Five Thinking Techniques to Live Smarter
Borrow the brains of Einstein.
Better thinking is a skill anyone can learn. And by learning to think better, you’ll have a serious edge over your peers.
Here are five mental models that are extremely useful in real-life situations. Build a habit of using them whenever you need them, and you’ll stand out big time in whatever you do.
#1 — The Law of Momentum
Momentum is the ability to sustain perpetual motion. Think of sliding downhill or skating on ice. After that initial push, momentum keeps you moving without any effort.
When you have no motivation and procrastinate, it’s because you lack momentum. Often, it’s starting that is difficult. But once you work for a few minutes, momentum keeps you going. All you need is that first push.
Tell yourself, “I’ll work for five minutes, and that’s it”. That little push moves you from rest to work; then momentum carries you for hours.
#2 — First Principles
“First-principles is a physics way of looking at the world. You boil things down to the most fundamental truths and say: what are we sure is true? Then reason up from there.”
— Elon Musk
Popularised by Elon Musk, first-principles is the ultimate tool to learn faster and innovate more. How does it work? Instead of solving a problem by analogy (doing what others did), break down your problem into its basic facts.
For example, imagine you’re confused about your career choice. Using first principles, you can pinpoint what you truly value in a career. As a result, you’ll narrow down your options pretty well.
- First-principles to pinpoint a career choice.Fact #1: I value culture.Fact #2: I value autonomy and growth.Fact #3: I value flexible working hours.Fact #4: I value roles that positively impact lives.
When you break down a situation to its fundamental truths, you’ll have a better picture of what to do next.
Build a habit of breaking problems down to their fundamental truths. What do you know for sure to be true? Then reason up from there. You’ll uncover creative ways that most people never think of.
#3 — Critical Mass
Critical mass is a level at which a transformation speeds up really fast. In nature, this happens all the time:
- Water accumulates heat silently; then, when it reaches a hundred degrees, it boils really fast.
- Bamboo grows underground for years, then shoots in a matter of weeks.
Success in life happens similarly. For years, your progress can be slow and unnoticeable. But once you reach your critical mass, results start to happen very quickly.
- You study hard for years, then one day, you land a life-changing job.
- Your first novels might go unnoticed. Then, the new one is a bestseller.
- Your investments compound slowly over the years. Then one day, your returns overwhelm your monthly income.
Your breakthrough moments are the results of consistent action accumulating over time. All the effort you make is silently building up until you reach your critical mass and unlock massive transformations.
The lack of significant results can be frustrating. But sooner or later, you’ll hit your critical mass. Then, success will rain harder than you can imagine.
Keep going; your critical mass might be a few steps ahead. In the words of Winston Churchill:
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
#4 — Inversion
When the right answers aren’t clear, it’s often better to look for the anti-solution. Once you find it, invert it. This mental exercise is known as inversion, and it can be a game-changer at critical moments in life.
By definition:
Inversion is to think about the opposite of what you want to happen.
- “How to fail at exams, business?”
- “What steps will sabotage my project?”
- “How to live a meaningless life?”
Once you gather the anti-solutions, flip the narrative. Here’s an example:
Anti-solution: I want to write a boring book.Invert: I should captivate readers throughout the narrative.Anti-solution: I want to ignore my customer’s feedback.Invert: My product is customer-centric.
If you’re confused about what decision to take, inversion makes it easy for you to find the right answers. Once you flip the situation upside-down, you’ll understand what to do and how to do it.
“Invert, always invert. Turn a situation or a project upside down. Look at it backwards. What happens if all your plans go wrong? Instead of looking for success, make a list of how to fail. All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.”
— Charlie Munger
#5 —Assuming No Limits
To overcome a challenging situation, sometimes it’s better to ignore parts of what’s limiting you. Physicists do this all the time. When faced with a difficult situation, they often look for answers to a grotesquely simpler version of the problem.
“What if we ignore gravity in the model? What if particles are still?”
The core idea is that you’ll get important information from solving a simpler version of the problem — briefly lifting limitations.
Using this mental model can give you important insights into your goals and aspirations:
- “What if I had no fear?”
- “What if I had all the money in the world?”
- “What if there are no deadlines?”
Strip down unnecessary worries for a moment. What venture will you try? What will you work on? How good can you get?
Look for insights in an ideal situation. Did you uncover something you missed? What decisions have changed once you ignored your limits?
Take Away
Improve your problem-solving with these four mental models. They expand your thinking and help you achieve your goals faster.
