On Thinking: Part 2

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Brian Kight

Life can be anticipated but not reliably predicted. It is a blend of familiar and unfamiliar, common and unique, ordinary and extraordinary. If we prepare to navigate it well, there is magic in this mixture rather than resentment.  

The magic of life is that we repeatedly discover ourselves experiencing unfamiliar things in familiar environments. Other times it's exactly the opposite. Extraordinarily unique situations contain dynamics that, to our surprise, we recognize as common and ordinary.

This variability will challenge your thinking and discernment for the rest of your life. So if you want to make good decisions, produce great results, and feel fulfilled, you need a reliable process with enough flexibility to handle volatility.

Enter the E+R=O thought process. The process is, in order:

  1. What outcome do I need to create?
  2. What event(s) am I dealing with?
  3. What response gives me the best chance to create that outcome within the context of the events?

The elegance of the E+R=O thought process is that it works in any circumstance, however big or small. It is the basis of whatever you're dealing with, pursuing, or facing. No matter what you need to think about and decide, E+R=O is the place to begin.

It needs to start that simple because executing that 3-step process with clarity from start to finish is enough of a challenge. Self-awareness of it will improve your clarity. Self-discipline with it will improve your consistency. Self-confidence in it will develop as you get more familiar with the process and your expectations of success go up.

Whether you find yourself in the familiar or unfamiliar, the common or unique, the ordinary or extraordinary, or all of it at once, E+R=O will clarify and enhance the quality of your thinking, decisions, actions, and outcomes if you follow the process faithfully.

Answer the call. Do the work.

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