Changing your life and career using your mind

If I could learn how to make better decisions, I would get better results, thereby improving the quality of my life. It worked.

You can do the same.

The first step is to figure out what you are good at. What do you really love doing? That is important in choosing a career. For me, it was helping people. This passion is one of my strengths. In the past 25 years, I have taught transformational thinking in more than 50 countries to hundreds of organisations and thousands of people ... teaching them how to change.

The second step was learning and applying thinking skills that would complete the changes I wanted to make, using Dr Edward de Bono's lateral-thinking skills.

He taught me how important it is to think before making a decision, not after. Three really stood out as very powerful.

The first was CAF, or consider all factors. Think about all the possible details involved with the decision. Omitting an important one could lead to disaster.

The second was PMI, or plus, minus and interesting, my all-time favourite. There are always positives and minuses in every situation; we just have to look for them. Next, consider alternative possibilities. What if ... ?

The third was OPV, other points of view. How will other people react to my decision? Most of our decisions affect other people. Without considering their reactions, we could get poor results.

Think before you decide.

By DR Bill Gould

Human resources director

Wall Street Institute, Thailand

www.wallstreet.in.th