Thinking our way to better outcomes

Meta-cognition is the activity of thinking about thinking and the awareness of one's thought processes.?

A concept that is widely shared and has enabled us to expand our understanding of our thoughts, why we have them and the impacts and effects they can have on both us and others.

It enables us to identify our strengths, weaknesses and emotional status helping to calibrate our efforts accordingly.?

Often it presents itself in a retrospective/reflective what was I thinking there or a why did I do that moment.

Reflection certainly aids the awareness of what we are thinking about. It supports an understanding of behaviours but what about tools and ideas to actually deconstruct what went on.

More often than not our thought or reflection can centre itself around an interaction with possibly a group or an individual.?

The interaction might well have delivered a positive or a less desirable outcome.?

The question is when you’re thinking about the event what are you actually thinking or maybe feeling about it.?

How do you use the thinking about thinking to deliver similar positive outcomes or maybe avoid traps, pitfalls and less than successful situations.

Take a moment to think about a recent interaction - now have a think about what you were thinking about in that moment?

It could include assessing who are the other parties and what are their needs? What are your needs? Where were you located, what was the timing like (right place wrong time maybe), comfort factor of environment. Along with this the 5 senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing might well have all been present.?

In addition, now overlay your feeling state which could be any or all of the following stressed, anxious, energised, nervous, excited, worried, scared, sad, happy, confident, angry.

The above gives you a whole word of data to process in humanities ultimate super computer being the brain - a lot of this is likely to be taking place subconsciously.

Breaking it down allows us to realise that there is a whole lot more going on within ourselves and others in most situations.

This awareness alone gives us the chance to not only think about it from our point of view. It importantly allows for us to reflect on the other parties involved and how they.might go about their thinking process.

In a world where the default option is fast becoming - if you don’t agree with me then I don't want to engage - advancing our skills to be able to sit politely in disagreement and engage with the other party are critical to attaining principled and respectful outcomes.

With so much going on inside our heads both consciously and sub-consciously is it any wonder words don't always come out the way you intended them to or that the level of emotions on display can both be heightened and erratic. Insert the additional pressure of a sensitive matter to be discussed or the absolute need for an outcome/resolution and we can see how the internal pressure gets turned up.

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So, what to do - let's have a think about that and think what we can do to improve our ability to use thinking about thinking to deliver better outcomes. 3 critical components are:

1.???? Be well rested - sleep is critical for our cognitive functioning - always as best as one can on the eve of an important meeting ensure sufficient rest/sleep time is allocated.

2.???? Moment in time - understand when you cognitively function at your best - is it in the morning or the afternoon - where you have control and can set the time of your engagements - set the time when you are at your optimum.

3.???? Check emotional state - what feelings/emotions will this interaction deliver - what will my default response be (happy, sad, angry, nervous, excited) - how will these impact proceedings - what might I need to look out for?

For the thinking about thinking piece let's ask ourselves

• What am I thinking about?
• Why am I thinking this way?
• Is there another way to think about this?
• How does my thinking inform the actions I take?
• What would others think of my thinking?
• What is different about my thinking this time?
• Have I given myself time to think about this?

Many of us understand that preparation is the key to success - no way you can run a marathon without putting in the time and effort likewise the desire to be a concert pianist will not manifest on its own without the hours of practice and preparation.?

The same goes for our thinking. The difference being all we literally need is to block out a little time and discipline to sit with our thoughts - no tech, no equipment, no subscriptions just a little bit of time to help you think your way to better outcomes.

To explore the idea of “thinking about thinking” further or share your own thoughts feel free to bounce me a message or comment.