Clear thinking aids right career choices
I.M. Soni

Napolean Hill’s book ‘Think And Grow Rich’ makes a lot of practical sense.

Thinking is one of the hardest things in the world to do. In many cases, disorder is the only order that prevails in the mind.

Disorder leads to inefficiency and wrong judgement in choice of career, sour equations in office and verbal blunders in interviews.

A clear head brings order out of chaos, saves time which may otherwise be wasted. A mind trained in disciplined thinking is a valuable personality asset.

If your thinking is “muddy”, you need not despair. You can make a marked improvement in your outlook.

Take writing. A sentence is not just a string of words clubbed together without principle. It is words connected with one another in a way which gives them “meaning”. Scatter the words and the meaning is lost.

Many fail to differentiate between right and wrong of the career canvas because they tend to think and feel more. They accept assumptions. The critical, analytical faculty becomes rusted, and is atrophied.

They live by stereotypes. Every film heroine is a stunning beauty. Every struggling starlet sleeps on a casting couch!

How to get out of this mental groove? How to spur the discriminating faculty and make it alert?

You can make a beginning by resolving to think for your own self. Borrowed thinking is responsible for rusting of the mental faculty.

Take to reading

The principle should be: if anything is worth reading, it is well worthwhile giving your whole mind to it. Don’t just brush it. Delve into it. You will be amply rewarded. Your thinking power will be fortified.

Jot down important points. Some word, expressive phrase new to you or brilliant ideas will not only improve your style of writing but also add to your confidence. It will spur you to study and think of betterment.

The more difficult the reading, the more mental effort is required. Hence, the more rewarding it becomes. The heavier the weight you lift, the bigger the development of the muscle!

Be your own critic. Avoid taking everything for granted. Make it a habit to think of the flip side of everything. Put your ideas, pet theories and hastily acquired notions under the microscope of your mind.

Avoid sweeping generalisations. And don’t be swayed when others make them. Are they relevant? Do they have logic? If not, refuse them logically.

Watch and listen carefully to the debating skills of politicians, university students and faculty members whenever it is possible. Debates and cross-examination of various personalities in television programmes is another way you can profit. Study their smartness in handling difficult situations.

Writing brings clarity

Indisciplined thinking comes from an indisciplined mind. Tame it, bring it to order, and its erratic ways will yield to controlled ones.

Vague ideas swim in the mind and cause confusion. They are like an unruly crowd. Make them stand in a queue! A problem well-stated on paper is half solved.

The human mind is the most magnificent machine in the world. And you have it under your own hat! It grows and develops with use.