The tips discussed will help you free your mind from any thinking challenges that you might be experiencing. You will find it easier to make smart decisions even when faced with difficult situations. However, you can improve on this by learning to use some of the best mental models on clear thinking. Combining the tips with the models that will be detailed here will ensure that you have varying perspectives of looking at any situation that you are faced with. Just to remind you, the more mental models you know, the easier it will be for you to make smart choices.
First Principles Thinking
Some problems appear too complex for us to solve. Without a doubt, this is a dilemma that most people go through in their lives. Well, you shouldn’t be stuck when faced with such circumstances because you can apply mental models. An ideal mental model to use here would be the first principles of thinking. This model comes highly recommended when dealing with challenging situations. The best part is that this framework will push you to think for yourself.
The first principles thinking has been there for several years, but it recently became popular in 2002 after Elon Musk stressed on the importance of using it. This framework focuses on the idea that one should think like a scientist. The reason for taking this direction is because scientists don’t use assumptions. Their conclusions are often made after facts have been proven.
Theoretically, first principles thinking will require an individual to think critically about a certain situation until they are left with the truths that define the problem they are facing. This is to mean that you shouldn’t make decisions like other people. You should mull over thinking deeper. The easiest way of grasping the meaning of this principle is that when faced with a problem, the first thing that you should do is to deconstruct. After that, focus on reconstructing.
The first step of deconstructing requires that you ask yourself intelligent questions regarding your situation or problem at hand. Additionally, you should have a deep understanding of frameworks from distinct disciplines. It is crucial that you get more information about varying forms of mental models. Your knowledge is required to guarantee that you can look at your problem from varying perspectives.
Your next move will be to bring together the pieces that you had broken down in the first step. Again, for you to effectively reconstruct, you have to practice how to do it. You could have an idea of how to do something. However, a standalone idea cannot help you to make good decisions. You need to combine several ideas to make valid conclusions. Practicing this more often will strengthen your mental muscles. Eventually, you will improve your thinking skills and end up making sound decisions.
Jeff Bezos used the first principles thinking at the time he established Amazon in 1995. He had two principles that would guide his business to thrive. First, his goal was to focus on the long-term. Secondly, his mission was to focus on the customer instead of the competition. Certainly, with these guiding principles, Bezos managed to drive his company to blossom and become a global market leader.
