Improve Your Thinking By Stopping

We live in a high-paced world.

We often think that we must keep going.

No time to slow down.

There's too much to get done.

In some ways, these are not necessarily "wrong".

There is a lot to get done in the world, and not enough people "doing" anything.

We do need to keep going forward.

Our world is moving at an extreme pace.

We are in dire need of new Ideas going into the Future.

There is Creativity that is needed to attain the Innovation that we seek.

Speed is also a part of the game we play as Leaders.

Whoever becomes known the fastest for having the best idea typically wins in business.

(PS - That doesn't necessarily mean the "first" wins, and often the "first" actually loses. You need to be "known" as the best idea first, which has to do with Category Creation, often leading to owning around 75% of that market.)

Whichever Leaders solve the most Problems Effectively stand out.

As we rise in Leadership, our ability to Think becomes the determining factor of our Success.

However, what most people don't realize is that, often, the way to move fastest is to completely Stop.

I know that seems counter-intuitive, but let me explain.

The Supercomputer Angle

We have 2 parts of our mind.

The Conscious and the Subconscious.

Their "computing" powers are completely different though.

The best way I have ever heard it described is as so...

The Conscious is like trying to solve a problem on a single Sticky Note.

The Subconscious is like trying to solve the same problem on a NASA Supercomputer.

Which one do you think is faster?

Obviously the Subconscious Supercomputer.

However, what this means is that we need to change the Focus of our Conscious.

If our Conscious mind is Focused on the problem or idea, then by nature it cannot go into the Subconscious.

So, in this way, if we stop working on the problem or idea and we change the Focus of our Conscious then those incomplete problems or ideas go into the Subconscious.

Our brains HATE unfinished ideas and problems.

So the Subconscious will go into overdrive (without you realizing it) trying to put whatever pieces together it needs in order to finish it.

It is also doing that at a Supercomputer level.

Your Subconscious will start putting things together in ways that your Conscious mind would simply never think of.

The Subconscious becomes a major force tactically when utilized in this way.

However, there is a secondary benefit to Stopping.

The Peak Performance Angle

When you study Peak Performance, you know that there is only 1 Psychological State of Mind to reach the greatest heights.

Flow States.

In Flow States, we are

• 5x more Productive.
• Feel our best and do our best work.
• Get a 4.9x boost to Learning.

However, for improving our thinking we also get a few more INCREDIBLY important boons.

In Flow States, we attain "near-perfect decision making" as the scientists have put it.

Also, our Creativity and Pattern Recognition Surge.

Both of these aspects of Flow are NECESSARY for improved Thinking, ESPECIALLY if our goals are to be Innovative and Creatively Solve Problems.

However, what is the problem with Flow for most people?

They can't get into it!

Why?

There are 2 reasons:

• They Struggle Too Much (aka Dis-Stress)
• They Don't Recover Enough

So, the solution here is simple.

Stop.

By Stopping, you can actually improve both of these!

You can reduce your Struggle (and Dis-Stress) by simply doing less.

You can also add Recovery Practices during these moments of Stopping.

Think of it this way.

Most people Struggle too much and don't Recover enough in a 40-Hour Week.

Let's say that you take a different approach though.

You take 10 Hours off (for Stopping and Recovering).

You only dedicate 10 Hours a week to get into Flow and specifically work on Thinking about how to Solve Your Problems and Innovate toward the Future.

Your Flow State (which is now attainable because you Stopped) will help you become 5x more Productive.

That means you would essentially hit the equivalent of 50 Hours of Problem Solving and Innovation.

All without the Struggle and lack of Recovery.

PLUS you'd still have 20 more Hours do to other things as necessary.

How much further do you get ahead then ALL of your competition by doing this?

That is the Power of Stopping.