The Habbit Of Thinking Things Through

[BjarkeT]

Hi

i have been thinking about that it maybe could be a good idea to consciously sit down for a specific time (for example 20 minutes per day) and really think things through not necessarily overthinking but just for better clarity or/and understanding of something for example sometimes throughout the day something comes up for example if there was something you wasn't capable of doing and therefore might think you never might be able to do it and if you don't really think things through you might stick with the conclusion that you really can't do it for a long period of time which could maybe have some bad consequences but if you really think it through what happen it could turnout that you would find a reason that it wasn't true at all that you couldn't do it but maybe because of something else going on at the time 

it could really be anything that you could think through for better clarity and understanding 

from experience i have found that if you aren't careful a lot of thoughts through time and throughout the day could come and go without been thinking through which sometimes can give you unnecessary limits/consequences 

Any thoughts on this?

kind regards

Edited September 12, 2017 by BjarkeT
Added an example

[WaterfallMachine]

I remember reading a book called Essentialism by Greg Mckeon. It was a book on the art of focusing on what's essential in life and cutting up all the unnecessary parts of it. 

One was to to take time to think. I remember in another book there was a team focusing on finding a way to deal with traffic. They discussed it among themselves. They planned for it. They organized for it. They gathered the materials and people needed. They expanded the road so more cars could pass. But seeing this, people just bought more cars and even more people drove. And traffic was the same as before.

They acted on it well. But what about their thinking on it? Their ideas of what the root causes of the problem are? It wasn't as solid as their action. Efficiency without thinking of the accuracy of their beliefs about the situation was faulty. And that is what caused them to fail. 

I remember watching some kind of drama as a child. It told a story of a man who was shy and nervous around a girl he liked. And wanting this — he took up guitar and singing. The ladies love the guitar guy, right? Later on, he was able to get famous. It was utterly fantastic he thought. But the drone of being a star began turning more and more monotone and routine. One day, he watched the girl he liked pass by the street laughing with another man. He realized with a pain in his heart that he has forgotten the reason of why he has done this in the first place.

So without thinking of what you care about, what is meaningful and what is valuable to you — not society —  you can't direct yourself well. And you cannot realize this with only action — reflection on how you act is needed too.

In the Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli, a book on common thinking errors, he emphasizes the bias of action. Some people think that acting more and more means they accomplish more. But like the people solving traffic there, they could need more thinking. Or like a leisurely gardener waiting for the plants to grow after watering them — all what's needed is patience .

So enjoy thinking. Long as you don't make it into overthinking — you'll learn a lot.

Edited September 13, 2017 by WaterfallMachine

[BjarkeT]

@WaterfallMachine thanks for the suggestions it looks very interesting so far

the goal isn't to overthink but just for a better understanding and more clarity