Personal growth means changing yourself from the inside out so that you will be better able to enjoy what you have and take advantage of opportunities for additional growth. It involves taking control of your mind from your emotions by your intellect. It is accomplished by developing critical thinking and applying it to your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes so that personal transformation results. Personal growth and critical thinking are mutually reinforcing habits.
Definition of Critical Thinking
"Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe and do," according to Robert H. Ennis, author of "The Cornell Critical Thinking Tests." Three of the most important critical thinking skills are analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Analysis means recognizing patterns, parts and components. Synthesis means using information to create a new system, to generalize, and to draw conclusions. Evaluation means assessing concepts, weighing opinions for subjectivity, selecting items from alternatives, and making judgments.
The Tyranny of the Mind
Thousands of thoughts flow through your mind every day, many of them "under the radar" of your conscious awareness. These thoughts are largely responsible for the way you feel. Although a mind dominated by negative thoughts is under the tyranny of a cruel master, the human ability to think critically means that you have the ability to change the way you feel. "The quickest way to change the way you feel is to change the way you think," according to Hara Estroff Marano, Editor-in-Chief of "Psychology Today" magazine.
Meta-Awareness
The first step in taking control of your thoughts is to become aware of them. This requires you to pay constant attention to your own thoughts until monitoring them becomes second nature to you. Once you have accomplished this, you will have developed the foundation of the "meta-awareness" necessary to exercise conscious control of your thinking.
Identifying Negative Thinking Patterns
Psychologists have identified many common irrational and negative thinking patterns. Among these are polarizing, catastrophizing, personalizing, and filtering according to the Mayo Clinic. You will need to refine your new-found meta-awareness by learning to identify these negative thinking patterns, and use your critical skills to think of rational replacement thoughts.
Intervention
Once you have identified your most common negative thinking patterns and have constructed rational alternatives, you will need to consciously intervene in your mental life by intentionally aborting your negative thoughts and replacing them with positive alternatives that are rational and appropriate to the situation. This process might be likened to weeding a garden and planting flowers to replace them.
Benefits
The development of positive thinking yields both physiological and psychological benefits according to the Mayo Clinic. Physiological benefits include enhanced immune function, reduced risk of cancer and heart disease, and longer lifespan. Psychological benefits include lower stress, a stronger sense of well-being and better coping skills. Better psychological health, in turn, enhances critical thinking abilities by removing unnecessary distractions and reduces the stress that so often distorts thinking. Once you have conducted a general house-cleaning of your mind, you can proceed to more advanced personal growth techniques such as goal-setting.
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