Ah, the holiday season is upon us. This is the time of the year that everyone seems to be smiling, the weather is crisp, the holiday decorations come out, and everyone at the office just seems happier.

Yeah, right. We are in a recession people! Unemployment is high, it’s flu season, retail shops are suffering, and no one feels like decking the halls. Fa-la-la-la-la.

If you relate to the latter paragraph (like most people do), I believe that John Maxwell’s book, Thinking for a Change could significantly improve your current methods of operation. (It helped mine!)

Mr. Maxwell begins by defining what “thinking for a change” entails. The book is about approaching both your work and personal life in a new way. Mr. Maxwell purports that we learn from a very young age WHAT to think, but not HOW to think. He proposes that we can change our “negative Nellie” way of thinking. John Maxwell skillfully breaks down both the purpose of thinking and strategies to become a better . . . thinker! A good thinker, a positive thinker, a creative thinker. . . and stay there. (I hope that you’re getting excited about reading this! If you are not excited about the possibility of stronger thinking skills, you might want to check your pulse.)

I have to warn you, though, the road to strong thinking skills is long. It isn’t something you achieve overnight, but a process. It’s not automatic, and it is not easy, but it is worth it! Here is how the process works:

First, change your beliefs about thinking.
Thinking, real thinking, can be hard work. However, if you view this hard work as an investment in your life, you will experience the benefits immediately. Changing your beliefs about thinking will change your expectations, which, in turn, will alter your attitude.

Next, change your behavior.
It’s never easy to change repetitive behavior, but if a negative mindset or an unengaged cerebellum has become a lifestyle for you – you need to drop that habit like a burning coal. Changing your behavior will change your performance, your results, and ultimately – your life.

Calgon for the Mind
To begin on the road to successful thinking, you must find a “thinking spot”. When I read this, my mind immediately went back to my hometown. When I was a child, I had a secret place, a field that I would go to in order to sit and think. It was an open field, and it seemed as if I could see every star in the sky. I am sure that many of you remember your own childhood haven – most of us had some kind of little getaway growing up. It seems instinctive. When did we forget that we needed time to process? I have already started to look for my new thinking spot, and I encourage you to do the same. John Maxwell stresses the importance of keeping your “thinking spot” to yourself and making sure there are no distractions. Let your family know that your cell phone will be (gasp) off for an hour or so, and get away from any distractions that will keep your mind from flexing.

In the final portion of the book, Mr. Maxwell gets practical. He reviews the 11 skills of successful thinking, and asks you to evaluate yourself on each skill. Don’t worry, Maxwell admits that no one person can be a master of all the skills. You will be asked in the book to rate yourself regarding each skill on a a scale from 1-10 (10 is the highest). Interestingly, Maxwell says that you should focus 80% of your time on the types of thinking in which you score an 8 or higher, 20% of your time on the thinking styles in which you score a 6 or 7, and 0% on the skills that you score a 5 or less on. Here are the skills he focuses on:

John Maxwell’s Keys to Successful Thinking

1. Cultivate Big-Picture Thinking
2. Engage in Focused Thinking
3. Harness Creative Thinking
4. Employ Realistic Thinking
5. Utilize Strategic Thinking
6. Explore Possibility Thinking
7. Learn from Reflective Thinking
8. Question Popular Thinking
9. Benefit from Shared Thinking
10. Practice Unselfish Thinking
11. Rely on Bottom-Line Thinking

In order to break through barriers in this life, it is imperative that we develop our thinking skills. This recession is the perfect opportunity to put these techniques to use. I see it happening at my office…and the results are amazing. This economy has been a challenge for everyone, but this year I have seen my teammates and managers get creative. Our team has pushed through many of the challenges in this economy with strong shared thinking and creative solutions to problems most of us have never faced before. As a result, I can see my own skills being honed. The challenge has become an opportunity rather than a burden.