Anyone of a certain age was brought up on the 3 R’s of education.
The famous (though clearly incorrectly referenced…go figure!!) R’s – Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.
These were defined as the basic three foundations of learning. They have been the staple educational cornerstone in many countries for umpteen decades.
But, did you know they have a thinking equivalent?
And not just any thinking. The highest and the best. The elite level thinking.
If you didn’t know, worry not. In this post I’m going to reveal them to you so you can start developing them too.
Let us begin the great mindset lesson. Three is the magic number to learn. Three elite ways to use thinking to bring out the very best.
One, two, three….let’s go!
1. Reasoning.
Even crazy ideas aren’t that mad.
This is the foundation of pinnacle thinking. All ideas conceived, no matter how unlikely or fantastical, are treated to this triple approach. And the initial entry point mentally is where any concept, any possibility, is first processed by the mind. It is where it is fairly considered and evaluated.
It experiences reasoning.
Reasoning is the sensible perspective applied by the mind. Whether the idea is whacky or wonderful, reasoning is activated to ensure solid appraisal. Some years ago on the business investment programme Dragon’s Den on BBC TV, an inventor sought funds from established business gurus for cardboard garden furniture. It didn’t happen.
This is because of every pitfall the creator had not thought through about the product. It seemed like a good idea. It was novel. The cost was low. It was environmentally friendly. And not to mention, it was innovative. In their mind.
No reasoning had been employed. You could probably guess half of the problems the Dragons identified. But, if you get carried away with your ‘big bright new thing’ exciting your head (and future pockets), you will never see sense.
This is also relevant with bonkers ideas. At first they seem insane without a cat in hell’s chance of making it. Have a think. Switch on reasoning. See the issue it could be solving. Perhaps the concept only requires a tweak to fit into another field. It could just be the gap in a market no-one else ever noted. Nothing is dead until reason says so.
Reasoning is where an open mind meets a sensible brain.
2. Reflection.
Ever thought about something you first weren’t sure about, then changed your mind?
It’s the classic ‘let it sink in’. This is what occurs when we receive information that’s far and above our norm. Big bad news or big brilliant news. The mind asks for a time out and wants to do some inner homework before it offers its opinion.
That downtime is when the mind slips into reflective mode. It ponders and considers the info, idea, proposal, seriousness, etc. A kind of top to bottom mental review to capture what you really feel/believe/understand.
We do that on less magnificent options – what will happen if we go for promotion or change the car. Large enough a decision for us, but not earth shattering.
Elite level minds reflect as standard but elevate the scenario. They will practise reflection over opening a brand new business, how to fit in ultra marathon training while working a 45 hour week as an analyst, and financial planning for the coming five years if they were to move their savings into short term office space rental.
Sure it’s more mega stuff, but the principal remains sturdy.
Reflection is correction, connection, or condemning a possibility by deeper, calmer contemplation about what it is and what it can mean.
3. Responding.
However you start, you have to finish.
And at the end of any idea or concept, after all thinking is done, has to be a decision. Before you go for it or pull it, you have to land on one mental response that decides one way or the other.
Elite thinkers are highly adept at quality responses.
They reason that the idea is sound. That is followed up with reflecting on how it could look, develop, who it could be for, where to pitch it etc. Those two completed and the mind made up, they are comfortable at the step most become paralysed in taking.
They respond – they take action. The move it forwards. Result? Progress with a capital ‘P’.
Now there is a proviso. That response could equally be they will kill the project. Maybe it’s too soon for such an endeavour. It might be too expensive to fund. Preferences and trends are changing. Various factors (they they have identified and thought through) in the groundwork is saying it won’t work on the ground.
Hey, but it may turn out a stunning 180 flip. It could be scaled up or dedicated to a certain type of person. It might begin small with a soft launch first before the explosion onto the wider stage. Relabelling it might change perceptions and so on.
Whether it’s a big thumbs up or down, rest assured elite minds will respond to the idea and the thinking they have invested, with surefooted, confident responses. No waiting, no pontificating. The iron is hot…or cold, nothing in between.
So, where does that leave you?
4. What’s the Big Idea?
You’re not reading this post for fun, right?
At the back of your mind you want to learn how big thinking is done. Because you’ve got something to get done. Asking that girl out you’ve fallen for at the office. Quitting work to be a vlogger. Wanting to tell your parents that you won’t be going into the family business. And bigger still.
Well, you now know there’s no mega secrets to mega thinking. No inner sanctum the great leaders and business moguls in history were members of with the keys to riches. You don’t have to hold your nerve. No poker face is required or working on the art of bluff.
Just these three R’s – the reasonable, rational, reflexes of the mind. They hold true whether it’s a city you are building or simply bridges with people you need to get back.
3R’s that will help you choose the right and best path…the elite one.
Photo attribution – Free to use under Pixabay content license by RyanMcGuire.
Have you ever looked at something and seen completely the opposite to others?
What they say is clearly obvious, you can’t see at all?
Well, you are not weird. Or alone. It’s a well developed human characteristic of the mind. The mind together with the brain learn. As we grow and age they are fed information. Some of which is advice, a lot though is opinion and influence from people beyond us, even conjecture. The media, and increasingly, social media have become rich sources for our thoughts and beliefs.
All of this data gets added to the mental banks and an individual viewpoint of life and the world is formed. That gets set and from now on we will only see through the lens of that mental imprint.
And what we see can be very far from the truth.
No accident at all.
Every time a disaster or shocking event occurs, our mental projections above kick in.
In November 2020 the A46 motorway in the West Midlands in the UK was shut due to a ferocious car fire. Luckily the inhabitants made it out fairly unscathed. The very same morning a driver who was passing as the fire took hold, shared a picture they snapped to a local Facebook group (this is the header picture of this blog post) soon after.
Within minutes certain members began focusing on one part of the picture. They were sure that there was a human face within the raging inferno. Egged on by this, others joined the conversation stating it was unmistakeable. Not long after, fuelled by this obvious evidence, all manner of spirit and ghost theories were put forwards. Incredibly some began inventing a previous fatal crash near the spot that killed a young man and it must have been him coming back to help. And similar. There has been no such car smash there before.
Now, of course, as you are reading this there may be a few of you who can see a face. Others ‘might’ possibly see one. And plenty who see only a car fire. Who is right? Are the face watchers spotting what the majority seemed to miss? Or are they simply joining dots that aren’t there? Maybe they are just deluded??
The truth is it’s more pareidolia rather than paranoia.
I see what you are believing.
You have probably heard of the phrase people often say, ‘I see what you are saying’.
Change that for, ‘I see what you are believing’.
For example –
Someone who is religious and experiences some unexpected good luck or has a narrow miss from an accident, may tend to see that as their chosen God’s hand at work saving their life from above.
Another person who is a staunch supporter of a political party will elect to see everything wrong with the country if they are not in power, or working hard and fixing things when their party is the ruling Government.
And let’s not forget the good old sport supporters who decide their team are being fouled all the time while they are making no fouls in return.
In each scenario our pre-set mindset witnesses what it has a pre-loaded bias for. Whether it’s UFO’s in the sky or we are a good driver while most others need lessons. If it’s in the mind, it gets projected out into the world of vision including weird and wonderful curious cases we can suddenly explain.
Which brings me back to the photo at the top and the face (or no face).
And the psychological tendency to see patterns, shapes, faces, and more in random images. Otherwise known as pareidolia.
Buildings on Mars anyone?
We’ve seen it all before.
The well known saying tells that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’.
The phrase refers to the fact that history repeats itself, just in different forms, but remains the same theme as ever. We do and see repeat things in restyled ways. A contemporary financial scheme is actually an echo of others that went belly up in the past. The great new trend is merely the modern version from sixty years ago. Stupid little wars always erupting out of pride or self inflated desire to be powerful.
You get my drift?
Turn to the picture and employ the theory. Is there a face? A real face? Or are those who believe in the spirit realms finding what they need to keep their beliefs alive? Because that’s what we all do in what we see through our mind. Keeping our beliefs alive when we look at the world and life.
Belief that God or a spirit guide had favoured us. Belief that our politics are what everyone requires. Or belief that referees are deliberately preventing our side winning because they know they are the best.
So, next time you cast a look over a situation or story or picture of an eruption with a Devil’s evil look peering out, ask yourself what your mind, not your eyes, is not only wanting to see, but expecting to see,
Because your mind has the best eyesight you could ever imagine!!
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Homelessness.
Owning our own home is a major aim when we start adult life. A place to call home, somewhere we can call ours. Safety. Security. And, in the past, it’s a goal most people achieved. Today, not so. Since the Century began we have had to face the credit crunch crash, ongoing recessions and inflation, COVID, and the current cost of living and energy crisis.
Meaning the dream of having a home has impacted millions and homelessness has begun to appear everywhere. This is a scary fact and so SuperMind Saturday has to take a look and ask some BIG questions.
1. Affected not Disaffected.
Traditionally, homeless people in the past were those who were disaffected. Those who through some trauma or affliction like drink or drugs or family troubles, especially young people who ran away from home, became homeless. People who lived on the fringe of things. Typically called the drop outs. This is increasingly NOT the reason in modern times. Homelessness is hitting people of every background. All are being affected.
How do we change our historical view of the homeless so that we can begin to deal with the issue?
2. Home Owners now Home Owers.
In the UK alone the FCA expect over 200,000 households to fall behind with their mortgage this year due to rising interest rates. That and the increase in re-mortgages in the last 2 years plus the soaring cost of living. Some 88,000 mortgage payers were 2.5% in arrears of their mortgage balance by the Summer of 2025. The risk of homelessness is a spiralling financial threat affecting the whole country.
How can we protect people from losing their homes who are trying to simply pay bills? Could it be time for homeless protection insurance to be included in mortgage premiums? Or what ideas do you have?
3. Effects not Causes.
Modern day homelessness is clearly less an effect of some personal disfunction. It stems more so from the huge monetary pressures of life and the global issues. From the deregulation of banks to the soon to follow after credit lending collapse. From ongoing international conflicts to extensive crime and immigration costs. These events are the causes, one of the ultimate effects has been homelessness. Global scenarios creating national and even localised upheaval. We have become too global. We can no longer protect our own country or state area due to issues beyond our borders.
How do we stop this incessant march away from self contained sovereign control? Is the Terminator alive in this form???
4. Poverty for more people.
in 2024 over 320,000 people in the UK were pushed into poverty due to interest rises. This figure would rise sharply for larger countries. Multiple millions around the world have been added to the numbers classed as living in poverty. People who have full time jobs, sensible spending habits, and no previous historical record of being in debt. In other words – not from their own unwise behaviour. People who didn’t know poverty before, now know it well. More and more people being pulled into a life struggle every single day.
Is poverty something no longer cared about? Have we just become a world focussed on winning and success over standards of living for all? Are we losing our humanity?
5. Homelessness for All.
All of the above points and information point to two clear truths. People of all ages and types are being dragged into the risk of homelessness. From eight to eighty. The haves are becoming less, the have nots are becoming over subscribed. And the gap is also growing. To finish I’m just going to make a statement. One that is in plain sight and obvious if you take a look.
Governments (of any political party) don’t care about the growing homeless epidemic. They do their usual talking but seem to do less and less to help everyday people. They just seek to tax citizens in as many ways as possible. We need some Robin Hoods. The Sheriff of Nottingham has returned and wants more than before from the people.
** A rare personal point from me but this one had to be said. If you lead you have responsibility. Those that lead are not honouring theirs**
Go well all SuperMind friends.
Ok, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Why? Because it’s needed. Because the world requires new thoughts and ideas. Ones from people like you!!
See you next time for more super thinking.
References – Lendology.org.uk – Rising Mortgage Debt.
Ukfinance.org.uk – Arrears and possessions.
Ifs.org.uk – 320,000 pushed into poverty.
Photo attribution – Free to use under the Pixabay content license by Digital Dreamer.
Are you seeking a breakthrough somewhere in your life?
Especially if you want to achieve something with who you are?
It’s easy to get stuck. We get so used to acting and thinking a certain way that nothing will really change because we are not changing those. As the famous phrase by Henry Ford goes, ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got’.
Us humans are, by genetics, predisposed to living by the norm. Otherwise known as convention. It’s a survival reaction instinct. If we do what everyone else is doing we increase our chances of staying alive, and perhaps even thriving. It’s why every time a trend develops (coffee shops, internet marketing, yep Bitcoin too etc), people pile on the bandwagon and it all becomes saturated.
It seems a sensible behaviour, but it’s those who break with convention who often breakthrough into a far more memorable life.
And that’s as true in history as now.
What’s in a name?
With billions of humans on Earth, how truly different is a different name.
Where everyone used to be called Martin or Megan, parents today are trying to outdo each other with more bizarre names for their offspring like Glade, or Magenta or Meteor. They may sound cool, but this very rarely creates anything notable by having the snazzy name alone.
But one person who DID make a mark through her name was Lucy Stone.
I can guarantee virtually no-one will have heard of her, but she made a huge ground shift in what she did with her surname. A shift that millions of females have followed since without ever knowing about her pioneering stance.
So what was so unconventional about her?
It’s the mid 1840’s in the USA and it’s very much a man’s world. But not for independent Lucy. As an advocate and promoter of women’s rights when she got married she did something no other woman had ever been known to have done. What do you think it was?
The answer – she refused to take her husband’s surname and continued to be known as her maiden name. She wanted to stand as a individual rather than be hidden behind her male partner’s title. She broke the mould and went on to win the rights for women to divorce abusive husbands and that wives could earn independent income that was theirs rather than belonging to their husband as tradition dictated.
Lucy Stone made a stand with her own name and broke convention to further women in the world.
Forget what they say.
Fancy a beer? A craft beer?
They are pretty popular these days. Go to any town or city and you can find a pub or bar with a quality ale available. But it wasn’t always that way. Just ask Martyn Hillier.
In 2005 he saw a gap in the market no-one else saw. Or even believed existed. In the small village of Herne in Kent, UK, he decided to open a micropub at The Butcher’s Arms, the old butchers shop. The term micropub still isn’t that widespread today. Twenty years ago it didn’t exist at all. It did in Martyn’s mind.
His concept was to start a small pub with seating for just 12 people where you could only buy cask ales. That was it. No lager or other beer types. He also banned live music, jukeboxes, serving any food, and no TV’s showing sport. In fact the only two things you could get there was a fabulous real ale and conversation due to the intimate nature of the size of the pub. That was against all trends, and everyone’s advice not least the bank manager.
The Butchers Arms has just celebrated its 20th anniversary and is still going strong. It’s now firmly on the beer tour for ale aficionados with drinkers coming from all round the country for a simple pint in quaint surroundings and happy chat with others.
Martyn broke with the typical convention about the size of a pub and what it serves. It succeeded and so did he as he was awarded an MBE in the 2024 Honours List for services to business and hospitality. Today there are over 500 micropubs in the UK. He didn’t break the mould, he made it.
Like Lucy Stone, Martyn Hiller knew his mind, the unconventional one.
The Alternative Approach.
The world hasn’t been chocked full of people breaking with convention.
Those that have done so though have furthered their lives in very visible and incredibly unforeseen beneficial ways.
They faced the blocks and opinions and restrictions that signposted they should follow the usual routes and actions. The same ones that had left them precisely where they were to begin with. Stuck. Unfulfilled. Not honouring themselves.
And that’s your cue. If things haven’t quite worked out for you maybe it’s time to breakthrough those imagined limitations and do something avant-garde, braver, or plain opposite to the norm.
Hey, maybe the only alternative you really ever needed was to take the alternative approach all along.
Because the biggest breakthrough just needs to be in your mind.
References – Wikipedia – Lucy Stone.
TamaraWhite.com – Lucy Stone.
Micropubadventures.co.uk – herne-the-first-micropub.
The Sun Newspaper – Thurs Oct 23rd – Ale’s Well That Ends Well.
Photo attribution – Free to use under the Pixabay Content License by Vika_Glitter.
With the best will in the world we all believe that we are generally strong minded.
Yeah, sure there are times of stress and challenge when we’re not so mentally tough, but overall we would say that we’ve got reasonable thinking. But, everybody has regular weak thinking they don’t even realise occurs at certain points.
We tend to identify our weaker mental moments with dramas and sad happenings – relationship issues and break ups, losing a job, financial woes, Christmas and a sense of pressure to make it right, and losing family members. It’s OK and normal to expect our minds not to be in their best place at such times.
But, right in front of our eyes every day, week, or month are reoccurring hot spots we fail to notice that are the real culprits in our mental state. The ghosts in our machine.
And that’s precisely what this post is for. Finding your weak thinking hot spots.
Weak spots be gone.
We are going to shake down your schedule.
Shake it down and shake it up. In your everyday are the triggers that flip your mind from, ‘I got this’, to, ‘This has got me’. And we’re going to discover those little critters. So, let’s get on with it.
Firstly, you have to go day to day.
If you are REALLY committed to this (you are, aren’t you?) and getting rid of your weaker mentality, grab a piece of paper and write out the full seven days, Monday to Sunday, day by day on the left hand side. This is going to table a typical week. Your usual weekly experience when there are no holidays, special events, national breaks like Easter and similar. Nothing but the humdrum days when you do what you always do.
Start on a Monday and reflect on what usually happens from the second that alarm goes off and the week calls. When you open your eyes and think about what you are about to do and what’s ahead. Because I guarantee you that this is where it all kicks off. Right in that uninspired/frustrated (*fill in you descriptive word) mind when Monday morning arrives.
What are your routine thoughts and beliefs?
‘Why am I doing this?’.
‘I’m hate my life’.
”I am worth nothing, look where I’ve ended up.
‘I am never going to be happy’.
Those early mindset messages are your first mental red flags. They set up the rest of the week based on their theme. You MUST bring them out into the open and know the ones that juggle around your head.
They are the ones running the show.
Day by Day dynamics.
Carry on and snapshot the seven days.
Begin to identify your tiring or lacklustre or stressful times that are limiting your thinking. Known situations that leave you feeling less than optimistic or in a funk.
Maybe it’s the team meeting every Tuesday that drags your mind down into the dumps. Or Friday’s after work when you used to go for an end of week few drinks that you can’t afford to do anymore. Perhaps it’s those phone calls to your grown up kids that live away from home now.
You have repeat offenders in your world (your head). They keep stealing a positive outlook from your mind, thieves who make you feel victim to something. The good news is it’s an inside job. When you discover the days and times and specific scenarios that are dogging your mind, you can begin to put them right.
So, to make them right, get writing!!
From this exercise you want to shine light on TWO big results.
- When your mind is lapsing into weak mode.
- What you then think and feel.
Truly one leads to another.
When it’s all written up keep that naughty mind calendar and have a good look at it. Spy the weak thinking spots. See and solve.
You want a new week and less weakness!
Hot space instead of hot spots.
Now you’re going to stop the drops.
A daily diary, a reminder on your phone, a check set on your email calendar. Whatever it takes to keep your head up and strong reminding you not to think wrong. Something that’s got your back while you get your mind back on its A-game. A kind of substitute voice saying, ‘You got this’!!
Then when you have mastered this turn your attention to the other well established head busters that you find your mind begins to weaken on.
Your birthday – hey, you don’t feel you get the love anymore.
Wage talks each year with the boss – you always cave in and never negotiate the pay rise you seek and deserve.
Christmas – you spend too much trying to please while everyone else gives you cool but less expensive stuff.
You know the type. You’ve been there before. Often. Anniversaries. Events. Holiday occasions, even family gatherings or first dates etc.
These road blockers to your mental progression in the year have to be factored in too like this. Your pesky mind deflators that keep coming round you let flatten you time after time. Yep, you gotta add a good dose of honesty here. You won’t be beating any scenario you keep allowing to beat you up inside on a constant basis.
Take a look at them all. It may not be as many as you fear when you read this post. There may just be a couple of doozies that dunk you in doom that you finally have to face down. Your life may have come down to little hot spots of lowdown thinking each week interspersed with a couple of other weaker moments across the year that have got in your mental space. Picking them out enables you to get that space back. A good space. A strong space. Hey, even a hot space.
In one week you are going to start being less weak in your mind. Where will you be in one year??
Photo attribute – Free to use under Pixabay content license by Simedblack.
