How I Think

An examination of the process, and how you can borrow some elements, if you want.

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

Since publishing The Practice of Living in 2022 and starting this newsletter in late 2023, there is a question that keeps coming up, repeatedly, and with a stable frequency.

“What is your thinking process, how do you think these things that you write, and how can I, too, obtain this level of clarity?”

I have refrained from answering this three-part question, because I wanted to address it when the time is right, when I had a detailed process to share. That time has come, because I have reflected exhaustively on this matter, and also because I now have a body of writing that I can review to offer insights about this question, especially because I want to answer it from the angle of readers’ interaction with my writing.

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A note before we proceed:

You may recall the announcement where I said I’ll be broadening, aligning, and refining the work I publish on here. As part of this, I will be writing articles that are answers to recurring questions.

This is why we are here, after all. So, we discourse on things especially pertinent to our lives.

The detailed and personalized explorations will only be for paid readers. If you don’t want to miss the full Everyday Living experience, if you want to be part of this journey of answers, please do upgrade to paid.

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This article was particularly inspired by an exchange I had with Rachel Leeke Alexis in Notes, who asked me the following:

“I’d love to know your thinking process. Do these points just pop up in your head whole and ready to share? Or do you sit with them and distill.”

So, here’s the detailed answer, for everyone.

Whether you are evaluating a relationship or a job offer, distilling business ideas, forming an opinion about the policies of a given government or politician, planning for the future, or meditating on existential questions, the way to think clearly remains the same, and it is possible to train yourself to think and act in a manner that delivers the outcomes you want.

This is how I do it, and it appears that I at least do it in a way that is admirable, which is why many of you have asked about the process.