I Think, Therefore I Am....What?

Rene Descartes said "I think, therefore I am" as a means to state that thinking is proof for humans to know they exist. If this is the case, would what we think impact who we are? In other words, "I think this way, therefore I am this way." A version of we are what we think.

To apply "I think therefore I am" to life many people subscribe to what Eckhart Tolle wrote in his book The Power of Now, "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life." While there is value in such a realization people also need to recognize that being solely focused on the now prevents deliberate preparation for the immediate future.

The fact is, all of the life you have remaining is upcoming. Every single thing you want to achieve is possible only in the future.  You must think about tomorrow if you want to be prepared to achieve any goals or make any impact in the world. This sits at the core of living with intention - I know tomorrow is coming therefore I am preparing for by purposefully thinking about it.

Some people lack the awareness of what they are thinking. Thinking does indeed take place around the what. It's not that they don't think, they just don't put any effort into it and are not conscious that it is something they are doing. If you are not aware of what you are thinking, then how can you truly be aware of what you are doing? I don't know what I think, therefore I am not sure what I am doing.  Are you aware of how you think?

Do you think with a purpose or just in a random fashion?  You may know a lot of information, but do you use it effectively?  You have heard of creative thinking and critical thinking. These are two tools you can use and there are many others.  Perhaps a more useful path to success is simply effective thinking.  What would it look like for you to be thinking effectively? I think effectively, therefore I am effective.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects when we consider how to live a successful life is understanding the role our thinking has in the outcomes we experience.  It is impossible to achieve any worthy goal without effective thinking driving the process.  A lack of effective thinking about how one is thinking can often jeopardize the future.

One such example of how ineffective thinking jeopardized the future is the Great Fire of London of 1666.  During the fire, Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth, ignored the experienced firemen who recommended demolishing houses to prevent the fire from spreading because he did not want to upset the home owners.  As a result of Bloodworth's ineffective thinking, and his lack of awareness as to how he was thinking, the fire lasted three days, consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities.  It is estimated that it destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants.

As a leader of a family, team, unit, division or company are you ignoring the future at the expense of the now? Are you so focused on what you are thinking about that you ignore the more experienced people in your unit who can help you understand how you are thinking? Are you so sure that what you are thinking is more important than how you are thinking?