Put Your Thinking in Reverse

Throughout our lives we seek to become brilliant. We seek to become smarter, more knowledgeable, and wiser. Whether brilliance itself is attainable is irrelevant in this respect—we’ll just have to wait and see. This is the attitude that most people have towards becoming the best version of themselves. This attitude is hardly limited to the mind. It is the same with respect to our bodies. When we set out on the journey of bodily improvement (a resolution that we often forge on January 1^st), our attitude is the exact same—we seek brilliance. Again, without any certainty that a state of brilliance is attainable.

Unfortunately, seeking brilliance is setting yourself up for failure. You are setting yourself up for failure for at least two reasons. (1) You are forming enormous expectations for the future, based on present and incomplete information. As I argued in my post Grab Disappointment by the Roots, high expectations are a sure-fire way to inflict emotional pain in the form of disappointment on your future self. (2) Chances are, brilliance is not attainable. Without getting too philosophical here, it is unlikely that your current idea of brilliance will remain fixed as you grow and progress towards becoming the best version of yourself. If the idea of brilliance will be subject to change and is only vaguely, if at all, defined, you have a better shot at solving the Riemann Hypothesis than attaining brilliance (though you would arguably have attained brilliance at that point).

However, I would like to suggest a little trick. A little mental tool that will not only be helpful in your quest for brilliance, but also in making tough decisions and solving tricky problems. This mental tool is reverse thinking. Simply turn the tables. Instead of seeking brilliance, avoid stupidity. It is much harder to choose the actions that will propel you towards becoming the best version of yourself and much easier to simply abstain from the actions that you know will do the opposite. Not only will this strategy prove more effective, but it will also be more efficient. Reverse thinking will significantly reduce decision time and allow you to get going in the right direction. Rather than sitting around and contemplating what actions will help you achieve a certain goal, simply look for the actions that prevent you from attaining a certain goal. Reverse thinking is one of the most powerful and simplest mental tools—one that shouldn’t be missing from your mental toolbox. Its applications range far beyond personal decisions. In many economic and business decisions, reverse thinking will significantly increase efficiency and effectiveness. When faced with a tough decisions or problem in need of a solution, it is much easier to avoid the activities that will achieve the opposite of your aim and avoid the activities that are most likely constituents of the problem. Chances are, avoiding the activities that constituted the problem will rapidly turn into solving the problem itself (unless the problem is more than the sum of its parts). On the other hand, looking for a brilliant solution takes much more time and is unlikely to solve the problem efficiently and effectively.

Thus, the moral of this post is as follows. When facing a tough decision or when looking for ways to solve a problem, turning the tables and eliminating the bad options is often far more effective and efficient than looking for the perfect solution or decision. In short, try avoiding stupidity rather than seeking brilliance. You will be surprised at how effective this little mental tool is.