If our fate begins with our thoughts, improving life starts by examining what’s in our minds. Mathematicians Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird have laid out practical steps for decision-making. In their book, “The Five Elements of Effective Thinking,” Burger and Starbird identify habits that can lead to success.
The Enemy of Productivity
Before outlining the steps for decision-making, it’s essential to understand what people are constantly thinking about, because our minds are always generating images and thoughts. Psychologist Russell Gelbort from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has spent decades studying these thoughts and categorizing them into distinct types.
Thoughts in Our Heads:
- visualizations of various images and memories of objects we have seen;
- sensory awareness focused on current impressions from our senses;
- experiencing and sometimes recognizing current feelings;
- complex, indescribable subconscious thoughts;
- internal dialogue in various forms.
This “background noise”—this “mental chewing gum”—captures our attention. We focus on immediate sensations, dive into emotional experiences, and continuously engage in mental dialogues with sub-personalities represented by various people, ultimately disconnecting from our surroundings and feeling stress because we’ve made unconscious choices after losing touch with reality.
Productive thinking serves as a tool that helps maintain a connection with reality. This shows up as the ability to separate subjective thoughts from objective facts, accurately assess life situations, draw accurate conclusions, and logically choose strategies aimed at specific actions rather than mere feelings.
Signs of Effective Thinking:
- free of strong emotions;
- conscious;
- specific;
- goal-oriented.
Productive thinking is an effective remedy for procrastination—the tendency to postpone important or unpleasant tasks in favor of less significant but more enjoyable activities. This habit commonly reduces productivity, increases stress, and creates negative emotions. Overcome it with practical skills.
How to Make the Right Decisions?
The authors of “The Five Elements of Effective Thinking,” Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird, outline ways to focus on useful thoughts (the important ones) and discard the unnecessary. They suggest developing habits for productivity and have identified five key steps for decision-making. So, what should you do to achieve your goals?
Step 1: Study to Understand
The foundation of success is solid understanding, gained through deep immersion in the topic and identifying what truly matters. In this step, separate the non-essential from the essential (including biased beliefs) and study the facts. Be honest about what you don’t know. Identify those gaps and fill them.
Step 2: Ask the Right Questions
Instead of getting stuck in empty thoughts, ask key questions that clarify the situation and expand your understanding—this will bring you closer to your goals. Emotional reactions are often unhelpful; the right questions reveal hidden connections and put things in perspective.
Step 3: Develop Ideas
Small ideas can yield big results. Burger and Starbird encourage you not to dismiss ideas that seem insignificant. Even minor improvements or changes in direction can lead to big changes over time. Cultivate your imagination, follow creative hunches, and bring discoveries to life.
Step 4: Don’t Fear Mistakes
Action is necessary to get results. Not every attempt will succeed. Failure helps you spot gaps in understanding so you can adjust tactics—it’s not a reason to stop. Don’t fear mistakes; use them to refine productive thinking.
Step 5: Act and Adapt
The brain learns what you practice. So implement ideas, try new things, apply what you learn, change approaches, and keep evolving. Only then can you improve the quality of your life. Burger and Starbird say this process should be ongoing.
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