How successful people think change your thinking, change your life

AlsobyJohnC.Maxwell:
RUNNINGWITHGIANTS
TODAYMATTERS
THINKINGFORACHANGE
ETHICS101
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’dliketosaythankyouto
MargaretMaxwell,
whosharesherthinkingwithmedaily
CharlieWetzel,
whodoesmywriting
StephanieWetzel,
whoproofsandeditsthemanuscript,and
LindaEggers,
whorunsmylife


CONTENTS
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OPYRIGHT
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

NTRODUCTION

1:C
2:E
3:H
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5:U
6:E
7:L
8:Q
9:B
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B -L T

ULTIVATE

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NGAGEIN

OCUSED

HINKING

REATIVE

HINKING

ARNESS

ICTURE

HINKING

MPLOY

EALISTIC

HINKING

TILIZE

TRATEGIC

HINKING

XPLORE
EARN

OSSIBILITY

ROM

UESTION

ENEFIT

HINKING

EFLECTIVE

OPULAR

ROM

HINKING

HINKING

HARED THINKING

RACTICE UNSELFISH THINKING
ELYON

O F T
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INAL

HOUGHT

OTES

BOUTTHE

OTTOM

UTHOR

INE

HINKING


INTRODUCTION

Good thinkers are always in demand. A person who knows how may always

have a job, but the person who knows why will always be his boss. Good
thinkers solve problems, they never lack ideas that can build an organization,
and they always have hope for a better future. Good thinkers rarely find
themselvesatthemercyofruthlesspeoplewhowouldtakeadvantageofthemor
try to deceive them, people like Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who once boasted,
“Whatluckforrulersthatmendonotthink.”Thosewhodeveloptheprocessof
goodthinkingcanrulethemselves—evenwhileunderanoppressiverulerorin
otherdifficultcircumstances.Inshort,goodthinkersaresuccessful.
I’ve studied successful people for forty years, and though the diversity you
find among them is astounding, I’ve found that they are all alike in one way:
how they think! That is the one thing that separates successful people from
unsuccessfulones.Andhere’sthegoodnews.Howsuccessfulpeoplethinkcan
belearned.Ifyouchangeyourthinking,youcanchangeyourlife!


WHYYOUSHOULDCHANGEYOURTHINKING
It’shardtooverstatethevalueofchangingyourthinking.Goodthinkingcan
do many things for you: generate revenue, solve problems, and create
opportunities. It can take you to a whole new level—personally and
professionally.Itreallycanchangeyourlife.
Considersomethingsyouneedtoknowaboutchangingyourthinking:


1.ChangedThinkingIsNotAutomatic
Sadly,achangeinthinkingdoesn’thappenonitsown.Goodideasrarelygo
outandfindsomeone.Ifyouwanttofindagoodidea,youmustsearchforit.If
youwanttobecomeabetterthinker,youneedtoworkatit—andonceyoubegin
tobecomeabetterthinker,thegoodideaskeepcoming.Infact,theamountof
goodthinkingyoucandoatanytimedependsprimarilyontheamountofgood
thinkingyouarealreadydoing.

2.ChangedThinkingIsDifficult
Whenyouhearsomeonesay,“Nowthisisjustoffthetopofmyhead,”expect
dandruff. The only people who believe thinking is easy are those who don’t
habituallyengageinit.NobelPrize-winningphysicistAlbertEinstein,oneofthe
bestthinkerswhoeverlived,asserted,“Thinkingishardwork;that’swhysofew
doit.”Becausethinkingissodifficult,youwanttouseanythingyoucantohelp
youimprovetheprocess.


3.ChangedThinkingIsWorththeInvestment
Author Napoleon Hill observed, “More gold has been mined from the
thoughts of man than has ever been taken from the earth.” When you take the
timetolearnhowtochangeyourthinkingandbecomeabetterthinker,youare
investing in yourself. Gold mines tap out. Stock markets crash. Real estate
investmentscangosour.Butahumanmindwiththeabilitytothinkwellislikea
diamondminethatneverrunsout.It’spriceless.


HOWTOBECOMEABETTERTHINKER
Do you want to master the process of good thinking? Do you want to be a
better thinker tomorrow than you are today? Then you need to engage in an
ongoing process that improves your thinking. I recommend you do the
following:


1.ExposeYourselftoGoodInput
Goodthinkersalwaysprimethepumpofideas.Theyalwayslookforthingsto
get the thinking process started, because what you put in always impacts what

comesout.
Readbooks,reviewtrademagazines,listentotapes,andspendtimewithgood
thinkers.Andwhensomethingintriguesyou—whetherit’ssomeoneelse’sidea
or the seed of an idea that you’ve come up with yourself—keep it in front of
you.Putitinwritingandkeepitsomewhereinyourfavoritethinkingplaceto
stimulateyourthinking.


2.ExposeYourselftoGoodThinkers
Spendtimewiththerightpeople.AsIworkedonthissectionandbouncedmy
ideasoffofsomekeypeople(sothatmythoughtswouldbestretched),Irealized
somethingaboutmyself.AllofthepeopleinmylifewhomIconsidertobeclose
friends or colleagues are thinkers. Now, I love all people. I try to be kind to
everyoneImeet, andI desiretoaddvaluetoasmanypeopleasIcanthrough
conferences,books,audiolessons,etc.ButthepeopleIseekoutandchooseto
spendtimewithallchallengemewiththeirthinkingandtheiractions.Theyare
constantlytryingtogrowandlearn.That’strueofmywife,Margaret,myclose
friends,andtheexecutiveswhorunmycompanies.Everyoneofthemisagood
thinker!
ThewriterofProverbsobservedthatsharppeoplesharpenoneanother,justas
ironsharpensiron.Ifyouwanttobeasharpthinker,bearoundsharppeople.


3.ChoosetoThinkGoodThoughts
To become a good thinker, you must become intentional about the thinking
process. Regularly put yourself in the right place to think, shape, stretch, and
landyourthoughts.Makeitapriority.Remember,thinkingisadiscipline.
RecentlyIhadbreakfastwithDanCathy,thepresidentofChick-fil-A,afast
foodchainheadquarteredintheAtlantaarea.ItoldhimthatIwasworkingon
thisbookandIaskedhimifhemadethinkingtimeahighpriority.Notonlydid

hesayyes,buthetoldmeaboutwhathecallshis“thinkingschedule.”Ithelps
him to fight the hectic pace of life that discourages intentional thinking. Dan
says he sets aside time just to think for half a day every two weeks, for one
wholedayeverymonth,andfortwoorthreefulldayseveryyear.Danexplains,
“This helps me ‘keep the main thing, the main thing,’ since I am so easily
distracted.”
You may want to do something similar, or you can develop a schedule and
method of your own. No matter what you choose to do, go to your thinking
place,takepaperandpen,andmakesureyoucaptureyourideasinwriting.


4.ActonYourGoodThoughts
Ideashaveashortshelflife.Youmustactonthembeforetheexpirationdate.
WorldWarIflyingaceEddieRickenbackersaiditallwhenheremarked,“Ican
give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through—then follow
through.”


5.AllowYourEmotionstoCreateAnotherGoodThought
To start the thinking process, you cannot rely on your feelings. In Failing
Forward,Iwrotethatyoucanactyourwayintofeelinglongbeforeyoucanfeel
yourwayintoaction.Ifyouwaituntilyoufeellikedoingsomething,youwill
likelyneveraccomplishit.Thesameistrueforthinking.Youcannotwaituntil
youfeellikethinkingtodoit.However,I’vefoundthatonceyouengageinthe
process of good thinking, you can use your emotions to feed the process and
creatementalmomentum.
Try it for yourself. After you go through the disciplined process of thinking
andenjoysomesuccess,allowyourselftosavorthemomentandtryridingthe
mental energy of that success. If you’re like me, it’s likely to spur additional
thoughtsandproductiveideas.

6.RepeattheProcess
Onegoodthoughtdoesnotmakeagoodlife.Thepeoplewhohaveonegood
thoughtandtrytorideitforanentirecareeroftenendupunhappyordestitute.
Theyaretheone-hitwonders,theone-bookauthors,theone-messagespeakers,
theone-timeinventorswhospendtheirlifestrugglingtoprotectorpromotetheir
single idea. Success comes to those who have an entire mountain of gold that
they continually mine, not those who find one nugget and try to live on it for
fiftyyears.Tobecomesomeonewhocanminealotofgold,youneedtokeep
repeatingtheprocessofgoodthinking.


PUTTINGYOURSELFINTHERIGHTPLACETOTHINK
Becomingagoodthinkerisn’toverlycomplicated.It’sadiscipline.Ifyoudo
the six things I have outlined, you will set yourself up for a lifestyle of better
thinking. But what do you do to come up with specific ideas on a day-to-day
basis?
I wantto teach youthe processthat I’veusedtodiscoveranddevelopgood
thoughts. It’s certainly not the only one that works, but it has worked well for
me.


1.FindaPlacetoThinkYourThoughts
If you go to your designated place to think expecting to generate good
thoughts,theneventuallyyouwillcomeupwithsome.Whereisthebestplaceto
think?Everybody’sdifferent.Somepeoplethinkbestintheshower.Others,like
myfriendDickBiggs,liketogotoapark.Forme,thebestplacestothinkarein
mycar,onplanes,andinthespa.Ideascometomeinotherplacesaswell,such
aswhenI’minbed.(Ikeepaspeciallightedwritingpadonmynightstandfor

suchtimes.)IbelieveIoftengetthoughtsbecauseImakeitahabittofrequently
gotomythinkingplaces.Ifyouwanttoconsistentlygenerateideas,youneedto
dothesamething.Findaplacewhereyoucanthink,andplantocaptureyour
thoughtsonpapersothatyoudon’tlosethem.WhenIfoundaplacetothinkmy
thoughts,mythoughtsfoundaplaceinme.


2.FindaPlacetoShapeYourThoughts
Rarely do ideas come fully formed and completely worked out. Most of the
time, they need to be shaped until they have substance. As my friend Dan
Reilandsays,theyhaveto“standthetestofclarityandquestioning.”Duringthe
shaping time, you want to hold an idea up to strong scrutiny. Many times a
thoughtthatseemedoutstandinglateatnightlooksprettysillyinthelightofday.
Askquestionsaboutyourideas.Finetunethem.Oneofthebestwaystodothat
istoputyourthoughtsinwriting.Professor,collegepresident,andU.S.senator
S.I.Hayakawawrote,“Learningtowriteislearningtothink.Youdon’tknow
anythingclearlyunlessyoucanstateitinwriting.”
Asyoushapeyourthoughts,youfindoutwhetheranideahaspotential.You
learn what you have. You also learn some things about yourself. The shaping
timethrillsmebecauseitembodies:

Humor:Thethoughtsthatdon’tworkoftenprovidecomicrelief.
Humility:ThemomentswhenIconnectwithGodaweme.
Excitement:Ilovetoplayoutanideamentally.(Icallit“futuring”it.)
Creativity:InthesemomentsIamunhamperedbyreality.
Fulfillment: God made me for this process; it uses my greatest gifts and
givesmejoy.
Honesty:AsIturnoveranideainmymind,Idiscovermytruemotives.
Passion: When you shape a thought, you find out what you believe and
whatreallycounts.

Change: Most of the changes I have made in my life resulted from
thoroughthinkingonasubject.
Youcanshapeyourthoughtsalmostanywhere.Justfindaplacethatworksfor
you,whereyouwillbeabletowritethingsdown,focusyourattentionwithout
interruptions,andaskquestionsaboutyourideas.


3.FindaPlacetoStretchYourThoughts
Ifyoucomeupongreatthoughtsandspendtimementallyshapingthem,don’t
thinkyou’redoneandcanstopthere.Ifyoudo,youwillmisssomeofthemost
valuable aspects of the thinking process. You miss bringing others in and
expandingideastotheirgreatestpotential.
Earlierinmylife,Ihavetoadmit,Iwasoftenguiltyofthiserror.Iwantedto
take an idea from seed thought to solution before sharing it with anyone, even
thepeopleitwouldmostimpact.Ididthisbothatworkandathome.Butover
theyears,Ihavelearnedthatyoucangomuchfartherwithateamthanyoucan
goalone.
I’vefoundakindofformulathatcanhelpyoustretchyourthoughts.It
says,
TheRightThoughtplustheRightPeople
intheRightEnvironmentattheRightTime
fortheRightReason=theRightResult
This combination is hard to beat. Like every person, every thought has the
potential to become something great. When you find a place to stretch your
thoughts,youfindthatpotential.


4.FindaPlacetoLandYourThoughts
AuthorC.D.Jacksonobservesthat“greatideasneedlandinggearaswellas
wings.” Any idea that remains only an idea doesn’t make a great impact. The

realpowerofanideacomeswhenitgoesfromabstractiontoapplication.Think
aboutEinstein’stheoryofrelativity.Whenhepublishedhistheoriesin1905and
1916, they were merely profound ideas. Their real power came with the
developmentofthenuclearreactorin1942andthenuclearbombin1945.When
scientists developed and implemented Einstein’s ideas, the whole world
changed.
Likewise,ifyouwantyourthoughtstomakeanimpact,youneedtolandthem
with others so that they can someday be implemented. As you plan for the
applicationphaseofthethinkingprocess,landyourideasfirstwith…

Yourself:Landinganideawithyourselfwillgiveyouintegrity.Peoplewill
buyintoanideaonlyaftertheybuyintotheleaderwhocommunicatesit.
Beforeteachinganylesson,Iaskmyselfthreequestions:“DoIbelieveit?
DoIliveit?DoIbelieveothersshouldliveit?”IfIcan’tansweryestoall
threequestions,thenIhaven’tlandedit.
KeyPlayers:Let’sfaceit,noideawillflyiftheinfluencersdon’tembrace
it. After all, they are the people who carry thoughts from idea to
implementation.
ThoseMostAffected:Landingthoughtswiththepeopleonthefiringline
willgiveyougreatinsight.Thoseclosesttochangesthatoccurasaresultof
a new idea can give you a “reality read.” And that’s important, because
sometimesevenwhenyou’vediligentlycompletedtheprocessofcreatinga
thought,shapingit,andstretchingitwithothergoodthinkers,youcanstill
missthemark.


5.FindaPlacetoFlyYourThoughts
French philosopher Henri-Louis Bergson, who won the Nobel Prize in
literaturein1927,assertedthatapersonshould“thinklikeamanofaction—act
likeamanofthought.”Whatgoodisthinkingifithasnoapplicationinreallife?

Thinking divorced from actions cannot be productive. Learning how to master
theprocessofthinkingwellleadsyoutoproductivethinking.Ifyoucandevelop
thedisciplineofgoodthinkingandturnitintoalifetimehabit,thenyouwillbe
successful and productive all of your life. Once you’ve created, shaped,
stretched,andlandedyourthoughts,thenflyingthemcanbefunandeasy.


PORTRAITOFAGOODTHINKER
Youoftenhearsomeonesaythatacolleagueorfriendisa“goodthinker,”but
thatphrasemeanssomethingdifferenttoeveryone.Toonepersonitmaymean
havingahighIQ,whiletoanotheritcouldmeanknowingabunchoftriviaor
beingabletofigureoutwhodunitwhenreadingamysterynovel.Ibelievethat
goodthinkingisn’tjustonething.Itconsistsofseveralspecificthinkingskills.
Becoming a good thinker means developing those skills to the best of your
ability.
Itdoesn’tmatterwhetheryouwerebornrichorpoor.Itdoesn’tmatterifyou
have a third grade education or possess a Ph.D. It doesn’t matter if you suffer
from multiple disabilities or you’re the picture of health. No matter what your
circumstances,youcanlearntobeagoodthinker.Allyoumustdoisbewilling
toengageintheprocesseveryday.
InBuilttoLast,JimCollinsandJerryPorrasdescribewhatitmeanstobea
visionary company, the kind of company that epitomizes the pinnacle of
Americanbusiness.Theydescribethosecompaniesthisway:
1

A visionary company is like a great work of art. Think of Michelangelo’s
scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or his statue of
David.ThinkofagreatandenduringnovellikeHuckleberryFinnorCrime
andPunishment.Think ofBeethoven’sNinthSymphonyorShakespeare’s
HenryV.Thinkofabeautifullydesignedbuilding,likethemasterpiecesof

FrankLloydWrightorLudwigMiesvanderRohe.Youcan’tpointtoany
onesingleitemthatmakesthewholethingwork;it’stheentirework—all
the pieces working together to create an overall effect—that leads to
enduringgreatness.
Good thinking is similar. You need all the thinking “pieces” to become the
kindofpersonwhocanachievegreatthings.Thosepiecesincludethefollowing
elevenskills:

SeeingtheWisdomofBig-PictureThinking
UnleashingthePotentialofFocusedThinking