NLP coaching tip - Thinking for a Change  by Paul Lemberg.
 

How much time do you spend thinking during any given day, week or month?

I’m not thinking about the kind of thinking you do while driving in your car, commuting on the train, or while on your morning run. I’m not even thinking about the thinking you do in the shower. I’m thinking about the kind of thinking you do ensconced in your easy chair, at your desk, or in your garden. You are not reading a book or a magazine, nor watching TV, nor listening to music. You are simply thinking.

How much time do you spend doing that? Most of you will answer, none. And to that I wonder, where do your ideas come from? Moving faster than the speed of change requires great ideas, or at least a lot of good ideas.

Many people consider thinking - idle thinking at that – to be a luxury. After all, you are not really doing anything, are you? In our action-driven society we need to be doing something. Much of the time we seem to be doing two or three things. But nothing?

If you’ve never done this I urge you: THINK! You will be amazed and surprised at what can come from just thinking.

Start slowly. Set aside one hour per week for thinking. The only equipment you need is your mind and maybe a blank pad of paper and pen, or a voice recorder. Find yourself a quiet space where you can remain undisturbed. Lock your door and put a sign on it if you must. Or go to your local park and sit on a bench. Anywhere you can get away is the perfect place for thinking.

Then think. Let your mind drift, or focus on a particular problem. It’s your choice. Either way, spend the entire hour thinking. Along the way, you may make notes, either written or oral. You might draw, or make mind maps. Do this for one hour a week, for one month.

As you advance in this discipline – and you will like it – think for longer periods of time or set aside thinking time more often.

Here are some things to do during your thinking time.

You can consider solutions to particular problems facing your business, or consider what the problems facing your company are.

You can generate ideas.

Use the Legal Pad process. Start with a blank paper. At the top of the paper print a question about the issue under consideration.

If you are thinking about how to get new customers, ask “How can I get new customers?” Then write out AT LEAST 20 answers to the question. You have to write 20. Don’t stop at 17 or 18, thinking you’ve done the job. And you have to write all 20 in one session.

You can use your thinking time to work on detailed strategies or plans for particular initiatives you are considering. Write outlines, position statements, visions, etc. Invent new ideas, plan your work, rehearse your speeches, review your goals.

Use your thinking time for anything you like.

Copyright 2002-06 ©Paul Lemberg used with his expressed written permission

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