One thing is certain: the complexity of modern life demands constant and significant improvement from all of us in order to adapt and readapt to new modes of functioning and interactions in the social sphere.
All this complexity tends to generate an increase in the difficulty of reframing/ cognitive adaptation to this new globalized world that is our contemporaneity.
There are constant and intense changes, we know. Therefore, some people are more able to deal with this new reality of unusual changes.
They have certain unique skills that are crucial for relevant integration and development in an environment as adverse and changing as the one mentioned above.
But what skills are these? What are the advantages of a flexible mind in such a dynamic world?
That’s what we’re going to talk about in today’s article. Good reading!
What is a flexible mind?
We all have a dose of flexibility. Without a doubt, this is a necessary problem-solving skill.
Having a flexible mind is having the ability to think with a “differentiated cognitive elasticity”. This cognitive flexibility varies from person to person and also depends on changes.
We can say then that flexible thinking is those thoughts capable of dealing with adversity, unforeseen events, novelties, eccentricities that present themselves in everyday life in a creative, non-linear way. Those who lose out in this scenario are the people who are resistant to these changes.
Some theorists point out that a childhood lived in a family environment with a “rigid mind”, from which a correlation is drawn that a family environment with a “flexible mind” tends to develop greater protection.
Flexible mind in practice
Flexible thinking brings with it the openness to new paradigms.
It is the tendency to rely as much on imagination as on logic, to integrate and generate a wide variety of ideas. Of having the courage to face the new, the error, improvising answers, using creativity, relating to the ambiguity and contradictions inherent in human processes.
But of course, all this avoiding dogmatic, ingrained, plastered and rigid thoughts.
There is a difference in relation to analytical thinking, which is our mental tool that, when faced with a problem, analyzes and operates in order to solve them without so much complexity. In addition, it is also worth mentioning that it is the most stimulated form of reflection in Western society, requiring objectivity and practicality in the most pragmatic questions about life.
Analytical and/or scripted mind
As we mentioned earlier, analytical thinking has a beginning, a middle and an end. Everything happens in a standardized way.
Scripted thinking, on the other hand, is automatic thinking, for example, brushing your teeth, which is always the same. So the brain saves energy by following the script.
Both thoughts, both analytical and scripted, tend to fail when faced with changes, novelties and unforeseen events. But then what is to be done?
Enter with flexible thinking
In these cases of transformations and changes, they are not the most suitable. The input of flexible thinking that is non-linear, more complex in origin and coming from the unconscious is needed.
The flexible mind is not scripted. It takes place through multiple lines of parallel thought, facing a problem that requires innovation, creativity and improvisation. It operates in a multiple way, with several other types of thoughts that seek solutions to specific questions.
creative blocks
It is important to know that this thinking can be blocked by analytical and critical thinking. It works as a protection.
But how about letting go of old ways of thinking and starting to dare with new ways of thinking to deal with contemporary complexity?
Examine your mental paths, choose to create objective strategies that guide you in improving your thoughts and then improve them as a whole, that is, the analytical and the flexible.
But how to do it?
Having greater awareness!
Once you become more aware of the thoughts you are using to solve your specific problems, you can do this. Consciousness can interrupt the script of a thought that is already ingrained. It’s what we call mindfulness .
Mindfulness, derived from Buddhist meditation, is a state of full attention completely aware of your perceptions, sensations and of course your feelings.
With this practice, it is possible to analyze the thought processes at a distance, calmly and patiently. The practice of this technique can even become a habit that allows the opening to new experiences of thoughts, such as the experience of a brainstorming (storm of ideas).