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People commonly confuse innate intelligence or IQ with the ability to think. But clear thinking is not the same thing as being smart, according to "Lateral Thinking, Six Thinking Hats and Masterthinker" author Edward de Bono. Good thinking is not a matter of intelligence nor is it a gift; it is a skill that can be practiced and developed like any other. Among the ways he encourages people to think more effectively is by using the image of six hats. Think of them as thinking caps of different colors, each representing different questions to help you make better decisions. Here's the rainbow of hats you might use. White hats represent facts, figures and information. Think of a scientist dressed in a white lab coat. The white hat questions you ask yourself are, "What facts will help me make a decision? Where and from whom can I get them?" Red hats symbolize emotions and feelings, hunches and intuition. The red hat questions: "How do I really feel about this? What's my gut reaction to the situation?"
Black hats represent a negative outlook, playing devil's advocate, using your judgment and thinking why it won't work. Ask yourself: "What are the possible downside risks and problems? What is the worst-case scenario?"
Yellow hats symbolize opportunities, optimism, and constructive positive thinking. Questions: "What are all the possible advantages? What would be the best outcome?" Green hats represent creative, fertile thinking. Questions: "What completely new, fresh, innovative approaches can I come up with? What creative ideas can I dream up to help me see the problem in a new light?" Blue hats signify control. The blue hat is to allow you to review your thoughts and sum up what you have learned. Once you have identified what your thinking cap's color is, or what colors are combinations of the way you think, the easier and faster it will be for you to make sound decisions. How you think is reflected in how you act toward other people and face certain situations. You can change your thinking cap's color if you want to. These are not carved in stone. Like many of our human characteristics and attitudes, our thinking caps can be modified according to how we want them to develop. Just because we identify with one particular color, that doesn't mean we are destined to ask just the questions associated with it for the rest of our lives. Remember, we own our destinies. Thus, we can change the way we decide by altering the way we think and view things.
Hypnosis - You Are Getting Very Sleepy
The pocket watch swung lazily in front of her eyes. She could hear the deep voice in her ear, telling her to relax, that she was getting very sleepy. “Yes Master,” she replied. Okay, stop right there! We’ve all seen the movies or television shows where people are hypnotized and begin behaving strangely and out of character. But that’s just not true. For starters, you are not anyone’s slave; you have absolute free will and you will not cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog, unless of course that’s something you’ve always wanted to do. Secondly, you are not put into a deep hypnotic sleep. Actually, you are very, very alert or hyper attentive. Scientists still don’t fully understand exactly how hypnosis works, or why it’s possible with some people and not others. As the mind is such a mystery, it’s unlikely they’ll ever truly figure it out. They do know that it’s characterized by extreme suggestibility. Have you ever watched a movie, and become completely wrapped up in the emotions of the tale, to the extent that you forgot everything else, forgot time; you just lost yourself in the entertainment? Or perhaps you’ve just daydreamed, blocking out all other interruptions, sounds, or worries. Believe it or not, these instances are actually examples of self-hypnosis. Whether it’s a movie or daydreams, it feels absolutely real to you. The emotions are real. You feel anger, pain, fear, sadness, happiness. We’ve all been to tearjerkers, two hankie movies. According to Milton Erickson, premier hypnotism expert of the 20th century, people hypnotize themselves on a daily basis. Think back to a time when you were a child, playing pretend with your friends. You knew in your mind that it was imaginary, but you played with the intensity of a child; it felt real. This is how hypnotism works and it makes you feel relaxed and uninhibited. In this state, you’re not worrying about anything. All doubts fly out the window, you’re free to do anything. When you’re wrapped up in a movie, essentially, you’ve escaped your worries, doubts and fears; all you think about is the film story. At this point, you are highly suggestible. Never fear though, a hypnotist cannot make you do anything you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Your good sense will prevail to keep you from embarrassing yourself or putting yourself into danger. Here is where it gets a little more complicated. Now we’re talking your subconscious mind versus your conscious mind. Your conscious mind thinks over problems, helps you choose your words carefully, or helps you find lost items. However, it’s the subconscious mind working in the background along with the conscious mind. Everything you do automatically, like breathing, or small tasks that you do by rote. You don’t think about it, you just do it. Your conscious mind evaluates situations and relays the messages to your subconscious. While you’re awake, your conscious mind is at the forefront, making decisions, formulating plans, but when you go to sleep, your subconscious takes over. That’s why you dream; it’s your subconscious working out what happened during the day, rewriting events and sometimes solving problems you couldn’t work out while awake. Hypnotism works much the same way. While under the influence of hypnosis, your conscious mind isn’t constantly filtering thoughts and impulses. The subconscious takes over. This is what makes hypnotism so useful for behavioral control. You can change the way you react to food, cigarettes or alcohol. You can stop procrastinating, learn to focus better, even take away the fear of public speaking by using hypnosis. But have no fear; you can’t be hypnotized if you don’t want to be, and you won’t do something that’s potentially dangerous or embarrassing. Your conscious mind is still alert, just taking a back seat temporarily to the subconscious. And now, please relax, and when you wake up, you will remember this article and want to reread it many times.
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