First, exposing yourself to different ideas and perspectives is vital — especially when they challenge our assumptions or beliefs.

Challenge your beliefs/ assumptions. If you have a particular worldview, it can be helpful to challenge it with new evidence or viewpoints.

Seek credible assumptions. New information never hurts anyone and can even be beneficial in the long run.

Spend time with people who challenge your own thinking.

To grow and develop as a thinker, you need people with different ways of seeing things.

Good thinkers diversity their day, routine or ritual at least once a week.

Make reading a daily habit. Reading stimulates your brain and improves both your vocabulary and critical thinking skills.

When reading an article, listening to a podcast or watching a YouTube video, take notes on what stood out for you.

“Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”

Spend time with smarter people.

Stay away from people who only agree with you or those who pester you until you agree with them instead; this will only hinder your growth.

Make it a habit to think about how your thought process works and try to find flaws in your logic if applicable.

“When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.”

A healthy diet, regular exercise, and plenty of rest are all essential for optimizing your brain health.

Don’t become too sedentary: careful balance between sleep, exercise, and work is essential for your overall brain health.

Pay attention to what you are thinking and feeling at any given time. By watching your thoughts, you can become more aware of how your mind works and how you can improve its function.

Avoid overwork or deep mental strain if you can: it can make it harder for your brain to perform at peak efficiency.

Ask better questions: Start with “Why”. “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”

Embrace your ignorance but maintain your curiosity. It’s OK not to know everything all the time. Everyone has gaps in their knowledge.

Always consider the second and third-order consequences of your actions.

“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”

Learn to use the four quadrants of the mind: logic, intuition, emotions and creativity. When trying to solve a problem, use all four quadrants by drawing connections between different parts of your brain.

Think for yourself: question everything you hear and see without accepting anything at face value. “A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”

Take time to think through any life-changing decision (and its short and long-term effects).

Be willing to be wrong — even though this may feel uncomfortable initially, it will ultimately serve you in the long run.

A smarter brain thrives on something new. New things strengthen the connections between your neurons and create new pathways for information to flow through your brain more efficiently.

Whether learning a new language, taking up a new hobby, or picking up a new skill, your brain will become more intelligent when something new is always challenging.

Be more mindful. Notice what is going on around you. This could mean going on a walk or bike ride or simply sitting outside in the fresh air while taking in the sights and sounds of your surroundings.

Keep a journal and reflect on your thinking experiences. The more you train your brain to think, the better off you will be.

“Thinking is learning all over again how to see, directing one’s consciousness, making of every image a privileged place.”

For better or worse. “You are what you think.” While this may be true, it is important to remember that your experiences and environment shape your thoughts.

Your brain is one of your most valuable assets. It controls your

Thinking clearly is a key skill for success. When you improve your thinking skills, you can quickly make smarter decisions. As you grow, new challenges will emerge, and you’ll need to think outside your usual box.

Your brain is one of your most valuable assets. It controls your next action — for better or worse. “You are what you think.” While this may be true, it is important to remember that your experiences…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

30 Short Habits to Enrich Your Thinking

Don't just start on anything do only the stuff you're passionate about.

01. Be selective in what you embark on

So you know what to expect.

02. Estimate the resources you need

So you can finish the project in a timely manner.

03. Budget your time and energy accordingly

Whatever you're obsessing about doesn't make a big deal in the long run.

04. Quit being a perfectionist

05. Commit to it

In times when you feel uninspired, remember your end vision.

06. Connect with your end vision

Follow the path of highest enjoyment

Whatever gets measured gets improved.

08. Track your progress

Celebrate what you've done so far

09. Celebrate what you've done so far

Quit the project ifit's not what you want.

10. Don't force it if it's really not working out

career

Career

problemsolving

Problem Solving

timemanagement

Time Management

How to FINISH, What you START

“We can embrace love; it's not too late.Why do we sleep, instead of with hate?Belief requires no suspensionto see that Hell is our invention.”

“Without a gleaning of purpose in life,we have no vision, we live in strife”

“Holy men tell us life is a mystery.They embrace that concept happily.But some mysteries bite and barkand come to get you in the dark.”

“Is there some meaning to this life?What purpose lies behind the strife?Whence do we come, where are we bound?These cold questions echo and resound through each day, each lonely night.”

“In the real world as in dreams, nothing is quite as it seems.”

“Humanity yearns so desperately to equal God’s great creativity.In some creations, how we shine: music, dance, story weaving, wine.”

“Every eye sees its own special vision; every ear hears a most different song.In each man’s troubled heart, an incision would reveal a unique, shameful wrong.”

“Life without meaning cannot be borne.We find a mission to which we’re sworn”

“Night has patterns that can be readless by the living than by the dead.”

“We make Hell real; we stoke its fires. And in its flames our hope expires. Heaven, too, is merely our creation. We can grant ourselves our own salvation. All that’s required is imagination.”

“We long to find the splendid light that will cast a revelatory beam upon the meaning of the human dream.”

“Evil is a faceless stranger,living in a distant neighborhood.Evil has a wholesome, hometown face,with merry eyes and an open smile.Evil walks among us, wearing a maskwhich looks like all our faces.”

“To know the darkness is to love the light, to welcome dawn and fear the coming night.”

“Darkness devours every shining day.Darkness demands and always has its way.Darkness listens, watches, waits.Darkness claims the day and celebrates.Sometimes in silence darkness comes.Sometimes with a gleeful banging of drums.”

“Pestilence, disease, and warhaunt this sorry place.And nothing lasts forever;that’s a truth we have to face.”

“There’s no escapeFrom death’s embrace,though you lead it ona merry chase.”

“Courage, love, friendship,compassion, and empathylift us above the simple beastsand define humanity.”

“Or are their dark fears exaggerated?Are these doom-criers addlepated?Those who fear the coming of all Hells are those who should be feared themselves”

“Stranger fiends hide here in human guise than reside in the valleys of Hell.But goodness, kindness, and love arise in the heart of the poor beast, as well.”

“We spend vast energy and time plotting death for one another. No one, nowhere, is ever safe. Not father, child, or mother.”

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

20 of the best book quotes from Dean Koontz

“It’s funny, but thinking back on it now, I realize that this particular point in time, as I stood there blinking in the deserted hall, was the one point at which I might have chosen to do something very much different from what I actually did.”

“Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”

“I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.”

“Henry’s a perfectionist, I mean, really-really kind of inhuman — very brilliant, very erratic and enigmatic. He’s a stiff, cold person, Machiavellian, ascetic and he’s made himself what he is by sheer strength of will.”

“His aspiration is to be this Platonic creature of pure rationality and that’s why he’s attracted to the Classics, and particularly to the Greeks — all those high, cold ideas of beauty and perfection. I think it’s what in the end that gets him into trouble.”

“And standing outside the Lyceum, I was struck with a black, incredulous horror, which in fact was not at all unlike the horror I had felt at twelve, sitting on a bar stool in our sunny little kitchen in Plano. Who is in control here? I thought, dismayed. Who is flying this plane?”

“These are powerful mysteries. The bellowing of bulls. Springs of honey bubbling from the ground. If we are strong enough in our souls we can rip away the veil and look that naked, terrible beauty right in the face; let God consume us, devour us, unstring our bones. Then spit us out reborn.”

“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”

“It is is better to know one book intimately than a hundred superficially.”

“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”

“Love doesn’t conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.”

“There is nothing wrong with the love of Beauty. But Beauty – unless she is wed to something more meaningful – is always superficial.”

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch. Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.

books

Books

A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK • INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Goldfinch. Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality. “A remarkably powerful novel [and] a ferociously well-paced entertainment.... Forceful, cerebral, and impeccably controlled.” —The New York Times

Donna Tartt is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Donna Tartt has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Donna Tartt's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Donna Tartt

The Secret History

“Life is forgiving. Every experience, failed or successful, is never wasted. All the time spent does work towards a final goal, some known and some newly-discovered on the journey. You have to have faith in yourself, confidence in who you are and want to be, and be brave enough to take the steps towards achieving your dream.”

“It would be a sin not to remember the things that make you happy.’ He”

“There are opportunities that come and go, like the trains on this very track. You can climb on any train and it will take you down a new path. But you need to decide which platform to stand on and which train is the one that is the most important for you.”

“Every experience, failed or successful, is never wasted. All the time spent does work towards a final goal, some known and some newly-discovered on the journey. You have to have faith in yourself, confidence in who you are and want to be, and be brave enough to take the steps towards achieving your dream.”

“It would be a sin not to remember the things that make you happy.”

“Is life a game of yes or no? I wonder about the absolutes that we try to create for ourselves, our relationship, our life choices. We try to make things black and white when sometimes it is much more grey.”

“But then again, the weight of regret and asking yourself what if, down the road, is far more haunting to one’s soul. What if I took that chance? Well, if the worst that happens is that you have to come back home and pick up where you left off, at least you can stop wasting time on dreaming and wondering if it’s still a possibility.”

“I have forgotten this intimate and softer side of love. The excitement to hear someone speak the language of your soul in such a loving tone was something I enjoyed most.”

“When you find love, all that matters anymore is making the other person happy.”

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

‘Everyone has a Story‘ which is India’s first successful self published novel by a female author. An Amazon Bestseller will be now re-published by India’s top publisher Westland Books. The author of this novel is Savi Sharma, an inspirational writer.Besides, Savi is also Chief Content Officer at Life & People where her role is to write, curate and publish interesting articles related to Positivity, Law of Attraction, Spirituality, Meditation, Healing, Success Stories, etc. which has helped in her personal and professional development. Importantly she believes that it has given her a higher perspective of life and people which isvery important for a storyteller."

Savi Sharma

This is Not Your Story

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked.“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure.”

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

"When you are loved, you can do anything in creation."

“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now”

"If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return."

"One’s Personal Legend is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible."

"Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

"We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand."

"Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time."

"A simple and great fairytale that brings forth the greatest questions in life."

“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.”

“I’m like everyone else — I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.”

A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new Foreword by Paulo Coelho. Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations. Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new Foreword by Paulo Coelho.Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

Paulo Coelho de Souza is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel The Alchemist became an international best-seller and he has published 30 more books since then.

Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist

What you think about consistently will eventually become your reality. This is the reason why it is so important to be aware of our thoughts.

Your Thoughts Become Things.

So many of us don’t actually believe that we deserve the blessings that life has to offer us. Somehow we believe that those blessings are reserved for other people. But that simply isn’t true. You are as deserving of life’s gifts as anybody else.

There Is A Truth Deep Down Inside Of You....

Your power is in your thoughts, so stay awake. In other words, remember to remember.

Remember that your thoughts are the primary cause of everything.

It All Starts In Your mind.

Ask once, believe you have received, and all you have to do to receive is feel good.

Believe that you deserve the gifts that are on their way. Be excited, joyful and grateful.

"Believe" & "Feel Good"

Visualise yourself in possession of that which you desire and it is done.

See The Things That You Want As Already Yours.

You are the one who calls the law of attraction into action, and you do it through your thoughts.

If you can think about what you want in your mind, and make that your dominant thought, you will bring it into your life.

Never Stop Believing.

The only reason why people do not have what they want is because they are thinking more about what they don’t want than what they do want.

You Must Focus Your Energy

There is no greater power in the Universe than the power of love.

It Really all Comes Down To Love.

Create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.

Your feelings are your greatest tools to help you create your life.

The only reason why people do not have what they want is because they are thinking more about what they don’t want than what they do want.

Do not become impatient with your manifestation. You must focus your energy, receive it as if it already is, and trust that is coming.

Focus....

The tenth-anniversary edition of the book that changed lives in profound ways, now with a new foreword and afterword. In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller. Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.

The tenth-anniversary edition of the book that changed lives in profound ways, now with a new foreword and afterword. In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller. Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.

Rhonda Byrne is an Australian television writer and producer, best known for her New Thought works, The Secret—a book and a film by the same name. By the Spring of 2007 the book had sold almost 4 million copies, and the DVD had sold more than 2 million copies. She has also been a producer for Sensing Murder. According to an article published by Australia's Herald Sun, Byrne has also worked on the Australian TV series World's Greatest Commercials and Marry Me. In 2007, Byrne was listed among Time Magazine's list of 100 people who shape the world.

30 Short Habits to Enrich Your Thinking

How to FINISH, What you START

20 of the best book quotes from Dean Koontz

The Secret History

This is Not Your Story

NAVEEN PURIMITTLA