Inversion
Benefit: Avoid stupidity
Prerequisites:
Description
Thinking how we can achieve our goal is forward thinking. Thinking ways we can't achieve our goal is backward thinking. Inversion is backward thinking. By inverting our thoughts we can break free from things that prevent us from achieving our goals.
Practice-1
- Define something you want.
- Define the opposite of the thing you want.
- Ask the question of the thing you don't want.
- Answer the question by listing all the possible actions that come to your mind
- Get help from friends/family if it is something they can contribute to
Example
- I want to have lots of time to work.
- I don't have lots of time to work.
- How can I not find time to work?
-
- If I hangout till late hour
- If I keep my phone wifi open while doing a specific thing
- If I hangout too much with someone
- If I get my computer stolen
- If I say yes to all incoming requests
Example
- Start feeling better (non-depressed) again
- Feel depressed
- How can I continue feeling depressed
-
- If I watch porn all day
- If I play games all day
- If I scroll mindlessly
- If I be physically lazy & not do any workout
- If I dwell on the thoughts of my ex
- If I don't do anything that'll make me feel accomplised (cleaning house, reading a book, shopping ..)
Practice-2
Charlie munger collects folly behaviors and avoids them. In this video he explains it between 01:29 - 04:02.
- Identify a folly(foolish) behavior. There is a lot in r/iamatotalpieceofshit & r/Veryfuckingstupid/
- Write down ways you can make sure you can avoid that behavior.
Example
- Drunk college students steal a CAT and go for a joy ride https://www.reddit.com/r/iamatotalpieceofshit/comments/j50uee/drunk_college_students_steal_a_cat_and_go_for_a/
- The ways I can avoid such a behavior are;
- Not drinking too much
- Not hanging out with people who drink too much
- Being respectful for other peoples properties
- Thinking of the second order effect of my behaviors
Practice-3
We are prone to thinking that life is improved by addition. A new house will make our life better. A new friend will add excitement. A new car will make me happier. Instead of addition, try subtraction. Remove a negative relationship from your life. Cancel one subscription. Drop a mindset thats holding you back.
- What is something you want?
- Why do you want this?
- Write down things that you can subtract from your life which gets you closer to that thing?
Example
- I want $10.000/mo idle income.
- Because I will have time to do whatever I want.
-
- I can stop my addiction to social media to have more time
- I can say no to people I don't want to hangout with to have more time
- I can stop watching porn
