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statement, the vision, the priorities, and even change the budget. But we’ll never get anywhere until we can change how the employees think.

It’s not an easy task. We all think in ways that were shaped by our upbringing and circumstances. Our parents had an enormous influence on the way we think and what we value. My father loved books, and guess what? So do I. Reading is one of my greatest passions, and my idea of a perfect day is to be snowed in at a mountain cabin with a fire in the hearth and a stack of books next to my chair. That love of reading came directly from the influence of my dad.

Chances are, key elements of your thinking came from your mother or father. Another key to our thinking is the group of people who have influenced us during the course of our lives. Perhaps it was a great teacher, coach, or family friend. Our thinking habits weren’t born in a vacuum but were planted, watered, and nurtured by our closest family members and friends.

But no thinking pattern is locked. We can always change our thinking to make us more productive, positive, successful, and fulfilled. Good thinking is not involuntary; it’s something we control, and as a result, it’s something we can change.

Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.

—GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, PLAYWRIGHT

CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT YOUR STYLE OF THINKING

Are you naturally positive?

Do you meet most challenges with a positive response? Is it tough to really get you down or depressed? Are you the most encouraging person in your company?

Are you naturally negative?

Yes, there are people who deal with life in a very negative way, and you might be one of those people. Do you face every challenge with responses like, “Well, I told you so. Nothing ever works out for me”? Do you naturally expect projects to fail? There was an executive who to this day is the most negative person I have ever encountered. When you walked into her office, you felt a darkness in the room. She was insecure and incompetent and looked at everything from the most negative angle possible. She yelled at everyone, believed that nothing would ever work out, and was depressed most of the time. She was finally fired when her boss realized that everyone in the company would walk out if management didn’t do something immediately. She was toxic, and her negative thinking affected everyone around her.

There is no question that she’s an extreme example, but millions of people have a negative thinking style that hinders them from breaking through barriers and experiencing success.

Are you naturally critical?

I have a tendency to be critical, and I have to fight to overcome this deadly style of thinking. As a television and film director, I’ve spent years on a set, judging aspects of the production. Is the acting natural? Is the set design what it needs to be? Is the lighting the most appropriate? Evaluating and being critical is my job, but I have to be careful to leave it at work. Unleashed at home or in other situations, it can be deadly.

Are you naturally reflective?

Do you think before speaking? Do you hold your thoughts until enough information is in? Do you prefer to sit back and not commit? Are you naturally shy and bashful?

INCREASE YOUR POTENTIAL THROUGH BETTER THINKING

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece.

—RALPH CHARELL, MOTIVATIONAL WRITER

Quality of thinking. It’s a phrase we don’t hear about much, but it’s absolutely critical to changing your life. I’m always amazed watching the employee dynamics of an organization. When I assemble a creative team around a conference table and throw out a challenge, it’s fascinating to see how different people respond. Some grasp the challenge immediately and take off running. Others prefer to think about it first, and still others blow it off, open their laptops, and start answering e-mail.

Everyone approaches a challenge differently.

The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return the better to thinking.

—PHAEDRUS (15 BC–AD 50)

Jack Welch, legendary former CEO of General Electric, said, “99.9 percent of all employees are in the pile because they don’t think.”

Rise up. Stand above the others. Get out of the pile. The key is the quality of your thinking.

How do you do it? Start thinking of your brain as a muscle and exercise it. Read, learn, challenge yourself, push the limits of your thinking. Perhaps more important than anything, set aside a time during the day when you do nothing but think.

Leadership expert John Maxwell has profoundly influenced me when it comes to thinking. John has actually set aside a chair in his office where he thinks. He doesn’t use it for anything else—when he’s in that chair, he just sits and thinks.

I encourage you to do the same. Don’t take phone calls, go to meetings, answer e-mail, or update your Facebook page in that chair. That’s your “thinking chair,” and thinking is the only thing you use it for. Every day—probably near the end of your day—take some time and sit in the chair, with only a pad and pencil, and think. Reflect on the day, think about the future, jot down notes, and just think.

When you make thinking a priority in your life, the quality of your life will dramatically increase. It’s almost as if your brain is flattered that you’re making it a priority, because believe me, it will respond. When you take that important time to reflect and think—and make it a daily habit—you’ll be amazed at how the quality of your ideas will increase (not to mention the quantity).

MAXIMIZE YOUR GIFTS AND SKILLS THROUGH STRATEGIC THINKING

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

—ALBERT VON SZENT-GYORGYI, NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE, 1937

When filmmaker George Lucas