When it comes to enhancing your way of thinking, one thing that you must note is that there are two types of people in this world, there are those who have a rigid manner of thinking, and those who think in an adaptive manner.

In a world which is full of competition and opportunity, the people who are able to have full control over their thinking are the ones who will succeed. To have full control over your thinking, you must have a great deal of flexibility. There is no room at the top for people who choose to have rigid minds. While everyone can have rigid thinking from time to time, being this way all the time is a recipe for disaster.

While having structure in certain areas of your life is very important, you mind must be able to adapt to circumstances which are constantly changing. While reading is good, doing "everything by the book" is not a wise way to live, especially for those who want to rise above mediocrity.

At some point in your life, you have to ask why you are doing something in a certain way, and what happens if you try to do things in a different way? The problem with the typical human is that when this concept is presented, they shy away from it, quickly looking for reasons why it will not work.

For example, in the past, when talking about the idea of starting a business, the only thing a person may think of is, all the things that could go wrong. He may never bother to think about the advantages, or the things that could go right. It is this line of thinking that leads to failure.

Instead of having a balanced mind that considers all the risks of a particular endeavor, most people think only of the dangers. Many of these people have rigid thinking, and because they see life in a rigid manner, they prevent themselves from looking at the bigger possibilities.

Rigid thinking is not just self inflicted, but is often placed on us by society.  Society often plays a rule in our rigid ways of thinking. It places certain norms and restrictions which it expects us to adhere to. A failure to adhere to many of these restrictions is considered to be "taboo" and those who break them are ostracized.

Society can alter our thinking by way of the mass media, or by laws and regulations. While some laws, like stopping at a red light when driving, are necessary for the safety and well being of all the drivers, many other laws and rules are simply designed so most people have a rigid way of thinking, and remain average for the rest of their lives as a result.

It should come as no surprise then that the people who tend to be highly successful, and rise above mediocrity, are often those who break the rules and restrictions that society has placed on us. The truth of the matter is that many of the people at the top simply do not play by the rules.

A good example of this is taxes. While the average person pays the full percentage of taxes they owe each year, CEOs and large corporations continue to come up with ingenious ways to pay less in taxes, and a result, they remain extremely wealthy.

The first step of enhancing your way of thinking is to overcome the "slave mentality." Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche alluded to this in much of his work. He talked about one willing themselves to power, and essentially rising above mediocrity. Most people blindly follow the rules that society has laid upon them. They never stop to think on a higher level. They go out, get day jobs, and pay bills.

When you look at the most successful people in the world, they are dramatically different. While they may adhere to some of society’s rules, they have no problem breaking rules that are inconsistent with their desires and objectives.

Persistence is the ultimate key to success.  Another way of enhancing your thinking, in addition to bypassing the rules and boundaries that society has set for you, is to approach problems with an enormous amount of persistence.

When it comes to achieving goals and objectives, one thing which you must realize is that often, you will not be successful the first time around. You generally have to go through trial and error in order to be successful. Most people, when they run into failure, decide to simply give up. But a persistent person keeps trying new things until they get what they want.

Persistence is a key factor in success, but focus is important as well. Those who are successful in life tend to be those who are focused. They have their minds set on a goal, and they let nothing and no one interfere with them achieving it. The achievement of their goal is their primary objective, and they will do it at any cost. When persistence is combined with focus, there is hardly anything that can stop you from achieving anything you wish.