Milton Friedman, the economist, once wrote, “The best measure of quality thinking is your ability to accurately predict the consequences of your ideas and subsequent actions.” His point was that economic theory divorced from what actually happened when that theory was applied was clearly incorrect.

At the lowest socioeconomic level, lower-lower class, the time perspective was often only a few hours, or minutes, such as in the case of the hopeless alcoholic or drug addict, who thinks only about the next drink or dose. At the highest level, those who were second- or third-generation wealthy, their time perspective was many years, decades, even

They wrote that the greater clarity you have regarding where you want to be in the future, the easier it is for you to make correct decisions in the present.

The top people in every society projected years, even decades into the future when they made their day-to-day decisions. They thought carefully about what might happen before they made important or irrevocable commitments.

There are two laws that trip people up all the time, in personal life, in politics, and in international affairs. They are the Law of Unintended Consequences and the Law of Perverse Consequences.

Anaïs Nin wrote, “We do not see the world as it is, but as we are.”

Here is a simple way to transform your thinking to that of the most positive and successful people in our society. Think about the biggest problem that you have in your life today. Now imagine that this problem has been sent to you as a gift, to teach you something. Ask yourself, “What is the lesson or lessons that I can learn from this situation t

But as Josh Billings, the western humorist, once said, “It ain’t what a man knows what hurts him; it’s what he knows that ain’t true.”

Thomas Edison once said, “Thinking is the hardest work of all, which is why most people avoid it at all costs.” There is a saying, “There are those who think. There are those who think they think. And then there is the vast majority who would rather die than think.”