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Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes
Smart people employ certain recurring thought patterns, or habits of mind, to tackle difficulties that come their way we used to call them 16 Habits of Mind.
Because, they draw on a variety of mental models from their toolbox of mental abilities, including
reason,
social and emotional intelligence,
and experience.
The best mental practices produce heuristic shortcuts that enable intelligent people to operate successfully when faced with challenging problems.
Let’s explore them one by one:
16 HABITS OF MIND
1. Persistence
Smart people stick with a task until it is finished. They do not give up lightly.
They can assess an issue and create a system, structure, or plan to solve it.
They use a variety of problem-solving tactics and maintain a library of them.
They collect proof that their problem-solving technique is effective, and if one strategy fails, they know how to turn around and try another.
Energy and persistence conquer all things.- Benjamin Franklin
2. Managing Impulsivity
Smart people have excellent problem-solving skills and are thoughtful and considerate before acting.
They consciously create a vision of a product, plan of action, objective, or destination before starting.
They seek to clarify and grasp directions, devise a problem-solving strategy, and refrain from making instant conclusions about a concept until they completely understand it.
Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear. - Niccolo Machiavelli
3. Focus and empathetic listening
Highly productive people spend a significant amount of time and energy in listening.
Some psychologists feel that the ability to listen to another person, empathize with them, and fully understand their point of view is one of the most evolved types of intelligent conduct.
Listening behavior is demonstrated by the ability to paraphrase another person's ideas, recognize signs (cues) of their feelings or emotional states in oral and body language (empathy), and accurately articulate another person's concepts, emotions, and challenges.
The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said. - Peter Drucker
4. Thinking Flexibly
The human brain's plasticity--its ability to "rewire", alter, and even heal itself to become smarter--is an amazing discovery.
Flexible people are always in control.
They are capable of changing their minds as new information becomes available.
They engage in various and simultaneous outcomes and activities, use a variety of problem-solving tactics, and may practice style flexibility, recognizing when broad and global thinking is appropriate and when detailed accuracy is required.
They are creative and seek fresh approaches.
They anticipate a variety of consequences.
5. Metacognition
Thinking about thinking is having the awareness and understanding of your thought processes.
Metacognition is the mental habit of knowing yourself, and being mindful of your thoughts as they play out.
It’s the practice of mindfulness or being aware of your own biases, strengths, and weaknesses.
This is one of the most powerful mental habits as it gives you a higher perspective of self-awareness.
A good mentor will teach you how to think, not what to think. - Vala Afshar
6. Accuracy and Precision
People who value accuracy, precision, and craftsmanship invest over time.
To be an expert, one may constantly improve one's craft by striving for the highest possible standards and pursuing continuous learning to bring a laser-like focus of energies to job accomplishment.
These people are proud of their work and try for correctness, as evidenced by time they spend.
Striving for accuracy is a mental skill that helps focus effort, energy, and time for optimal results.
7. Questioning and scenario analysis
One of the defining features of humans over others is our drive and capacity to FIND issues to solve.
Questioning and posing problems helps see all possible outcomes both good and bad.
This can help establish good risk/reward ratios and see the best and worst scenarios before committing to one path of action for new situations.
8. Applying past knowledge by experience
By applying prior knowledge to fresh circumstances to avoid repeating mistakes.
Intelligent humans gain knowledge through experience.
When confronted with a new and complex problem, they frequently draw on their previous experience.
They frequently use phrases like "This reminds me of..." or "This is just like the time when..."
They explain what they are doing now by drawing similarities to or referring to earlier experiences.
They use their wealth of knowledge and experience as data sources, theories to explain, and processes to solve each new problem.
9. Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision (Rhetoric)
Language refining is essential for improving a person's cognitive maps and critical thinking skills, which serve as the foundation for effective action.
Enriching the variety and uniqueness of language improves successful thinking.
Language and cognitive processes are inseparable.
They have an unbreakable bond, just like the two sides of a coin.
When you hear vague language, it is an indication of unclear thinking. Intelligent people attempt to communicate effectively in both written and oral form, utilizing precise language, defining concepts, and employing proper names, universal labels, and analogies.
They try to prevent overgeneralizing, deletions, and distortions. Instead, they back up their claims with explanations, comparisons, quantification, and evidence.
10. Gathering Data through All Senses
Intelligent people understand that all information enters the brain via sense pathways: gustatory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual.
Majority of linguistic, cultural, physical, and emotional learning is gained from the environment through observation or sensory input.
Sensory pathways that are open, aware, and acute absorb more information from their surroundings than those that are withered, immune, and ignorant to sensory stimuli.
Furthermore, we're learning more about how arts and music might boost mental functioning. Forming mental images is vital in mathematics and engineering, and classical music appears to aid spatial reasoning.
11. Creativity, Innovation and Imagination
Creating, imagining, and innovating is a mental edge as so many people just do what they’re told and manage what already exists for them.
Creating new things is one of the most powerful mental habits you can develop.
The ability to see order in chaos is called creativity. - Simon Sinek
12. Managing Wonder and Awe
Effective individuals possess both a "I CAN" and a "I ENJOY" mentality.
They look for challenges to tackle on their own and learn to defer to others.
They enjoy conjuring up puzzles to solve on their own and asking people to solve enigmas.
They take pleasure in solving problems on their own and are lifelong learners.
Some adults and kids avoid conflict and are "turned off" to education.
13. Taking responsible Risks
Two types of people take risks:
those who view it as an adventure and
those who regard it as a venture.
A venture capitalist might define the venture portion of taking risks.
A person will examine the markets, the ideas' organization, and the economic prospects before agreeing to take a chance on investing in a new venture.
The experiences from Project Adventure might be used to characterize the adventurous aspect of taking risks.
There is spontaneity and a readiness to take a chance in this instance.
14. Humor
Finding humor is a mental skill for both stress reduction for yourself and others.
Its favorable effects on psychological functioning include a decrease in heart rate, endorphin release, and higher blood oxygen levels.
It has been shown to unleash creativity and stimulate higher-level cognitive skills such as anticipation, innovative relationships, visual images, and analogies.
15. Thinking interdependently
Smart people are collaborative and open to new ideas and perspectives.
They also follow work group choices, even if others disagree with them.
Problem resolution has become so complex that no single person can do it alone.
No one has access to all of the data required to make key judgments, and no single individual can explore as many options as a group of people.
16. Life-long learner
With the pace of change in business, technology, and education today, it is essential to maintain an open mind.
In a world that is changing quickly, you risk falling behind if you aren't learning and developing personally.
Many people die at twenty-five and aren't buried until they are seventy-five.- Benjamin Franklin
Conclusion
The secret to getting the most out of the Habits of the Mind is to consistently use them.
Repetition is the key to developing habits.
Thanks for reading…