Think

To sum up last week's post, what you ultimately need to do in order to help yourself is simple:

- Think

- Act

- Learn

What makes this more complicated is that how you think, act, and learn matters. In fact, it is what determines whether or not you will succeed and how quickly you will do so.

Let's start with thought. Your ability to think is probably the most valuable tool you have to help yourself. When you have nothing else, you will always have your ability to think. Additionally, the quality of your thinking has a huge influence on the quality of your behavior and learning.

So, what type of thinking will give you the most leverage? How should you think?

(1) Critically and (2) Creatively

Critical thinking is the act of intentionally filtering your experiences through reason and logic. Instead of just passively experiencing your external or internal world, you are trying to understand it. You are identifying problems, analyzing reasons, synthesizing knowledge and information, looking for solutions, and evaluating the quality of the answers you come up with.

Creativity is the ability to see things in new, original ways, often outside the bounds of conventional thinking,[1,2] and the ability to generate new, useful ideas.[3,4]

There are many overlaps between critical and creative thinking and oftentimes, they complement each other and have even been found to be directly related.[5] It's hard to imagine being able to do one without the other. They are two sides of the same coin.

Why is all this important for self-help?

Firstly, critical and creative thinking allow you to see things from different perspectives and in new ways, which is necessary in order for you to notice your blindspots. If you are unaware of your blindspots, there's a high likelihood that you'll go in circles and not understand why. Instead of understanding that there might be something wrong with the way you're thinking about something, you'll start to believe there's something inherently wrong with you, and are more likely to lose hope and give up.

Secondly, self-help is leveraging whatever resources you have to problem solve. As mentioned before, your mind is the one resource you are never without, and it is also incredibly powerful. The better your critical and creative thinking skills are, the more powerful of a resource your mind becomes. Why? Because these skills are what enable you to not only find solutions to your problems but, if there are none, create them. I'll say that again: these skills are what enable you to not only find solutions to your problems but, if there are none, CREATE them. Let that sink in. Imagine how confident and unstoppable that makes you.

You see, there's a difference between merely having thoughts and truly thinking. When you are thinking critically and creatively, you are actively recruiting your mind to work on your behalf. You are taking matters into your own hands, taking control of the situation. Not only is this incredibly empowering, it is also necessary when it comes to making changes in your life. Again, personal change cannot be done for you. It also doesn't just happen to you. You have to make it happen, and you do that with a critical and creative mind.

Ok, so how do you do it? What does critical and creative thinking look like? In terms of self-help, you are essentially using critical and creative thinking for the purposes of problem solving. In this context, critical and creative thinking can really be thought of as consisting of two basic building blocks:

(1) Asking questions and (2) Finding answers

Your effectiveness will largely depend on the quality of questions you ask and the way you go about finding answers. Not all questions and answers are created equal. If you ask unhelpful questions you might get unhelpful answers. If you're not used to thinking for yourself then it might take you longer and you might be less effective than someone who is used to doing so on a daily basis. But you have to start somewhere and this is as simple and basic as it's going to get.

You might not get anywhere at first. That's ok. It's a LEARNING PROCESS. Research has found that critical and creative thinking can be practiced and improved.[2,6,7] The more you do it, the better you'll get.

We'll get into more concrete strategies about how to improve your critical and creative thinking soon. For now, get into the habit of filtering your experiences - including what you're reading here, including your own thoughts and beliefs - through a critical AND creative lens. Really give them thought. Ask more questions and try more often to find answers.

How does what you're experiencing affect you?

How does what you're reading apply to you?

Do you agree or disagree?

Why?

WHY do you think what you think, feel what you feel, or believe what you believe?

Don't take everything at face value.

QUESTION things.

Try to come up with reasons.

Learn how to identify assumptions and bias.

Learn how to differentiate between opinion and fact.

You should be willing to at least consider other points of view, even ones you are highly skeptical of or against, without becoming overly judgmental or emotional, and without letting the judgments and emotions of others affect your thinking.

The more you actively engage your mind in this way, the more your passive experience of the world will evolve. The more experiences you accumulate of solving problems or successfully grappling with difficult life issues, the more confidence you'll have in your abilities and the power of your mind to help you do the same in the future. You'll be willing to take more risks. Having spent time exercising your critical and creative thinking skills, you'll have come to know the workings of your own mind more intimately. You'll feel more comfortable in your own skin, things will bother you less, and the judgments of others will bother you less, because you'll have come closer to knowing who you are and you'll have learned how to use your mind to help you when you need it.

References

1. Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 87-98.

2. Wang, A. Y. (2012). Exploring the relationship of creative thinking to reading and writing. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 7(1), 38-47.

3. Hass, R. W., Katz-Buonincontro, J., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2016). Disentangling creative mindsets from creative self-efficacy and creative identity: Do people hold fixed and growth theories of creativity? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 10(4), 436-446.

4. Runco, M. A., & Jaeger, G. J. (2012). The standard definition of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 24(1), 92-96.

5. Qiang, R., Han, Q., Guo, Y., Bai, J., & Karwowski, M. (2018). Critical thinking disposition and scientific creativity: The mediating role of creative self‐efficacy. The Journal of Creative Behavior.

6. Tierney, R. J., Soter, A., O'Flahavan, J. F., & McGinley, W. (1989). The effects of reading and writing upon thinking critically. Reading Research Quarterly, 24(2), 134-173.

7. Wade, C. (1995). Using writing to develop and assess critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), 24-28.