Thinking is Hard Work
Coming back to Medium after a year of contemplation, writing, and learning.
Thinking takes practice.
One of my favourite comedians, Lewis Black (who also happens to be the voice of “anger” in Disney-Pixar’s movie Inside Out) has said, “writing is thinking, and thinking is hard work”! I can just hear him. His grumbly voice inflecting with pointedness on the word ‘think’ driving frustration into his quote. It’s just brilliant, because he’s right, on both points. Writing is hard and so is thinking — but they both get easier with practice.
The world needs more thinkers.
Growing up in America and living in five different countries, has given me insight into other cultures, offered new experiences, and blessed me with a plethora of unique people in my life but it has also challenged my thinking. Unfortunately, it took a long battle with post-natal depression for me to break out of my habitual thinking and become more open to change
That battle took place nearly 13 years ago. It saved my life, literally. I’ve spent the last 13 years studying, experiencing, coaching, training, practising and helping myself and others develop thinking skills (I call them psych skills for short). If I had only learned some of these thinking skills earlier in life, maybe I wouldn’t have fallen down the spiral of depression. Instead, maybe I would have followed my gut more. Maybe I would have become someone different. There’s no doubt my path would’ve been different because we choose paths all the time. My journey is mine alone, but what I realised was that I had never really been intentional in my thinking choices and that was what I had to learn.
We need more thinkers in the world. More thinkers who embrace their inner strengths. Who listen to their inner voice and become more open. Thinkers who are lifelong learners in being the best person they can be, always striving to become their future selves.
It’s here that I want to do some of that thinking. I want to practise intentional thinking and discuss topics around psychology, neuroscience, and culture, linking them to daily life. Discussions around daily minuscule happenings, such as drinking tea, to the big overarching concepts of say, motherhood or management or what we want.
This type of thinking takes practice. I hope I can inspire you to think with me.
It’s about psychological skills and evaluation.
We are all human beings yet we all think differently. I love that. We are all born with the same brain structures that are tweaked based on our individual experiences. I want to hear yours. We are born to communicate through language and stories. Let’s listen and learn. This will be a community of thinkers who have a mission to live authentically and think intentionally. Meaning is at the core.
Let’s talk about psychological skills, how we put them to use, the impact they may or may not have, and the evaluation for next time. Let’s discuss culture, travel, language, art, humour, books, food, kids, work, music, and creativity — whatever! I am inspired daily by ah-ha moments, how others think, and research insights then linking it all to who I am.
I hope you’ll join me in the discussion.
