Critical Thinking vs Cynical Thinking

Tallow Beach Byron Bay at Sunrise June 2014

I continue to work hard at making sense of what is happening in my personal and professional life. We all become typecast in  roles we play and what others want us to be. What I do realise is that by being in the moment and understanding yourself very deeply you can be more valuable to others around you. Last month saw an opportunity to combine work travel with a bon voyage party for my Mum and Dad going on a world adventure before Mums reduced mobility makes it harder. We also caught up with family and very dear friends on the North Coast of NSW whilst we were up at Byron for a conference. Nothing is more grounding than people who really know who you are  and expect very little but value having time with you. This alone forces you to be in the moment. Meeting my cousins children and hear what is happening in their life was priceless.

The NZI Top Broker conference had fantastic speakers (beside myself:) ) . Colin James resonated with me when he discussed the difference between Critical Thinkers who enable others versus Cynical Thinkers who are the passengers in life. He described them as victims of a closed mind and drown in a culture of complaint. I guess we all know these sort of people that deny and avoid responsibility, abdicate accountability , justify their actions and when it gets too confronting just run away. He emphasised the value of the critical thinker that responds to circumstances and accept the situation and work with others to find solutions. It reminded me of what I had read in Seth Godin's book Tribes. The difference between Thermometers that tell the temperature and whinge versus Thermostats who read the temperature and adapt to the external climate. I continue to work on my own resilience and capability to be the best Thermostat I can be. 

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