the benefit of documenting your opinions
Today’s post is brought to you by my good friend Glenn. You may remember that he wrote a guest post for me back in the early part of February titled, “How Much is Too Much?” He currently writes for his personal blog Right After Left in which he explores many different facets of entertainment, business, and life in general. In today’s post, Glenn talks about the importance of documenting your opinions on various issues. I’ve mentioned before that I think a key component to living a simple life is being able to think for oneself. Formulating your own opinions and take on the world is crucial to being an independent individual. I love Glenn’s approach and I hope you find it as useful as I did. I’m honored to have him post again today and I hope you consider following him on Twitter, checking out his blog, or following him on Buzz.
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Often times I find myself reading an article or listening to a news broadcast and then, three minutes later, I have partially (or completely) forgotten about it. If the topic is raised again, my brain will trigger a response of recognition, but I won’t really be able to recall what my thoughts on the topic were. I have begun to document and write down my thoughts and opinions when I take something in. It has paid off almost immediately in many ways.
Helps to formulate a base opinion
Most information outlets will proclaim their independence and neutral stance on stories. Try as they might, it is nearly impossible to report news without leaning in a direction (I see you Anderson Cooper!). Subtle as it might be, you will find yourself influenced by these forces if you casually take an interest. By forcing yourself to formulate in words your own take on the issues, an honest opinion will form. If you feel uncomfortable when you write out what you think, you might need to reconsider your stance. Or this may just reinforce what you had thought was your true opinion. You just want to avoid losing your voice and succumbing to prepackaged opinions.
Helps to set a mental agenda
What would happen if you watched CNN all day? Well, for one, you would drive yourself insane. But more importantly, you would walk away with a set of assumptions of what was important for the day. If you were to go all day without documenting your opinions, CNN’s programming lineup would become your own thoughts. If someone were to ask you if anything important happened, you would just recap what was on CNN. No longer are you answering for what you found important. You are letting infotainment dictate your thought priorities. By writing down your take on events throughout the day, you are forced to think about what is important to you. You take back the control.
Helps you process further developments
A passive thinker will hear hundreds of different stories a day. Some will catch their attention (Headline: Monkey Saves Town Mayor…I’m listening), others will not. What happens for most people when they are engaged by a story? They read the entire article or the listen to the whole broadcast. This is step one. Without any further progression they would be stuck with only a snapshot of the issue. For some reason, news sites are still lagging in the ability to track stories (with one new exception, Google News).
Think of a river. If you were to go to the beginning, the middle or the end of the river and snapped a picture, you would have some idea of the river itself. In no way, however, would you develop a real understanding the river as a whole. You need the entire picture . A single news article is much like the picture of the middle of the river. The story had its break somewhere, and it is going to continue to flow after you read the article. How confident are you in your ability to judge a topic by one snapshot?
Helps you remember more
Time and time again it has been proven that writing information down improves memory. If you really want to be able to recall the things you are reading and hearing, you are in better shape if you write them down.
Helps you track the progression of your thoughts
Do you feel the same way about taxes as you did seven years ago? How about a full decade? Did you support the Iraq War when it began? How do you feel about it now? Ideas change, opinions are a fluid concept ebbing and flowing with the addition of more information. Think about how interesting it would be to be able to pull back the curtain from your mind and see what you thought about the topics of the 1980s. It would be both fascinating and helpful. Some topics go decades between appearances in the news. Do you remember what you thought about the savings and loans crisis of the 1980s and 1990s? It would give you both a foundation for what you previously thought and a basis for moving forward.
How to do it?
All you need is something to write with and something to write on. Depending on your level of tech savvy, you can use a multitude of devices to record your ideas. Personally, I use Google Documents because of the search features it offers. It is the easiest way to track my thoughts, reorganize issues and add to topics. A pen and paper works just as well, if it makes you comfortable.
What do you use and how do you handle your opinions?
Photo by Nic’s events
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