Let’s look at some basics of critical thinking.  When you hear the term, “critical thinking”, it doesn’t mean that we are judging someone or being negative.  Critical thinking means that we use reflective reasoning about our beliefs, attitudes, and actions.  It comes from Socrates and is based in his method of thinking, known as the Socratic Method.

As I’m getting older and becoming more aware of the fundamentals of my thinking, I am really putting my mouth in low gear before speaking.  I noticed that as I utilize the tools of critical thinking, and become more skillful with those tools, I have significantly reduced the occurrences of drama in my life.   Oh, I still consider myself a novice at using the tools, but I have been getting great results.  Once I started looking at “THINKING” like a sport, it became easy.  My sons are on the wrestling team at their schools, one is Varsity this year for his high school and the other is on the middle school team.  They come home from practice with sheets of moves and counter-moves, techniques, and tools to use during a match.  Their results are directly related to how well they know the moves and how skillful they are in executing the moves in real time, which they call, “going live”.

I view thinking the same way they view wrestling.  To get good at it, they have to work on conditioning, techniques, skills, execution, and they practice these things for hours every week in preparation for “going live”.

That’s great, Andrew, but what are the moves, techniques, and tools for the sport of thinking?  How can I practice if I don’t even know what to do or where to start?  Glad you asked.  My boys didn’t just jump on the mat with no instruction. They have coaches and fellow athletes who are more seasoned and further along to help them learn what to do and where to start.  Subscribe to the newsletter, email or call me, I’ll help you.  Dial into the blog, we’ll camp out on this subject for awhile.

Boo Yah!!