The first secret that will make you a better thinker

My wife and I have been on a mission to share practices that would help people think better. For each interview we had with experts around the world, we always asked them for their thinking methods. After interviewing over 650 experts in 60 countries, we decided to write a book together to share our findings.

Let me bring you back to how that research journey began. It was a beautiful Wednesday morning, and I had a chance to interview one of the people I really admire in my life. Her name is Ai Lien and by then she oversaw the Human Resource Department at AIA Vietnam. She was among the few first people who joined our #insightssharing program from the very beginning to share the journey that took her to what she is doing nowadays. And during our conversation, she mentioned to me about her own thinking time every week. She scheduled time to think, and she called it “self-coaching time” in which she played the role as a coach and a coaching client.\ To make it simple, she asked herself hard questions then tried to answer them in the most honest way.

The idea wasn’t new. I read a lot about it. But having her sharing that in an interview with me right in the middle of the global pandemic had a completely different feeling. I knew that if that is the way that has helped her to think better and to become greater, it must be a good way we all can try to learn and make it a habit. The question then was: “What else can help us think better?”

With that in mind, we always conclude our interview with one last question in seeking people’s best practices on thinking. Slowly, what we had been looking for started to appear beautifully and the idea of writing about it also emerged. There are 8 big things that great thinkers have in common follow exactly the word THINKING itself. And today, we are sharing with you the first word which is the letter T: Time. In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, the precious commodity of time often eludes us, leaving little room for deliberate contemplation. The modern era's relentless pace, coupled with the ceaseless demands of work, family, and social obligations, has created an environment where the urgency of the immediate tends to overshadow the importance of thoughtful reflection. The pervasive influence of technology further compounds this challenge, as constant connectivity and the allure of instant gratification discourage individuals from disengaging and embracing moments of solitude for deep thinking. The fear of missing out and the societal pressure to continually showcase productivity contribute to a culture where the act of making time to think is inadvertently relegated to the background. In this fast-paced landscape, the perception of time scarcity becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as individuals find themselves caught in a perpetual cycle of busyness, leaving little opportunity for the invaluable mental space that intentional thinking affords.

If you want to think better, make time to think. Schedule time in your day just to do it. Simple right? But not many people are doing it. We let life take us in different directions not knowing how and why. So, take time to think and really use that precious moment to dive deeper into your thinking. Make a habit of that and you will enjoy the outcomes. On that path, invite people with you. Maybe they as well are in need to make time for thinking.