A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Become a Better Thinker

Here is my counter-intuitive approach to become a better thinker.

You become a better thinker by doing more things.

In my early twenties, I spent a lot of time thinking and reading.

I thought I was getting smarter and more knowledgeable. In reality, I was just consuming and thinking about a lot of ideas without ever knowing if I was right or wrong.

You can observe how other people do things successfully and analyze them, but if you are only an observer then do you actually understand how their process works?

You can analyze how LeBron James shoots the basketball successfully, but will you really understand how to shoot a ball without ever shooting one yourself?

Here is another example. Let's say you try to start a business. Would you rather take advice from someone who only read a bunch of business books and did a ton of thinking or someone who spent the majority of their time building a million dollar business?

One of the best critical thinkers of our time is Charlie Munger, billionaire investor, and Warren Buffett's right-hand man. His favorite activity is to figure out what works, what doesn't, and why.

How do you figure out if something actually works?

1) You form a hypothesis.

2) You go out and test the hypothesis.

3) You measure and reflect on the result.

During this process, only 10% to 20% of your time should be spent on the thinking stuff. This includes planning, forming a hypothesis, and reflecting on the results.

The process I just mentioned is a simplified version of the Scientific Method, and it's basically how scientists figure out what works and what doesn't.

When you treat your life as a series of experiments, you learn a lot more about yourself and the world.

Personally, I found dedicating more of my time to execution has dramatically improved the quality of my thinking.

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Thanks for reading!

-George 🐙