15 Ways to Develop Critical Thinking

a 2014 survey of 400 employees showed that 91 of individuals believe critical thinking is an important part of being successful in the workplace on the flip side of this does this mean a lack of critical thinking could hinder your success in your job well we're afraid so a luck sir but don't worry in today's video we'll take a look at 15 ways to develop your critical thinking skills so let's Jump Right In welcome to alux.com the place where future billionaires come to get inspired number one question assumptions there's no denying it we assume quite a

number of things as humans we assume things about our workplace about our relationships and most importantly about ourselves a cheeky quote says when you assume you make an ass out of you and me while this might be quite a funny way to put it it does ring true making assumptions reduces the chances of innovation but when you question these assumptions it spirals into an extensive critical thinking process which more often than not tends to lead to innovative ideas questioning your assumptions helps you to critically assess everything you think you know which in itself is a

great tool for developing your critical thinking Number Two Become self-aware when you become more self-aware it simply means you've become more aware of your values your thought processes your personality and your morals but did you also know that in becoming self-aware you're simultaneously developing your critical thinking skills that's right as you objectively think about what defines your personality your likes and dislikes strengths and weaknesses goals and dreams you're honing your critical thinking skills becoming self-aware will also help you to see the need to develop those critical thinking skills number three adopt Ted Ed's five-step process

in a 2016 video Ted Ed outlined five steps that can help you develop critical thinking and solve different kinds of problems the first step is to understand and formulate your question this simply means that you must understand the reason why you're making a certain decision the why behind your critical thinking at this point it's equally as important to understand the biases and facts surrounding this decision next you have to gather your information this is basically an extension of the first process but way more intensive at this stage based on your understanding of your question you

gather relevant information that could affect your decision the next and most important step is application here you've got to take action and apply everything you've discovered at this point you have to start thinking critically by asking important questions what values and Concepts have you now adopted are you being logical here have you made assumptions at any point your answers to these questions will help you find the underlying meaning behind your decision which can in a way affect or reinforce your conclusions moving forward the fourth step involves understanding the implications of your decisions so take for

instance you've decided to pay a thousand dollars for a business class what are the implications of this action if things don't go according to plan aside from losing one thousand dollars what are the chances that this class will help you land a well-paying job in making a decision always strive to consider the long-term and short-term implications as it'll help you to see things more clearly and finally you must explore other point of views before taking action your POV is simply one of many so widen that view up number four evaluate your mental process fun fact

the human mind works just like a computer it collects and processes information and it can store this information for later use now that we've got a formula for how your mind works doesn't this suggest that we can better understand the inner workings of our minds of oops we can you can study how your mind receives and processes information that is how you react to certain situations this understanding is a great way to become mentally efficient and as you perhaps already guessed mental efficiency is a necessary factor for critical thinking evaluating your mental processes also gives

you the ability to properly analyze situations before making important decisions number five ask questions when you're not too sure about something when you don't particularly understand something ask questions they look sir asking questions is no doubt one of the best ways to get information it could be from a person or a search engine but what matters most is the fact you made an effort to learn which in itself is necessary for critical thinking however it's not completely about asking questions but what you do with the answer is equally as important do you take the answer

at face value and question nothing or do you accept the answer and investigate every bit of it if you go with the second option well congratulations you're on the path to developing a strong critical thinking skills number six learn to investigate at number five we mentioned the need to investigate answers but here we're showing you how to properly investigate every bit of information you find the first step is to identify and evaluate every existing evidence you can find have you been in this type of situation or challenge in the past how did you react what

did the experience teach you next collect and analyze data and this is where you outline the facts of the situation and what each fact means for you and finally take action based on the conclusions from your investigations investigating situations rather than acting on impulse reduces your chances of making a poor choice instead it sharpens your critical thinking skills while also helping you to make better decisions number seven identify patterns patterns are everywhere you just have to be willing to see them you can get started by trying to notice patterns around you around your home around

your workplace even out with your friends you can also identify patterns in your thought processes trying to identify these patterns is sort of a brain exercise and since you have to look beyond the obvious to see these patterns it naturally develops your critical thinking abilities so next time you feel the need to exercise your mind Focus your attention on something specific and try to find interesting patterns and remember you don't always have to find patterns the thought process is just as important number eight be a Daydreamer according to a 2009 study at the University of

British Columbia the executive Network the region of the brain associated with focused problem solving is also the area of the brain that lights up during daydreaming when you Daydream you create new and complex worlds and interesting ideas and usually when we Daydream it's too imaginatively solve a difficult problem that reality has put before us you are stuck in traffic of course you daydream about having the ability to fly or being the fastest person alive to constantly activate the executive network of your brain that improves critical thinking this study suggests that you Daydream as much as

you can so go ahead aluxer spend some time creating fanciful situations and just see what that does for your critical thinking in the long term number nine feed your mind the human mind just like the body in which it lives requires food to remain sharp it's important we develop our imaginative abilities but how do we do that well for starters reading stretches the boundaries of the mind it kind of forces you to be imaginative have you ever read a fictional book without some sort of picture in your mind that is your imagination at work one

other great way to feed your mind is through meditation this incredibly powerful and age-old practice is an interesting way to clear your mind and help you to manage your anxiety and stress if your mind is constantly noisy it naturally becomes very difficult to think critically and this is where meditation can help silence the noise number 10 be open to other points of views earlier in the video we mentioned exploring other povs how about we give that a closer look right now most times arguments happen because we're not willing to accept a person's point of view

sometimes we also suffer with internal conflict simply because we refuse to consider more than our own POV now if you stick to just one point of view you are robbing yourself of the chance to explore situations from other angles and that's not all you're also refusing a chance to learn more about a situation or a challenge however when you accept and analyze diverse points of view you're embarking on a critical thinking Journey which places these povs side by side and helps you to see the pros and cons of each one so by becoming open to

diverse points of view you are simultaneously improving your critical thinking skills number 11. learn to form your own opinions one of the most important points of critical thinking is to teach you how to think on your own critical thinking aims at helping us to form our own opinions based on the information that we've been able to collect to form your own opinion question your biases and assumptions constantly feed your mind think deeply and objectively about your values strengths and weaknesses and write important things down as this will help you to properly articulate your thoughts number

12 identify the problem off the top of our heads we can list the benefits of critical thinking and one of those core functions of critical thinking is problem solving but before you can solve any problem you have to take the time to properly identify it and identifying a problem isn't just about knowing the exact problem you have to solve it's also about looking at the problem from diverse perspectives and asking important questions you can ask yourself stuff like what is the cause of this problem why is it happening at this time am I making any

assumptions here what are the different ways I can solve this problem by answering these questions you're bound to have a better understanding of the problem and how you can build a perfect solution number 13 learn to accept criticism would argue that criticism sucks and you know they have a couple of points right they can argue that criticism is an attack on our creative effort and it tends to demotivate a person but come on we know that criticism isn't a bad thing in fact accepting criticism is a quick way to get better at what you do

instead of seeing constructive criticism as an attack on your work or your personality learn to see it as an opportunity to identify loopholes in your work if a loophole or mistake is discovered by a Critic would this mistake happen again definitely not but accepting criticism is not all there is to it it's just as important to reflect and understand the facts of the criticism and this can only be achieved through critical thinking now it's definitely safe to say that constructive criticism is a learning opportunity right number 14. always self-evaluate self-evaluation is a tested and trusted

way to find out if you've been biased in forming your opinions or making a decision self-evaluation is the process of holding yourself up for investigation this helps you to identify your thought process current values and most importantly it assesses your strengths and weaknesses and gives you insight into where you need to make improvements this self-evaluation process requires a heavy dose of critical thinking and consistency but at the end of it all you'll be so glad you did it number 15. creative writing there is a thin line between creative writing and critical thinking and if you're

super pumped about developing your critical thinking then creative writing is definitely one more thing you should try we all know what you're thinking I'm not so good with writing stories or poems well that's kind of a point here you don't have to be the most talented creative writer you just have to write this is because creative writing helps your creative thinking and yes it's a great exercise to sharpen your critical thinking so next time you want to sharpen your mind try your hand at writing a story who knows you might just be the next Nobel

Prize winner for literature one day and with that Alexa time for a curtain call we hope you gained some insights here today on how to become a better critical thinker the great news is that these tips will work for everyone you just have to be resilient and dedicated toward becoming that critical thinker you want to be and for sticking with us all the way to the end of the video of course you're getting a bonus number 16 remember that critical thinking takes practice becoming a critical thinker takes time and it's important you always keep that

in the back of your mind why well sometimes your decisions might not eventually lead to success despite your critical thinking skills we would love you to hold this quote to Heart good things take time but great things take a little longer hey give yourself some time to get used to the process and the results will be mind-blowing Elixir and there you have it thank you for watching this video eloxer if you found it valuable consider subscribing to our Channel and joining our awesome community and if you're still hungry for more we hand-picked this video for

you to watch next or head over to our website for more amazing content see you tomorrow [Music]