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Stephen Covey says there are 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People. John Maxwell claims there are 11 Ways
Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work in his 2006 book,
Thinking for a Change. And almost everyone has heard about Dr.
Phil’s 10 Life Strategies. Lots of books, speakers and
self-improvement gurus repackage the same tips for success in life.
There’s one skill though, that’s so
important, it underlies all these success rules. Making good
choices is a skill critical to life success.
Everyone from your mother to Dr. Phil tells
you to make good choices. But how, exactly, to do that is rarely talked
or written about. Decision and choice making often fall under the
critical thinking umbrella and the materials teaching it are dry,
academic, or clinical in nature.
Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® is a
fresh, new, simple to understand and simple to teach approach to
learning to make choices that work to improve your everyday life. In
fact, it’s so simple that most 6 year olds who know how to play checkers
already understand the basic skill in Thinking 2 Steps Ahead®.
Very simply put, Thinking 2 Steps Ahead®
is the habit of learning to consider the consequences of a choice, and
then follow the consequences to all the reactions of that choice, then
finally deciding if that choice will yield acceptable consequences or
not. In its simplest form, Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® is good
for making Yes/No decisions. In more complex applications Thinking 2
Steps Ahead® is an excellent tool to use in evaluating
different choices, and making sure that the choice selected is the one
that will most effectively advance the goals of the choice maker.
Many people already do consider consequences
in making decisions. Few though, think through to the second level
consequences and make their choices by evaluating the consequences that
are not immediately evident. That habit is literally the difference
between people who create the lives they want to live rather than those
reacting to the things life throws in their path.
Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® is a
skill that is easily taught, easily practiced, and positively enhances
the outcomes of life.
Children are taught Thinking 2 Steps Ahead®
when they learn to play checkers. It’s easy then to make the
correlation between how the game is played, and, as Dr. Phil says, how
the game of life is played.
Elementary school teachers can reinforce the
Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® process in the myriad of situations
they encounter daily. High school teachers, counselors and parents can
help teens use Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® to make many of the
decisions that shape the rest of their lives.
Businesses highly value employees who are
able to think through to consequences. Executives skilled at Strategic
Planning do it all the time. Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® brings
that same skill down to more basic levels so every employee has an
opportunity to create the best result for the business and its common
goals. And as an added bonus, employees will take home the skills of
Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® and use them to improve their
personal and family relationships.
Parents will use Thinking 2 Steps Ahead®
to help create an atmosphere that teaches children that they have the
skills and responsibility to create the life they want to live.
Marriages are strengthened from making
choices and decisions that move the partnership toward the shared hopes
and dreams that created it in the first place.
After learning the Thinking 2 Steps Ahead®
technique, the phrase “let’s Think 2 Steps Ahead about that” becomes a
part of the vocabulary, thus constantly reinforcing the habit of using
the skill to make good choices.
Thinking 2 Steps Ahead® is a
great recipe for your best shot at success, happiness and prosperity
ever.
The techniques are simple to learn and
easy to use!
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