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Does Thinking Matter?
by Morgan Wyche

Well it does if you are seeking change! If we all haven’t heard the Chicken and the Egg story with regards to which came first, ‘change’ wouldn’t even figure if ‘thought’ hadn’t first created it. After all look around you, because whatever you see that has been made by Man, it was first a thought that began in somebody’s head. So what, we may ask, is in our client’s thoughts when they first come to see us? 

As Life Coaches our main objective is help our clients achieve what they want which is generally described as ‘change’. We usually begin the process in assessing their current life style and then identifying their goals to see if we can make the necessary connections. Why do they need to be motivated? What issues have they had that have prevented them from moving forward before? What strengths do they have now that will get them there? The work really begins when the client starts to think about what matters to them and begins to take ownership of why it didn’t matter enough before. Even if this is because our clients have considered themselves held back by others or without the abilities to achieve what they want for themselves, their acceptance of their limitation is what has effectively limited them, but their now seeking change is evidence that they are not limited at all! Therefore when they make their own new goals, beginning with setting small ones that are achievable, life suddenly doesn’t represent a series of insurmountable problems. And in solving one or two at a time, problems can begin to be seen as simply thought processes that only need to be changed in order to change one’s way of life. 

If you can see all that you believe you might see more if you could make believe the rest. In this respect Life Coaches can inspire their clients to see themselves as something more. If they can think about what they want their coach will support them in making it happen. Focus is therefore important in thinking as it necessitates a great deal of consideration, but if realism is going to assist the process, a certain amount of honesty is also required. Clients therefore need to think if whether what they want is really what they want and if it is, are they in the best place now to work in order to achieve it. As all decisions might benefit from being thought out well before acting on them, a client who is ready to make some great changes in their life might benefit from some well processed contemplation before they do it. 

To ‘contemplate’ comes from the Greek word 'temnein', which means to cut or divide and it has been largely associated with prayer or meditation. In this respect, Eastern Christians practiced contemplation until they attained 'theoria' (their 'Vision of God'), a process of continuous thought or prayer called 'Hesychasm'. Similarly, and in philosophical terms, it was thought knowledge could be attained through well considered thought and in this respect, Plato’s definition of divinity (his world of ‘Forms’) could only be reached through practicing contemplation. In simple terms, whether philosophical, religious or life coaching belief, you can get what you want, what you really, really want but only through careful thinking first.

So does thinking really matter, or can you get by through life via the alternative way of doing things - poor decision making, indecisive decision making, hesitant action, total inaction, failure? Would you want to? What do you think? An American poet, Walter D Wintle, gave some thought of his own about this and came up with: 

If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't,

If you like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
 

Thinking (also now known as ‘The Man Who Thinks He Can’)

Walter D Wintle

 

 

 

This article copyright © Morgan Wyche, 2010

 

Morgan is a Gwynvyd Life Coach and teacher in Gwynvyd Thinking. She lives in Norwich, UK and can be reached on morgan@gwynvyd.com and www.gwynvyd.com .





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