5 Lessons That I Learned From Reading Clear Thinking
Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Outcomes
For those who know me best, you’re already aware of my obsession with the work by Shane Parrish. He is the founder, curator, and wisdom seeker behind Farnam Street and the host of The Knowledge Project Podcast.
I have read all of Shane’s books on mental models and listen to his podcast religiously. He is up there alongside other entrepreneurs that I admire - Tim Ferriss, James Clear, Daniel Coyle and Naval Ravikant.
A big thank you to those who have patiently endured my Share Parrish rants about his insights—friends, family, and especially my partner!
Fact: Shane Parrish was interviewed on The Tim Ferris Show.
Earlier this year, I read "Clear Thinking" by Shane Parrish, and let me tell you, it's truly been a game-changer. This book has handed me life lessons that are simply priceless.
Mastering clear thinking can truly revolutionize your life, both personally and professionally. Yet, many of us overlook the opportunity to improve this mental skill.
In "Clear Thinking," Shane stresses the importance of turning these ordinary moments into extraordinary outcomes. He points out how we often operate on autopilot, reacting emotionally instead of thinking through reasoning.
The book equipped me with mental fitness tools, practices, and strategies to recognize these pivotal moments and navigate the gap between stimulus and response more effectively in my decision-making process.
Through captivating storytelling, mental models, and thinking principles, Shane seamlessly connects behavioural science with real-life outcomes.
I can't emphasize enough how transformative this book is for anyone seeking to unlock their full potential and lead a more intentional life. Here are five key lessons that I learned from reading "Clear Thinking."
5 Lessons That I Learned From Reading Clear Thinking
1. Your position determines your future.
Share Parrish wrote in Clear Thinking:
“Our position determines our future. A good position allows you to think clearly rather than be forced by circumstances into a decision.”
Starting from a good position is key to making good judgments. You don't have to be the smartest person in the room to succeed; you just need to position yourself well.
Anyone looks like a genius when they’re in a good position, and even the smartest person can seem foolish when they're in a bad one.
In the long run, consistently putting yourself in a good position beats being a genius who ends up in a bad spot.
What we often see as talent is just being in the right place at the right time. And the best way to get there is through good preparation.
Being in a good position lets you think clearly, rather than being pushed into decisions by circumstances.
Top performers consistently make good decisions because they rarely find themselves backed into a corner by circumstances.
2. Turn desired behavior into default behavior.
Share Parrish wrote in Clear Thinking:
“The way to improve your defaults isn’t by willpower but by creating an intentional environment where your desired behavior becomes the default behavior.”
Everyone eventually struggles with willpower. It's tough to stick to what we want to do at times. Luckily, we can make changes by setting up safeguards.
One kind of safeguard involves setting automatic rules. We're used to following rules but haven't learned how to use them to our advantage.
Another way to change behavior is by creating an intentional environment where the behavior we want becomes natural. This is done by forming atomic habits.
Atomic habits are:
The smallest part of a habit that, when done regularly, leads to significant results over time due to compound growth.
Made up of small changes that may seem unimportant but add up to big results if we stick with them consistently over the long term.
The outcome of having the right system in place. Bad habits form when our system is flawed.
3. If you do what everyone else does, you will get the same results everyone else gets.
Share Parrish wrote in Clear Thinking:
“Self-accountability, self-knowledge, self-control, and self-confidence are essential to exercising good judgment … All four of these strengths are necessary for resisting the influence of the social default.”
Fear prevents us from taking risks and reaching our full potential. Often, without realizing it, we imitate the choices of others, following the crowd.
When we're unsure of what's considered normal, we tend to trust what others are doing as the right thing to do. This herd mentality kicks in especially when we're self-conscious and seeking acceptance.
The social rewards of conformity are immediate, while the benefits of standing outcome much later.
A person's character can be judged by their willingness to do what's right, even when it goes against popular opinion. Yet, we often overestimate our readiness to go against the crowd and underestimate our natural urge to fit in.
4. Outcome over ego.
Share Parrish wrote in Clear Thinking:
“We tend to react to anything that threatens our sense of self-worth or our position in a group hierarchy”.
Our desire to feel right often outweighs our need to be correct. Our egos push us to prioritize feeling right, even if it means sacrificing objectivity.
It's human nature to prefer the comfort of being right, even if it means distorting reality to fit our beliefs.
We often confuse our ideal vision of how things should be with how they truly are. Many of us walk through life convinced of our own correctness, dismissing differing perspectives as simply wrong.
However, as Jeff Bezos points out, the most intelligent individuals are those who continuously reassess their understanding of the world.
They welcome new ideas, information, and challenges to their thinking, prioritizing progress over protecting their egos.
5. It might not be your fault, but it’s your responsibility.
Share Parrish wrote in Clear Thinking:
“Self-accountability means taking responsibility for your abilities (developing your abilities), your inabilities (managing your inabilities), and your actions (using reason to govern your actions).”
Being self-accountable means owning up to what you can and can't do, and taking responsibility for your actions. If you can't do this, you'll struggle to move forward.
Even if you don't have someone pushing you to do better, you can hold yourself to account. Those who lack self-accountability often just go through the motions.
Every moment offers a chance to improve your future position, even if it's just a small step. You may not solve the problem immediately, but your actions can either improve or worsen the situation.
There's always something you can do to make progress, no matter how small. Ultimately, how things turn out depends on how you react to what happens to you.
This can be summed up as:
Your Outcome = Event x Response
Your response is influenced by your skills and experience. The stronger your response, the better the outcome.
Thank you for reading. I hope you learned a lot today!
Best,
Writer l Speaker l CEO of Living Your Greatness
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