Successful Thinking?

     This morning Ian Jukes’ Committed Sardine blog alerted me to John Maxwell’s How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. More specifically, a link brought me to this slideshow highlighting the main topics of the book. If you don’t feel like clicking over, here’s the list:

·         Figure out where you need to focus your energy, and then use the 80/20 rule

·         Smart thinkers expose themselves to different ideas and types of people

·         It's one thing to have an idea, another to follow through

·         Thoughts need time to develop. Don't just settle on the first thing that comes to mind

·         Smart people collaborate with other smart people

·         Reject popular thinking (which often means not thinking at all)

·         The best thinkers plan ahead, while leaving room for some spontaneity

·         To think differently, do different things

·         To appreciate others' ideas, you need to value other ideas

·         Have an agenda -- for the day, and when you meet with people

·         Reflective thinking gives you perspective and confidence in your decision-making skills

·         Get over negative self talk. Winners think in terms of "I will" and "I can"

·         Creative people are dedicated to ideas

·         Naturally optimistic people find it hard to be realistic thinkers

·         At the end of the day, it's important to remember we can all change the way we think

·         Smart people make good decisions

This, of course, prompted some big, hairy questions:

·         How is success being defined in here?

·         What do I think about each of these items?

·         Can these be taught/learned?

·         If these are common to successful people, and they can be taught, shouldn’t these be near the top of any curriculum?

What do you think?