People who think for themselves do these 10 things

Do you think for yourself?

A man looking up thoughtfully with numerous yellow lightbulbs of various sizes floating above his head against a dark background, suggesting the concept of ideas or creativity.

The irony is inescapable yet amusing, so let’s have a laugh: yes, you’re reading an internet article on how to think for yourself.

It’s OK though, because thinking for oneself is, at its sum, a shared learning experience.

Here are the things people who think for themselves do on a regular basis. Things that we should all do too. So let’s learn from the masters.

1. They untangle their minds from the external world.

A woman with shoulder-length dark hair stands by a tall window, gazing thoughtfully into the distance. She is wearing a sleeveless, red halter-neck dress. The background is minimalist with light-grey textured walls.

Our current world creates tornadoes, unscrews the tops of our heads, drops the tornadoes in like spinning tops, then screws our tops back on.

Information bounces, spins, and twists around other bits so much it’s a wonder we don’t have apps to remind us of our names.

In order to think for ourselves, we have to be able to extricate all the tangled narratives, and view each clearly before attempting to relate it to another.

In other words, click our heels three times and remember that our amazing, individual brains are our homes. Before anything else screams our way for attention, remember that YOU are your baseline.

You… which means news stations, politicians, memes, and a million tweets a day don’t get to tell you who and what you are.

They’re so far beneath the levels of what you’re capable of thinking, that it’s ludicrous they’d even attempt to impose themselves as surrogates for your own private, independent thoughts.

2. They find clarity in the essence of their thoughts.

A man with short dark hair is sitting at a wooden table indoors, resting his chin on his clasped hands and looking thoughtfully into the distance. He is wearing a pink knit sweater, and the background is softly blurred with warm lighting.

Be clear in why you’re thinking XYZ, before you wonder what more you might think. Clarity goes a long way toward shaking off unworthy – even harmful – mental influences.

If you’re going to think for yourself, you’ll need clarity as your shield. Listen. Listen carefully. Word choices are exactly that: choices. In many cases, they are weapons.

If a news broadcast is using combative words, they are doing so for a purpose: they want you riled up.

If a friend constantly demeans someone else to you – someone you very likely had no thoughts on one way or another – they are doing so for a reason: they don’t want you to think, they want you to affirm their own notions.

In many ways, thinking for yourself requires you to be a psychoanalyst. People say what they say to sway you, and not always toward beneficial or logical ends.

Know when you’re being manipulated. Paying attention to the Whys that go hand-in-hand with the Whats will go a long way in freeing up mental space for your own mind to roam.

3. They go silent.

A blonde woman in a light sweater enjoys a warm drink from a white mug while gazing thoughtfully out of a window. Sunlight streams in, creating a serene and cozy atmosphere.

At least once a day, live disconnected for an hour.

This may be difficult to achieve in one go. Try fifteen minute pockets instead, four a day, where there’s no phone, tablet, laptop, television, satellite radio, book, ebook, or even a simple, minor task. Simply be for fifteen minutes.

Some might even call this “meditation.” Might call it grounding. Might call it snatching a moment from the day.

No matter its terminology, the effect is identical: your brain gets a chance to actually have a private, one-on-one conversation about the world with itself.

That’s a wonderfully empowering thing, something all brains need.

4. They say no to their own thoughts sometimes.

A man with glasses, wearing a white sweater and blue jeans, sits on a park bench in an autumn setting. He is resting his chin on his clasped hands, looking thoughtful. Fallen leaves surround the bench and trees with yellow foliage are visible in the background.

How often do you think about some facet of life – say immigrants coming to take “our” jobs – then stop yourself with a “No, that can’t be right”?

Our brains are so hyper-stimulated, oftentimes we ourselves have no idea what we’re thinking; we’re just spouting what we’ve heard from a multitude of vague “somewheres” in order to keep up with the crowd.

Saying “no” to yourself on occasion reasserts your individuality. Reassertion of individuality divorces significant portions of the mind from “group think.”

5. They recognize and work on their information addictions.

A bearded man with short hair wearing a gray t-shirt sits at a white kitchen table, looking pensively into the distance while holding a smartphone. A glass of orange juice and a bowl of fruit are on the table, with wooden cabinets and a textured wall in the background.

If it seems we live in cultures constantly inventing new addictions, it’s because we do. The human brain enjoys being pinged.

You wouldn’t think this predilection translates to thought patterns, but it does.

Quite often, when we think we’re forming thoughts and opinions, we’re just taking hits of some particularly convenient mental drug.

Social media is predicated on these addiction responses: see post, react, reply, click, re-post, feel release.

Biased news channels and influencers offer the same hit.

Some of us fuel these addictions so much they become our eyes upon the world.

By recognizing what your thoughts feed you, you can begin to alter reactions and perceptions toward thinking for yourself.

6. They ask lots of questions.

A woman with long blonde hair and bangs stands in front of a bright yellow background. She is looking slightly upward with a thoughtful expression, resting her chin on her hand. She is wearing a light-colored sleeveless top.

This may seem obvious, but pause a moment to consider how often you actually question things. Probably about as often as telling yourself that something you’ve accepted as a given can’t possibly be right.

Humans get so comfortable in their assumptions and preconceived notions that something we used to do quite often as children is now, in our dotage, nearly alien. Children ask questions and grow. Adults pretend they have answers, not questions, and stagnate.

7. They develop a strong sense of their own identity.

A sense of identity goes a long way toward optimizing the brain’s files and programs, cognitively and emotionally.

When you know who you are, you’re able to weed out the bad data streaming amidst the valid.

Pop culture, by its very definition, demands that it be recognized as “the way to go.” But pop culture is 99 percent marketing, and there’s a saying that marketing will kill us all. Let your brain fire back: “Only if I’m buying what you’re selling.”

8. They are firm when needed.

A woman with short, blonde hair stands outside, holding eyeglasses and a smartphone in her right hand, and an open book in her left. She wears a white blouse with black polka dots and looks thoughtfully into the distance. The background features a modern building.

We don’t need devils whispering in our ears; we have billboards. We have a staggering surplus of voices telling us to change our minds RIGHT NOW, not later, not after a period of consideration, right flooping now.

Don’t think, be angry. Don’t think, feel sad. Don’t think, watch in shock.

Firmly push these debilitating messages aside. Tell the world you will not be rushed, not in thought, not in judgment, not in temperament.

Tell the world “Thank you, but I will think for myself.”

9. They are willing to be wrong.

A bearded person with glasses, wearing a dark green shirt and light-colored pants, is sitting against a white brick wall. They are resting their chin on one hand and looking thoughtfully into the distance. A wristwatch is visible on their left wrist.

A lot of non-thinking comes from not wanting to be wrong about things. But you will, you will be wrong. And that’s OK. You know, even computers lose at chess. Being wrong just means you’re ready for new information, not that you’re somehow defective.

Admitting when you’re wrong makes you less susceptible to being the pawn of mental grifters and charlatans.

10. They expand their consciousness.

A man wearing glasses and a gray beanie is sitting at a wooden table in a cozy cafe. He is reading a book and smiling. A cup of coffee, a stack of books, a potted plant, and a notebook with a pen are on the table. The background is softly lit.

This may sound hoodoo mysterious, but it quite literally (and simply) means increase what you are aware of.

You’d be amazed what variety can accomplish in the brain’s workings. Reading variety, situational variety, and especially cultural variety, all open the mind to new ways of thinking via literally creating new neural pathways and connections in your physical brain.

Variety and diversity re-wire our brains to think vibrantly and anew!

Who’da thought?