Energy Efficient Thinking

You were born with a gift. You were born with one specific style of thinking that is more energy-efficient than any other style of thinking. When you use your gifted style of thinking, your ideas will flow and you will accomplish tasks with greater ease. "Do what you love, discover your talents, and follow your bliss" -- all these can happen when you learn and use your energy-efficient thinking style.

Psychologists have known that each individual has a unique and gifted style of thinking. Dr. Carl Jung discovered four styles and named them: Feeling, Sensing, Intuiting, and Thinking. Now modern research in neuro-psychology shows why each person is one of these styles and why a style is “energy efficient”.

Your brain is anatomically divided into four parts, not only left and right, but front and back as well. One quarter of your brain works with 100 times more efficiency than the other three quarters. You were born this way -- everyone is. The neurons in one quadrant of your brain uses 100 times less energy to function. That quadrant uses dramatically less oxygen and produces far less heat. Each of these four areas has their own "style of thinking," so each person has one thinking style that is highly energy efficient.

You may wonder how you can learn to use your energy-efficient thinking style. Here is a list of the four thinking styles: Feeling, Sensing, Intuiting, and Thinking. You can use this list to begin discovering your innate gift and energy efficient thinking style. Notice the skills in this list that you enjoy and find effortless.

Thinking (left front) -- You base your decisions primarily on logic. You dislike the ambiguous. You focus on the tangible and seek clear rules. At work, you may be brief and businesslike.

Intuiting (right front) -- You are happy to trust your subconscious mind or gut feel of a situation. You can see patterns and a broad perspective. You look for ideas that inspire you and you tend to focus on the future.

Sensing (left rear) -- You pay attention to the immediate information from your own direct experiences. You enjoy solid facts and are eager to explore the fine details of a situation.

Feeling (right rear) -- You base your decisions on social considerations as you listen to your heart and consider the feelings of others. You value harmony in your interactions with others. You are people-oriented and base your decisions on values.

If you have a job that constantly forces you to work outside of your energy-efficient thinking style then you will experience additional stress and tension in your work. When you do not work with your energy-efficient style, you are expending 100 times more thinking energy. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and exhaustion.

Discover your energy-efficient thinking style and use it -- step into the flow of a rich life!

- Aaron Gaul

Photo Credit: Torli Roberts