Skills Needed to Analyze Life Well

Skills Needed to Analyze Life Well

The purpose of this blog is to document intentional living. Certain criteria are necessary to do this well. One’s ability to evaluate empirically and/or theoretically, and then analyze that input to create ideas and knowledge about a subject is crucial. Analytical thinking skills go beyond the obvious application of problem-solving, decision-making, and goal achievement, and directly affect one’s mental constructs, character, and quality of life. Critical thinking and evaluation of information are foundational and could be thought of as the basis of one’s entire existence. These assessments dictate which goals, ideas, and principles are of value, and are worth pursuing. These pursuits shape the entirety of our lives.

Problem-solving takes many shapes and forms but the world's most innovative companies would agree that creativity is the exceptional cognitive tool necessary for ground-breaking ideas and unique problem-solving. Companies such as 3M, Google, and Apple encourage employees to take (ITO) Innovative Time off allowing room for creative juices to flow. (Klemp 2016) Freedom to pursue one's own interests makes work feel like fun and shows employees that their opinions and strategies are valued and appreciated. Freedom to try new concepts, time to explore solutions and ideas, and a safe creative environment to experiment, incubate the creative processes, and insulate innovators from negative criticism. (Chaffee 2012) This dynamic brings new products to fruition, increasing the bottom line as is the case with 3M’s sticky notes. Critical thinking ultimately improves working conditions and the lives of these employees supplying endless ideas for the company, and purpose and drive for the individuals.

Happiness and the critical outcomes of our decisions play a paramount role in creating a life worth living. Decision-making is often made hastily, without evaluating the severity of repercussions one might face. This can be seen in career decisions, health and fitness, the choice to have children, or the global consequences of our actions as a society. Without research and knowledge of these aspects of life, we may make decisions based on the opinions of others. Opinions that may not have our best interest at heart. It is critical to examine the information available and not be pursued by politicians, ad agencies, and corporations with political strategies, and profits dictating policy and distorting facts to coerce public opinion. Scrutinizing, fact-checking and deductive reasoning is necessary when making decisions. More may be on the line than one realizes. Thinking critically is key in preventing mistakes that could affect the outcomes of not only yourself and your family but could contribute positively or negatively to the world as a whole.

The clarity and intent of one's mind directly creates the reality of our existence. Clearly defined goals organize our life in order of importance and allow one to consider choices based on significance and magnitude. Like a kite lost in the wind, goal setting without strategy, relevant information, and a plan of action will result in a chaotic struggle followed by a crash and significant damage. The writer speaks from experience. Concisely defining one's aspirations allows one to consider many avenues for accomplishing these goals. Research into these avenues may reveal advantages and disadvantages to each path. Visualizing each path may allow you to eliminate those which may prove faulty, saving critical time and money as well as one's morale. Well thought out plans of action result in better results leading to better outcomes in the long run.

Our ability to plan, organize and achieve short- and long-term goals is dependent on our capacity to define, analyze, strategize, and execute, but this will be a waste of time if those goals are not derived from relevant material. Problem-solving must occur from careful assessment, collection of data, and creative solution finding, but the solution found will reflect which values were used in processing the information as well as the origins of that evidence. The accuracy and relevance of information processed will dictate one’s ability to make intelligent decisions, corresponding with appropriate goal setting and problem-solving capacity.

John Dewey defined it as active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends. (Dewey 1910)

A scientific approach to critical thinking is not always necessary as intuition is a powerful wellspring, but to prevent errors and deluded concepts one must evaluate carefully. Critical thinking is essential to perceive the world accurately from our singular vantage point and is detrimental to living effectively.

References

· Klemp, N. (August 19, 2019) Google Encourages Employees to Take Time Off to Be Creative. Here's How You Can Too, Without Sacrificing Outcomes: INC.

· Chaffee, J. (2012). Thinking critically. Boston: Wadsworth/Clengage Learning.

· Dewey, J. (1910), How We Think, Boston: D.C. Heath. (Dewey 1910 available online)