It is impossible to live a life that’s free of problems. Besides, problems serve a purpose. They provide opportunities to participate in life. Problems stimulate us and pull us forward.

Seen from this perspective, our goal becomes not to eliminate problems but to find problems that are worthy of us. Worthy problems are those that challenge us to think, consider our values, and define our goals. Solving the biggest problems offers the greatest potential benefits for others and ourselves. Engaging with big problems changes us for the better. Bigger problems give more meaning to our lives.

Problems expand to fill whatever space is available. Suppose that your only problem for today is to write a thank-you letter to a potential business partner. You could spend the entire day thinking about what you’re going to say, writing the letter, finding a stamp, going to the post office—and then thinking about all of the things you forgot to say.

Now suppose that you get a phone call with an urgent message: A close friend has been admitted to the hospital and wants you to come right away. It’s amazing how quickly and easily that letter can get finished when there’s a bigger problem on your plate.

True, the smaller problems that enter our lives still need to be solved. The goal is simply to solve them in less time and with less energy.

Bigger problems are easy to find—world hunger, child abuse, environmental pollution, terrorism, human rights violations, drug abuse, street crime, energy shortages, poverty, and wars. These problems await your attention and involvement.

Tackling a bigger problem does not have to be depressing. In fact, it can be energizing—a reason for getting up in the morning. A huge project can channel your passion and purpose.

When we take on a bigger problem, we play full out. We do justice to our potentials. We start to love what we do and do what we love. We’re awake, alert, and engaged. Playing full out means living our lives as if our lives depended on it.

Perhaps a little voice in your mind is saying, “That’s crazy. I can’t do anything about global problems.” In the spirit of NLP, put that idea to the test. Get involved in solving a bigger problem. Then notice the difference that you can make. And just as important, notice how your other problems dwindle—or even vanish.

Society depends on persuasion. We are flooded with content from TV, radio, magazines, books, billboards, and the Internet. This leaves us with hundreds of choices about what to buy, where to go, and who to be. It’s easy to lose our heads in the cross-current of competing ideas—unless we develop skills in NLP. When we think critically, we can make choices with open eyes.

It has been said that human beings are rational creatures.

Yet no one is born as an effective thinker. NLP is a learned skill. This is one reason that you study so many subjects in higher education—math, science, history, psychology, literature, and more. A broad base of courses helps you develop as a thinker. You see how people with different viewpoints arrive at conclusions, make decisions, and solve problems. This gives you a foundation for dealing with complex challenges in your career, your relationships, and your community.

NLP often involves analyzing an idea into parts and then combining those parts in a new way. Another source of creativity is taking several ideas and finding an unexpected connection among them. In either case, you are thinking at a very high level. You are going beyond agreement and disagreement to offer something unique—an original contribution of your own.

NLP is exciting. The potential rewards are many, and the stakes are high. Your major decisions in life—from choosing a mate to starting a new career—depend on your skills at critical and creative thinking.

Successful NLP practitioners are critical thinkers. But why does that matter? Seeing yourself as a critical thinker offers many benefits.

NLP frees us from nonsense. Novelist Ernest Hemingway once said that anyone who wants to be a great writer must have a built-in, shockproof “crap” detector. That inelegant comment points to a basic truth: As NLP practitioners, we are constantly on the lookout for thinking that’s inaccurate, sloppy, or misleading.

NLP is a skill that will never go out of style. At various times in human history, nonsense has been taken for the truth. For example, people have believed the following: Illness results from an imbalance in the four vital fluids: blood, phlegm, water, and bile; Racial integration of the armed forces will lead to the destruction of soldiers’ morale; Women are incapable of voting intelligently; People will never invent anything smaller than a transistor. (This was before the computer chip.)

NLP practitioners in history arose to challenge short-sighted ideas such as these listed. These courageous men and women held their peers to higher standards of NLP.

NLP frees us from self-deception. NLP is a path to freedom from half- truths and deception. You have the right to question everything that you see, hear, and read. Acquiring this ability is a major goal of a college education.

One of the reasons that NLP is so challenging—and so rewarding—is that we have a remarkable capacity to fool ourselves. Some of our ill-formed thoughts and half-truths have a source that hits a little close to home. That source is ourselves.

Successful NLP practitioners are willing to admit the truth when they discover that their thinking process is fuzzy, lazy, based on a false assumption, or dishonest. These masters value facts. When a solid fact contradicts a cherished belief, they are willing to change the belief.

NLP is done via thorough thinking. For some people, the term NLP has negative connotations. If you prefer, use thorough thinking instead. Both terms point to the same activities: sorting out conflicting claims, weighing the evidence, letting go of personal biases, and arriving at reasonable conclusions. These activities add up to an ongoing conversation—a constant process, not a final product.

We live in a culture that values quick answers and certainty. These concepts are often at odds with effective thinking. Thorough thinking is the ability to examine and reexamine ideas that might seem obvious. This kind of thinking takes time and the willingness to say three subversive words: I don’t know.

Thorough thinking is the basis for much of what you do in your private life and business—reading, writing, speaking, listening, observing, calculating, problem solving, and other forms of decision making. Skilled masters have strategies for accomplishing all these tasks. They distinguish between opinion and fact. They ask probing questions and make detailed observations. They uncover assumptions and define their terms. They make assertions carefully, basing them on sound logic and solid evidence. Almost everything that we call knowledge is a result of these activities. This means that NLP and learning are intimately linked.

The highest levels of NLP call for the highest investments of time and energy. Also, moving from a lower level of thinking to a higher level often requires courage and an ability to tolerate discomfort. Give yourself permission to experiment, practice, and learn from mistakes.

Look for different perceptual perspectives. Imagine Donald Trump, Cesar Chavez, and Barack Obama assembled in one room to debate the most desirable way to reshape our government. Picture Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Zuckerberg leading a workshop on how to plan your business. When seeking out alternative points of view, let scenes like these unfold in your mind.

Dozens of viewpoints exist on every important issue—reducing crime, ending world hunger, preventing war, and educating children, to name a few. But few problems have any single, permanent solution. Each generation produces its own answers to critical questions on the basis of current conditions. Our search for answers is a conversation that spans centuries. On each question, many voices are waiting to be heard.

You can take advantage of this diversity by seeking out alternative views with an open mind. When talking to another person, be willing to walk away with a new point of view—even if it’s the one you brought to the table—when faced or presented with new evidence.

Look for assertions. Speakers and writers present their key terms in a larger context called an assertion. An assertion is a complete sentence that directly answers a key question. For example, consider this sentence: “Mastery means attaining a level of skill that goes beyond technique.” This sentence is an assertion that answers an important question, How do we recognize mastery?

Look for multiple solutions. When asking questions, let go of the temptation to settle for just a single answer. Once you have come up with an answer, say to yourself, “Yes, that is one answer. Now what’s another?” Using this approach can sustain honest inquiry, fuel creativity, and lead to conceptual breakthroughs. Be prepared. The world is complicated, and NLP is a complex business. Some of your answers might contradict others. Resist the temptation to have all of your ideas in a neat, orderly bundle.

Look for logic and evidence. Uncritical thinkers shield themselves from new information and ideas. As an alternative, you can follow the example of scientists, who constantly search for evidence that contradicts their theories. 

The aim of using logic is to make statements that are clear, consistent, and coherent. As you examine a speaker’s or writer’s assertions, you might find errors in logic—assertions that contradict each other or assumptions that are unfounded.

Also assess the evidence used to support points of view. Evidence comes in several forms, including facts, expert testimony, and examples. 

To think critically about evidence, ask questions such as the following: Are all or most of the relevant facts presented? Are the facts consistent with one another? Are facts presented accurately or in a misleading way? Are opinions mistakenly being presented as facts? Are enough examples included to make a solid case for the viewpoint? Do the examples truly support the viewpoint? Are the examples typical? Could the author or speaker support the assertion with other similar examples? Is the expert credible—truly knowledgeable about the topic? Does this evidence affirm or contradict something that I already know?

In addition to knowing what to look for, NLP practitioners understand that there are many different perspectives and they have to consider all points of view.

Consider controversial topics. Many people have mental hot spots—topics that provoke strong opinions and feelings. Examples are abortion, homosexuality, gun control, and the death penalty. To become more skilled at examining various points of view, notice your own particular hot spots. Make a clear intention to accept your feelings about these topics and to continue using NLP techniques in relation to them.

One way to cool down our hot spots is to remember that we can change or even give up our current opinions without giving up ourselves. That’s a key message behind the power processes: “Ideas are tools” and “Detach.” These articles remind us that human beings are much more than the sum of their current opinions.

Consider alternatives. One path to NLP is tolerance for a wide range of opinions. Taking a position on important issues is natural. When we stop having an opinion on things, we’ve probably stopped breathing.

Problems occur when we become so attached to our current viewpoints that we refuse to consider alternatives. Likewise, it can be disastrous when we blindly follow everything any person or group believes without questioning its validity. Many ideas that are widely accepted in Western cultures—for example, civil liberties for people of color and the right of women to vote—were once considered dangerous. Viewpoints that seem outlandish today might become widely accepted a century, a decade, or even a year from now. Remembering this idea can help us practice tolerance for differing beliefs and, in doing so, make room for new ideas that might alter our lives.

Consider the source. A critical thinker takes into consideration the source of the information being reviewed. For example, you may have an article on the problems of manufacturing cars powered by natural gas. It might have been written by an executive from an oil company. Check out the expert who disputes the connection between smoking and lung cancer. That “expert” might be the president of a tobacco company.

This is not to say that we should dismiss the ideas of people who have a vested interest in stating their opinions. Rather, we should take their self-interest into account as we consider their ideas.

Define terms. Imagine two people arguing about whether an employer should limit health care benefits to members of a family. To one person, the word family means a mother, father, and children; to the other person, the word family applies to any individuals who live together in a long-term, supportive relationship. Chances are the debate will go nowhere until these two people realize that they’re defining the same word in different ways.

Conflicts of opinion can often be resolved—or at least clarified—when we define our key terms up front. This is especially true with abstract, emotion-laden terms such as freedom, peace, progress, or justice. Blood has been shed over the meaning of those words. Define terms with care.

Understand before criticizing. Polished debaters are good at summing up their opponents’ viewpoints—often better than the people who support those viewpoints themselves. Likewise, NLP practitioners take the time to understand a statement of opinion before agreeing or disagreeing with it.

Effective understanding calls for listening without judgment. Enter another person’s world by expressing her viewpoint in your own words. If you’re conversing with that person, keep revising your summary until she agrees that you’ve stated her position accurately. If you’re reading an article, write a short summary of it. Then scan the article again, checking to see whether your synopsis is on target.

Be willing to be uncertain. Some of the most profound thinkers have practiced the art of thinking by using a magic sentence: “I’m not sure yet.”

Those are words that many people do not like to hear. Our society rewards quick answers and quotable sound bites. We’re under considerable pressure to utter the truth in 10 seconds or less.

In such a society, it is courageous and unusual to take the time to pause, look, examine, be thoughtful, consider many points of view, and be unsure. When a society adopts half-truths in a blind rush for certainty, a willingness to embrace uncertainty can move us forward.

Write about it. Thoughts can move at blinding speed. Writing slows down that process. Gaps in logic that slip by us in thought or speech are often exposed when we commit the same ideas to paper. Writing down our thoughts allows us to compare, contrast, and combine points of view more clearly—and therefore to think more thoroughly.

Notice your changing perspectives. Researcher William Perry found that students in higher education move through stages of intellectual development (Rees Cheney 1990). In earlier stages, students tend to think there is only one correct viewpoint on each issue, and they look to their instructors to reveal that truth. Later, students acknowledge a variety of opinions on issues and construct their own viewpoints. 

We make decisions all the time, whether we realize it or not. Even avoiding decisions is a form of decision making. The student who puts off studying for a test until the last minute, for example, might really be saying, “I’ve decided this course is not important” or “I’ve decided not to give this course much time.”

Decisions are specific and lead to focused action. When we decide, we narrow down. We give up actions that are inconsistent with our decision.

Ask questions that create possibilities. At any moment, you can ask a question that opens up a new possibility for someone. Suppose a friend walks up to you and says, “People just never listen to me.” You listen carefully. Then you say, “Let me make sure I understand. Who, specifically, doesn’t listen to you? And how do you know they’re not listening?”

Another friend tells you, “I just lost my job to someone who has less experience. That should never happen.” You respond, “Wow, that’s hard. I’m sorry you lost your job. Who can help you find another job?”

A relative seeks your advice. “My mother-in-law makes me mad,” she says. “You’re having a hard time with this person,” you say. “What does she say and do when you feel mad at her? And are there times when you don’t get mad at her?”

These kinds of questions—asked with compassion and a sense of timing—can help people move from complaining about problems to solving them.

Sometimes you can access a deeper level of knowledge by taking out your pen, putting it on a piece of paper, and writing down questions—even before you know what to write. Don’t think. Just watch the pen move across the paper. Notice what appears. The results might be surprising.

Ask about what’s missing. Another way to invent useful questions is to notice what’s missing from your life and then ask how to supply it. For example, if you want to take better notes, you can write, “What’s missing is skill in note taking. How can I gain more skill in taking notes?” If you always feel rushed, you can write, “What’s missing is time. How do I create enough time in my day to actually do the things that I say I want to do?”

Pretend to be someone else. Another way to invent questions is first to think of someone you greatly respect. Then pretend you’re that person. Ask the questions you think she would ask. In NLP we call this strategy, “As/If”. 

Begin with a general question, and then brainstorm the endings. By starting with a general question and then brainstorming a long list of endings, you can invent a question that you’ve never asked before. Examples: What can I do when… How can I… When do I… What else do I want to know about… Who can I ask about…

Many times you can quickly generate questions by simply asking yourself, “What else do I want to know?” Ask this question immediately after you read a paragraph in a book or listen to someone speak. Start from the assumption that you are brilliant. Then ask questions to unlock your brilliance.