A good position allows you to think clearly rather than be forced by circumstances into a decision. The greatest aid to judgment is starting from a good position. When you are well positioned, there are many paths to victory. If you are poorly positioned, there may be only one. Like Tetris, when you play well, you have many options for where to put the next piece. When you play poorly, you need just the right piece.

Fix Your Position, Not Your Thinking

Most people go through life assuming that they’re right and that people who don’t see things their way are wrong.

The Illusion Of Rightness

If you want better-than-average results, though, you'll have to think clearly. And thinking clearly is thinking independently. Sometimes you have to break free of the social default and do something differently from those around you.

Social Media Is Making You Average

Doing something different means you might underperform, but it also means you might change the game entirely. Best practices aren’t always the best. By definition, they’re average.

Know The Rules, And Break Them

The inertia default pushes us to maintain the status quo. Starting something is hard but so too is stopping something. We resist change even when change is for the best.

Know When To Start, And When To Stop

You unconsciously adopt the habits of the people you spend time with, and those people make it easier or harder for you to achieve progress toward what you want to achieve. The more time you spend with people, the more likely you start to think and act as they do. Find new friends whose default behavior was their desired behavior.

Go After The Right People

The instant New York Times bestseller 'An indispensable guide' James Clear, author of Atomic Habits 'A game-changer' Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money 'A must-read' Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck 'A masterwork' Ryan Holiday, author of The Daily Stoic We all want to see the world clearly. The trouble is, we're never taught how. Join Shane Parrish - 'the former spy who helps Wall Street mavens think smarter' (New York Times) - for a masterclass in the art of clear thinking. Drawing on examples ranging from the evolutionary origins of our 'emotion default' to the secret history of the Challenger disaster, Parrish offers powerful mental models to make sense of any situation. And he reveals a simple, actionable method for smarter decision-making, starting today. Along the way, he shows that the secret to mental clarity lies not in how we approach the most high-stakes moments - but in our tiniest, most everyday decisions. It's a simple idea with startling implications: if you clear your head today, you change your life tomorrow. _ 'Incisive. Practical. Full of vivid examples, and enormously fun to read.' Jim Collins, author of Good to Great 'Shane Parrish doesn't just teach clear thinking - he lives it.' Adam Grant, author of Originals 'If you want results - good ones - that you can achieve confidently again and again, read this book.' Annie Duke, author of Quit

Clear Thinking