Do you give priority to thinking? Do you feel that if you think you are doing something very important, do you block some uninterrupted time of your 24 hours of the day to think? If the answer is yes, you are on the path to where you want to go, as long as you are thinking the right things. Also, think about what is right, as everyone’s version of right can be different.

We have a natural tendency and innate energy to work toward our goals, but we do not really spend time to think about whether our goals are right. If we are in execution mode, only then do we feel that we are utilizing our time in the best possible way.

We put a lot of effort into being successful, but we do not spend time questioning how dominant notions of success could make us content. We spend most of our lives making money or striving towards it, but we seldom spend time figuring out how to spend it optimally.

In the rush of getting lots of work done, we miss why we are doing it. Do we really need to do it? There is no issue with going with the flow, as long as we have clarity about where that flow is leading us and whether we really want to go there. Will it give us happiness?

Here are some of the questions we should be asking ourselves to get into the habit of thinking before jumping to execution mode.

• What are we ultimately trying to do here?
• What would best serve our happiness?
• Why should we bother?
• How is this aligned with real value?
• Why is this a worthwhile effort?
• Where would I be in a few years, if this goes right?
• How is this connected with what fulfills me?

If we have clarity about the impact of what we are doing on our happiness level and our feelings, it will change our lives for the better, and we will be more focused and determined to do what we need to do.

Think through the answers to the following seemingly absurd questions before going on a holiday, engaging in a relationship, having a conversation with anyone, or working for money. You will notice more contentment in life and it will save you lots of energy to do something better for your life.

• What is a good holiday?
• What is a relationship for?
• What is a satisfying conversation?
• Why do we want money?

We devote 95% of our waking time to execution and only 5% to strategy, which is very unfair to ourselves. We need to reflect on the deeper ‘why’ questions before allowing ourselves to ‘relax’ in execution mode. We need to fix our concept of working. If someone is jumping from meeting to meeting and is looking very busy, they are not necessarily doing harder work than the person who is sitting with pen and paper and thinking, looking at the sky, and jotting down some plans or ideas.

We all have genius minds; we just need to take our thoughts more seriously by paying closer attention to our thoughts and feelings and then being brave enough to own our thoughts, even if we do not find anyone who echoes the same thoughts. Stay faithful to your thoughts and do not kill them off due to the fear of feeling strange to ourselves and others. We should make an effort to create an environment that is ideal for our strategic thinking. It is counterintuitive but worth the effort.

Set aside some time to think; you won’t regret it.