Think Straight Book Summary I Get Your Thoughts In Order -

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Book – Think Straight (Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life) – Summary

Author – Darius Foroux

Genre – Self-help Book

Published in – 2017

As they say, “thoughts are things,” then it is significant that we think straight, and that’s precisely what Darius talks about in Think Candidly.

Many books have been written describing why we think the way we think by sharing stories but hardly suggesting how to change our feelings. Think Straight is the “HOW TO” book of changing thought patterns with practical steps that explain how to change how we think.

About the Author –

Darius Foroux is an entrepreneur, author, and podcaster. He has been sharing actionable tips for optimizing life and work every week since 2015. His ideas have been featured in TIME, NBC, Fast Company, Inc., Observer, and other publications.

He authorizes many books, including Do It Today, Win Your Inner Battle, and What it Takes to Be Free. You may consider visiting Darius Foroux’s Website for useful material and tips on productivity, Habit creation, Decision-making, and wealth-building.

About the Book –

Think Straight is based on the pragmatism philosophy founded by William James and Charles Sanders Peirce, which states that we can choose one thought over another. In other words, we can control what we think.

A book of fewer than 100 pages shares advice on getting our minds to work for us, not against it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “You become what you think about all day long.”

Thinking straight explains the significance of the thought process and helps us to eradicate not-required stuff and focus our thoughts on things that matter. As mentioned in the book – It’s about deciding.

A Few Key Points from the Book

1) Clear Thinking Requires Training –

Darius views the mind as a muscle and suggests regular training for better use. There are things one may consider strengthening the mind, giving an example of the gym. We don’t quit the gym after four years, so why should we stop learning beyond school/college?

Learn new things like language, skills, and games.
Mingle with new groups and explore new perspectives.
Traveling and reading are a few of the best ways to learn.

2) Filter Your Thoughts –

Darius shows an excellent way to filter our thoughts. Instead of the conventional filtering method like familiarity or ‘trial and error.’ He advises using what works for you.

When faced with decisions, one good question is, “Will the outcome of a decision change how I live?” If you request that yourself consistently, you’ll find that you automatically filter out useless information and only make decisions that impact the outcome of your life.

3) Mistaking what Thinking Is? –

Darius presents an excellent point with examples of what thinking is not and clarifies what is thinking. Most of the time, our mind is preoccupied with things like

What does my boss think of me?
Does she like me?
Why does my life suck?
What would happen if I changed my job or career?

Darius calls this worrying, stressing, freaking out because we aren’t doing anything with these thoughts, moreover hurting ourselves by indulging in it.

And as much as we think about why we have such thoughts, there is no concrete answer to it, and it’s better to be AWARE of it and decide what to ignore and pursue.

4) Rule of Thumb for Thinking –

Only think about things you can control. That automatically eliminates about 99% of your thoughts because there’s very little you can hold in life.

Things we control, like our desires, actions, words, and intentions. Other things we don’t have control over are different people; past & future are given as perfect examples.

5) No More Quick Decision –

He often says YES too quickly or commits, especially if an event or invitation for the near future creates a hurdle when the time comes. Darius explains this with a simple example and urges us to take a day or two to think about any decision thoroughly.

6) Take Time to Reflect –

I resonated with this point. It is important to reflect from time to time and see how we are doing, why we do what we do, and how we are growing.

Journaling is one of the best tools to reflect on, where we can understand how our thought process has changed for good or bad compared to before. We can learn more from our mistakes and refrain from repeating them.

7) Money Rules –

I found the Money topic in Thinking Straight Book relevant because many of our thoughts directly or indirectly revolve around money, and Darius offers simple money rules worth considering.

Don’t buy things you don’t need.
Save 10% of your income.
Stay out of debt.
Invest your money in things that have good returns.

I loved this line from the book about money –

Remember: Money is a replaceable resource. When you’re out of it, you can earn it back. You can’t say the same for time. Don’t spend too much time thinking about money.

8) Never Look Back –

We often hold on to things we may never use and take too many photographs we won’t see. Keep thinking about how we wish things would have been different.

I liked the suggestions in the book –

The only useful purpose I can think of looking back is to learn. You can draw many lessons from looking at your past.
‘It’s not the world’s end if things don’t work out. Make a decision. Stand by it. Move on. And only look back to learn.
Look back, but don’t stare for too long. Life happens in NOW.

I have also created a video of a few quotes from the book – I hope you like it. Please do subscribe to my YouTube channel – Myread4change.

Conclusion –

Think Straight is a one to two hours read, and I recommend reading it a couple of times as they say it takes time, repetition and practice to teach habits, and Thinking Straight is worth your time.

Please share your feedback/suggestions on this book summary or any questions; I will gladly answer them.

If you like this book, you may also like How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie.

I wish you a life with Straight Thinking.

Muzammil