It's imperative to ask questions like "is your source trustworthy?" or "what motivations might my source have to take the position that it does?". Oftentimes, you can dismiss or establish the credibility of a piece of text just by reflecting on the reliability of its authors.

It might be tempting to just find one source of information and call it a day - but it's worth waiting just a bit! Research the topic further and see if other sources agree with your particular source. If multiple different authors have come to a consensus about your topic, it is very likely that this information is authoritative and has basis in reality.

A great way to gain insight or a second perspective on an issue is to consult others about an idea or piece of information you're pondering. One person may be susceptible to fallacies in their thinking that may cause them to overlook faults in a source or too hastily dismiss an idea that another person wouldn't otherwise. By combining these perspectives, it is possible to come to a more accurate assessment of the situation.

People easily come to assumptions about ideas or beliefs that they hold. It is very important to not let these assumptions go unchallenged. Reevaluate your beliefs and opinion through an objective lens, and see if they actually make sense or hold up to the rules of logical thinking and reasoning.

If something sounds too good to be true or too far-fetched, in many cases it is. Your intuition was built upon your collective life experiences - trust it! Assuming using one of the strategies mentioned here doesn't raise any red flags about the credibility of something you're reading about or hearing, your intuition may give a hint that something just doesn't feel quite right.

If, for instance, you're working on some sort of project or trying to come up with a solution to a problem and you want to see if an idea has any merit, you should connect that idea to other concepts or ideas, and see if you can develop a coherent unified concept.

Doing the same things or indulging in the same experience over and over again reinforces familiar, unchanging styles of thinking. This can be detrimental to opening ourselves up to new perspectives. Change up your routine instead! Find new things to do or ways of doing things - it can stimulate new ways of thinking!

The share of young people who read books on a regular basis has been declining for some time, especially with the advent of video games and social media. One way to jog your brain is simply to sit down and start reading! Whether this be via the traditional method or via E-Book readers, reading, especially those texts that are outside your field of expertise or interests can not only increase your attention span but also improve other aspects of your cognitive processes, thus enabling superior creative thinking!

This strategy also assists you with your critical thinking. Simply put, don't just take something at face value! You should frequently ask “why,” “what” and “how” questions. By understanding what's behind a given concept or idea, you not only reinforce your belief in said thing, but also are able to think in more abstract terms about the basis of things you come across and believe.