Focused Thinking (Part 1)

As a high-energy, high-capacity leader, John Maxwell has a natural bias for action and has to be intentional to develop his focused thinking skills. He committed to put in the effort, and since then his effective practice of focused thinking has had a global impact.

In this episode, John shares some of what he has learned to help us maximize our focused thinking skills. The starting point, he says, is to verbalize and visualize what it is that we’re going to focus on. He goes on to provide a process for thinking through any idea. 

Mark Cole and Jason Brooks share how they’re applying what John teaches, and they address some of the common challenges to consistently being a focused thinker. Mark encourages us to be intentional in scheduling both proactive and reactive thinking time. The episode ends with a challenge to take an hour to practice focused thinking before coming back next week for part two of this series. 

Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Focused Thinking Worksheet. You can access the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Focus and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.”    

References: 

The John Maxwell Leadership Podcast Survey

Thinking for a Change by John C. Maxwell

The John Maxwell Online Store