In chapter four we are told to, 'Think Effectively - to Get Results'

'Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it.' - Henry Ford

To Think: 1). Turn over in the mind; meditate; ponder; reason; to give continued thought to, as in order to reach a decision; to understand or solve;
2). to bear in mind, recollect or remember;
3). to anticipate or expect.

Lorayne's comprehensive reasoning of what thinking is: "Thinking in the present is mainly problem-solving (action); thinking in the past is remembering (our knowledge and experience); and thinking in the future is anticipating (planning ahead)."  The person who is completely satisfied has no need to and doesn't think. In his opinion, a non-thinking person cannot be really happy -- satisfied, perhaps; but not happy. A.B. Alcott said: "Thought means life, since those who do not think do not live in any high or real sense. Thinking makes the man."

"Thinking clearly and effectively is the greatest asset of any human being." Our superiority over animals is the ability to think. People take this ability for granted, they seem to think that it just happens; "they give no time or practice to it." Now this conundrum brings about a vicious circle. "If you neglect your practice of thinking, if you do not think properly or clearly, the chances are you don't know it, because you never think about it. And if you don't think about the fact that you aren't thinking effectively, you'll never realize that something should be done about it." Around and around we go...

The Art of Effective Thinking

To keep an art alive there must be constant practice and use. Thinking is an art. George Bernard Shaw said, "Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week." I think he was being a bit facetious but he is probably right about some people not thinking too often mainly by the things you see them doing.

Often our thinking is cloudy and misleading. Knowing the cause of this probably would help a person to avoid this kind of thinking. Television use to be the main reason and still is partially a detriment to good thinking. Now though the computer has taken first place with games and messaging and twittering mindlessly. Cell phones can also be a really bad influence on people , mostly the younger set. There have been experiments done where a young person couldn't socialize or even really function, when they had their cell phone taken from them. Even for just a day!

Not that any of these are bad forms of communication and technology but as Lorayne says, time needs to be taken to think. He asks, "Don't you think that the ability to think effectively deserves at least as much time as reading the daily paper?"

He goes on to tell about the following news item: It seems that the U.S. Secret Service in St. Louis was receiving queries from people who wanted to know if two-dollar bills had become surplus. The story goes that these people had been given the opportunity to buy a package of twenty-five two-dollar bills for $95! The package of bills had been marked "surplus." These people were told to practice their multiplication tables." Surplus- an amount over and above what is needed; an extra quantity left over; excess." So what is 2x25? You do the math, which is where you have to think if it isn't something that comes automatically for you.

To be able to think effectively we need two things and that is knowledge and organization. If you have no knowledge or experience how can you start to think. If for example you had never seen what gasoline does you wouldn't be thinking in the right direction if you just poured a pail full on an open fire. If you did you wouldn't have to worry about thinking any more, now would you? If you had knowledge of fires and gasoline then you could be organized in the proper way that quite possibly you could start a fire without damaging yourself. Though starting a fire with gasoline should be left to those who have experience. But I hope you get the idea, you need knowledge and organization to think clearly and intelligently. This knowledge is gained from experience, listening to others and reading.

When you are reading and talking to people, you need to have an interest in the subject for you to gain that knowledge and have it stick. As has been stated before, show interest in others and less of yourself so then you will do more listening than talking. Also when you read, read with your mind and not just your eyes. Concentrate on what you are reading and block out any distractions. Think about what it is you are trying to absorb, don't let your mind wander, which is just daydreaming and rarely leads to any action.

The top salesman and the top executive have studied their business inside and out, so they are ready for any problems and they can answer any questions sent their way. The main reason being they are interested in what they are selling. Then once they know all about their subject they organize their thoughts so that everything goes like clockwork. If some problem does come up then they have more of a chance of fixing that problem because they have researched their subject.

We need to think with our mind and not our emotions for our emotions can cause us to be suggestible. Our emotions have been ingrained in us from birth; love, anger, pleasure, frustration, fear and hate. As Lorayne says, " they make us prisoners of prejudice and habit. If you want to think effectively you need to train your mind to gain knowledge by not judging before you study a subject."

How often have you said this; "I'll never be able to accomplish that!"? You are thinking in extremes is what Lorayne suggests, which he also states is, " emotional and prejudiced thinking." This quite often leads to rationalizing, something we all do, but when we realize we are rationalizing then we can do our best to lessen the prejudice. We are feeding our egos when we rationalize which is good to a certain extent but a little bit goes a long ways.

Lorayne suggests that, " It is inevitable that most of us have a tendency to believe what we desire to believe. If you always keep in mind that prejudice is really just wanting something to be true whether it is or not, you're well on your way to breaking its bonds."

Then there are habits, good and bad. We need to get rid of our bad thinking habits. Lorayne says and it is so true, " Just because you have thought for years that some facts(?) are true does not make them necessarily so." Robert Leavitt said, "People don't ask for facts in making up their minds. They would rather have one good, soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts."

The point Harry Lorayne is striving to make is, "that we must question things almost constantly in order to think effectively... don't be a chronic disbeliever but stop going along with the crowd! Take the time and effort to examine some of those "thinking clichés" every so often, and you will relieve yourself of some bad thinking habits." It isn't shameful to admit that your thinking is wrong, it actually shows that you have started to think for yourself.

Pat Downing " Secrets of the mind"