Be Strategic in Life
Strategic thinking is deliberate action, moving like a chess piece, with patience and understanding of the unfolding that occurs through choices, beliefs, and perceptions.
–Eileen Bild
We are strategic on the battlegrounds and when playing chess, but are you a strategic thinker?
What you think about, assess, view, and create for yourself in the present and into the future is a process. Done strategically, you can make conscious decisions and take action that moves you forward towards where you want to go.
How can I think strategically? Glad you asked!
- Reflection – create a connection between ideas and visions
- Use both the masculine and feminine parts of the brain – the masculine is the will, while the feminine creates (if only one is active, you may go in circles getting little to nothing done)
- Think outside the box – broaden your horizon and look at what does not work to determine what will work (amazing how the information surfaces when going about it from this direction)
- Look at the big picture – having all the puzzle pieces together enables the mind to believe in the potentiality of what could be
- Careful analysis of the inner core and external circumstances – perceptions, beliefs and thinking patterns are key in strategic planning
Having a strong foundation enables strategic thinking to take hold, creation occurs, and manifestation is the result. An unstable foundation will create doubts, fears, and uncertainty engaging you in experiences that do not support your visions.
As you allow the strategic planning to build, watching for the signs you are going in the direction desired, your life will unfold with ease. There will be little to no drama, conflict or resistance from either yourself or others. A great place to be, right?
What moves you?
What motivates you?
What makes your heart sing?
We live a world that is in constant flux and change. Responding, rather than reacting, to both internal and external cues will align with strategic thinking, sharpening your awareness skills. Be very clear on what works and what does not work for you. Our individual uniqueness is a catalyst to be and do what is our natural progression in life.
Why not strategically coordinate with who you are at the core, so life is fulfilling, meaningful and you are on purpose?
Eileen,
This is a musing that puts one at ease 🙂
As a teenager, I always rebelled against the strategists and blamed them ‘playing God’ (LoL). Till one day, it struck me that strategy needn’t always be a coercive, cut-throat red ocean of competitive culture.
I then had the opportunity to read De Bono’s ” 6 Thinking Hats’ and what you’ve mentioned in your musing ‘ Critical Thinking’. Ever since then, I have been practicing to strategize. Let’s hope that I succeed mastering a good strategy.
The 5 points that you’ve shared with us on ‘how can I think strategically’ are very helpful.
Keep Shining …
Rajat
Strategy is good in that you have a plan and you know what the start and end results looks like. That being said often after the first step the battle field becomes fluid and you must also be fluid in your response. I guess in the being able to reaction to multiple situations is like strategy in motion. Great story today, one that makes you pause and reflect thank you for sharing this.
Yes! Strategy is an excellent way to know the end result. Fluidity is definitely a part of the battle, but with concrete plan of action that has room for adjustments as needed. Having the anticipation of what you know is most likely to occur, gives you the upper hand. I like that….strategy in motion. Thank you Larry!
Very interesting article. Strategy is forethought and with a logical mind I find that in competition what you would think a logical strategy might be in your competitors mind simply isn’t the case. Strategy is also discovering the anomalies of the unknown successes in luck as that curve ball by an illogical thinker sometimes just doesn’t make sense when everything is against him. Guess they call that a Hail Mary
Thank you Johnny! You are correct, what we think others may be thinking, may not be so. Trying to reason with an unreasonable person who does not think logically is like hitting one’s head against a brick wall. We bruise oursevles, rather than the other person seeing the disconnect in their ways/thinking. I have learned to be two steps ahead and anticipate with strategy knowing the steps the other is going to take. This way, I am stress free during the experience, because I know the outcome, due to my being in control, they do not know what I know. So, they go at it blindly. I think I will write a musing on the experience, could help someone in similar situations with passive/aggressive, controlling and manipulating people.