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How Successful People Think

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BUSINESS BOOK SUMMARIES
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March 3, 2011

How Successful People Think
John C. Maxwell

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Summarized by permission of the publisher, Center Street, New York, New York. All rights reserved. ©2009 by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 978-1-59995-168-3

Introduction
In all aspects of life, from the professional world to family interactions, good thinkers help solve problems. For 40 years, John C. Maxwell has studied and analyzed successful people and how they think. He has concluded that the way successful people approach the thought process is a key differentiator. In How Successful People Think, Maxwell discusses the 11 skills that good thinkers exhibit and describes how to adopt these skills. Maxwell recommends keeping it in a place where it will stimulate further thinking. 2. Spending time with good thinkers. Maxwell believes that to become a sharp thinker, a person must spend time with sharp people and observe how they think. 3. Thinking good thoughts. The thinking process is a discipline. As a result, it is important to make thinking a priority and to regularly take time to generate and develop thoughts. 4. Acting on good thoughts. The window of opportunity to act on promising thoughts is short. When a good thought arises, it is important to act on it quickly. 5. Allowing emotions to create another good thought. A person cannot wait to start the thinking pro-

Getting Started with Better Thinking
For a person to change the way they think, they must commit time to an ongoing process that is comprised of six steps: 1. Finding good input to start the thinking process. The thinking process can be initiated by absorbing good ideas from books, trade magazines, or lectures. When an idea catches one’s attention,

Business Book Summaries® March 3, 2011 • Copyright © 2011 EBSCO

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