Many of us would like to see ourselves as independent thinkers, capable of being reflective, intellectually curious, and aware.

This post aims to help you see your strengths and areas where you could stretch yourself.

The type of independent thinking we'll focus on is not about being contrarian for the sake of it or rejecting the mainstream. It's about productive cognitive effort and how carefully you process what's in front of you.

Understanding these signs of deep, independent thought will help you put a label on what you already do well, and identify personal development routes you're curious to try.

1. You Engage in a Lot of Metacognition

Metacognition is thinking about your thinking. The best independent thinkers seek to improve their thinking by reflecting on it.

You notice your biases. You notice if you're more receptive to one person than another, and ponder why.

To understand concepts, or in a quest to have novel ideas, you pull up mental models to actively apply them. For example, you utilize first principles thinking, or you seek to recognize cognitive lag (when your thinking has become outdated).

You're aware of what your cognitive shortcuts are, e.g., your beliefs about the best general approaches to tasks. You notice when your cognitive shortcuts don't produce the desired outcome and try something different.

2. You Like to See Source Material for Yourself

Independent thinkers would rather assess evidence for themselves than rely on someone else's summary. Clips........

© Psychology Today