The right thinking tools, principles and models can improve your reasoning and decision-making process at home and at work, every day.
You can’t change anything if you can’t change your thinking. And you cannot change your thinking if you don’t have a new set of thinking tools.
John Locke was right, “Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
Reading and thinking are two different habits that are equally rewarding.
Many people take thinking clearly for granted — they are not interested in feeding their brains to connect ideas.
Honing how you feed your brain also hones the way you think.
There are two steps to thinking clearly: the first and challenging part is finding and learning the best models that will inform your decision-making process.
The second part is practicing what you learn — or better still, using what you know in everyday life.
The second part requires metacognition — thinking about your thinking, or connecting the dots at the right time.
Understanding when to use what you know (mental model) is a massive part of thinking clearly.
For example, if you are trying to make a life-changing decision, knowledge of first, second and third-order thinking can help you think about the short and long-term consequences of every path you consider.
There are many mental models you can apply in life. These 20 thinking tools informs my decision-making process.
My favourite thinking models are thought experiments (popularised by Einstein), first-principles thinking (made popular by Elon Musk), inversion, regret minimisation framework (by Jeff Bezos) and second-order thinking.
I’m still learning and honing my thinking skills, so I intend to learn more from intelligent people who have figured out better ways to be less wrong.
Having said that, it’s important to remember that not all thinking models are the same: some are to be tasted, and only a few are to be retained and thoroughly digested for life.
Intelligent people use a set of principles, shortcuts, models and thinking tools to cut through the complexities in life.
You can only arrive at simple but effective decisions if you run your obstacles through a better thinking filter.
Steve Jobs once said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Warren Buffett reads 80% of the time to make smart investment decisions. Knowledge informs what he thinks.
Without good knowledge, you will have nothing to connect to. And without a better connection of what you know, you will have isolated knowledge that serves no purpose.
The essence of good thinking is not so much about what you think but how you think and what informs your thinking.
Thinking is the brain talking to itself
Plutarch, a Greek philosopher, once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
You can put your brain to work in the best way possible for you by feeding it good knowledge.
Changing your life starts with changing what you have in your head, refreshing how you think and improving your set of thinking tools.
You can’t think clearly until you change how you usually think.
Thinking clearly is a way of life, making everyday decisions that minimise regrets. The accumulation of mental models is not enough; you have to practice what you learn.
A set of decision-making filters can reduce errors in your thinking.
When was the last time you questioned your line of thought? Your basic assumptions, worldview, perceptions and beliefs about life and living it influence the choices you make every day.
Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, once said, “Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”
To think clearly, starting thinking more about your thinking.
What can you improve? Do your choices always work out? If you have more regrets, invest in good books on thinking better and hone your thinking skills.
Find different thinking models that can help you reconstruct your reasoning process. And when you do, be honest with what you don’t know and change your decision-making approach when you find better knowledge.
Don’t be bound by the same perspectives or stuck in the same thinking process for life.
“Be honest about what you do and don’t know, where you’re uncertain; and what kind of conversations, investigations, predictions and discoveries might reduce this uncertainty,” writes Tom Chatfield of Psyche.
Start thinking harder about your thinking. And remember what Leonardo da Vinci said, “He who thinks little errs much….”
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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