Mar 27, 2023 5 min read Decision making

How to improve your thinking and get better outcomes!

Below is a great method for asking questions that is almost cheating.
It’s simple, yet hardly anyone uses it.

Stand out of the crowd with great, sharp thinking, that leads to great results.
In the modern world, the quality of our thinking is the most powerful tool we have. Like a muscle, you can improve it so much that you won’t recognize it.

"Your entire life runs on the software in your head—why wouldn’t you obsess over optimizing it?" – Wait but why

Asking better questions will significantly sharpen your thinking and speed up your progress.

People will start asking for your advice and opinion, and you’ll be more proactive.

When most people hit a bump, AKA they have a question they right away shot a message to their boss:
“Dear Mr. Boss,
How do I overcome X?
Thank you”

A slightly more advanced version is Googling the answer.

Even better is asking ChatGPT (we need a verb for "GPTing").
That’s nearing decent thinking. But you can do even better.
Try figuring it out for yourself, then go to ChatGPT.

Learn to ask better questions

“The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking yourself”

― Tony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within

How to sharpen your thinking using questions

When you get stuck on a task, resist the urge to right away ask someone.
Open an empty document. Write a description of the issue you’re trying to figure out. Provide context, a clear definition of the problem, and your thoughts about them.
How do you weigh the different options, etc.
Summarize - Go over what you wrote and shorten it to 2-3 paragraphs. Keep the highlights, and remove things that aren’t useful. Make it easy to consume. People are super busy think 2-minutes tops.
Read what you’ve got so far. Ask yourself: what the person you intended to send this to will answer you?
If they’re well known after you write your own answer, you can ChatGPT it. “You are Elon Musk, this is the summary of the situation, what do you think are our best 3 options”.
Based on your answers (and ChatGPTs) update your summary of the issue.
Once again predict what will be the response to your summary.
Update your summary again. By this point, your thinking on the issue is clear you probably don’t need their advice.
But if you do go ahead and send your summary, make sure to have an opinionated suggestion. End it with “I intend to do X...”. Don’t you dare end it with “What are your thoughts?”

After doing this 3 times and you’ll notice a significant shift in your thinking and performance. No more nagging and being passive, but shifting into an active initiating mode.
This might seem exhausting, but like going to the gym, at first it sucks later it becomes second nature.

Good luck!

Don't hesitate to DM me if you have any questions about getting better at asking questions.