and instruct your body to fill your current needs ("I feel thirsty. I need to stop reading and drink something.") There seems to be a time lag for some of us: our unconscious mind/body can "know" what we need before our conscious mind "makes sense of things." Do you ever experience that? 

Premises

        If these simplistic ideas are true, then see how you feel about these proposals...

Your thinking is a semi-automatic, organic (mental + physical + spiritual + emotional) process that combines conscious and unconscious "decoding" (sense-making) of the ceaseless information from your five or six senses, using (a) several mental "data bases," and (b) learned information-processing rules.

      "Semi- automatic" suggests that your conscious mind can control some of your thinking process, just as you can learn to change your breathing, sleeping, and eating habits. This implies that you can learn to improve the effectiveness of your thinking, within limits. Do you agree?

You can assess the effectiveness of your (conscious + unconscious) thinking process over a time period by deciding how consistently you get your current primary needs met well enough. This implies you need to be clearly aware of what you think, feel, and need. Are you?

Common symptoms of ineffective thinking + unawareness are often feeling (a) worried, dissatisfied, frustrated, anxious, sick, tired, guilty, lonely, and/or upset - i.e. stressed and "unhappy;" and/or (b) you often conclude "I don't know what I need right now." These are symptoms of a deeper problem - being chronically dominated by a well-meaning false self.

        So your emotions and bodily sensations indicate the effectiveness of your (conscious + unconscious) thinking. Do you agree?

Next: what causes ineffective thinking, and how can you can think more effectively?
 

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Updated  May 01, 2008