Reflective Thinking-Learning New Thinking Skills From The Inside Out

When it comes to learning skills and learning skill sets, Confuscius said it best...

"By three methods we may learn wisdom First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." - Confucius

They say history repeats itself. Lessons from the past are one of the smartest thinking tools you can use. Embracing the lessons from the past is what reflective thinking is all about. When you reflect, you draw on past experiences. Drawing on past experiences puts things in perspective and sheds a new light on the teachings.
“Reflective thinking turns experience into insight”

Having been through something once, gives you a sense of confidence that experience teaches. Reflecting is a sure fire way to start any thinking process. When you reflect on something you get to see the entire picture. The good and the bad. You can learn something from both perspectives, so don’t turn your back to the negatives side of the lesson.

“Those that forget the past are condemned to relive it”

When you look at both the positive and negative using reflective thinking, it takes a bad experience and turns it into a valuable one. Do not miss the opportunity to get something of value from it.

It’s easy and fun to pull the wisdom from a positive experience. A good experience is the most valuable. Having done it once successfully, you should be able to repeat the positive experience. To ensure that you get the same results with the next new experience, ask yourself these questions:

What was the biggest factor in the experience and what role did it play?
What was the one negative thing about the experience, how could I have prevented, but more importantly, what lesson did I learn?
What steps did I take?
What questions would I have asked if I had another expereince similar to it?
What was my biggest surprise?
What could I have done differently to improve the results?
What did I learn?
What could I have done to improve the past experience?

Exploring the past is definitely inspirational. It also provided integrity to your thinking, and most important of all it puts the past experience into true perspective. You can use this thinking tool for any challenge. You can also use it to just sit back and reflect, you will be surprised what you learn.

Here is a simple exercise. Think back in time, and then think through these subjects:
* Family
* Career
* Hobby
* Giving
* Religion
* Problems
* Work

You can also use this thinking tool to think about any scenarios to see if you experience something similar in the past you can draw on. Always keep balance and perspective in mind when you reflect. If you have a current challenge you are working on, reflect on it, give it some mental energy, give yourself a place to reflect that is quiet and a time that is most peaceful for you

Reflective thinking is the first place to start when you want to think about something and think better.

Exploring into the future is definitely inspirational. Thinking associated with new ideas, planning different objectives and also stretching your creative thoughts on how to proceed in a different way, provides you with loads of positive energy! Use the past to think ahead, set goals and cherisg the insight these thoughts give you.

Try our new E-Book Burning Brighter Than The Rest Of The Stars. A great reference E-Book for people who want to think better, be more creative and generate great ideas.