I’ve always been a deep thinker.

As a kid, I’d constantly ponder the meaning of life.

• “Is there more to life?”
• “What is a good life?”
• “How can I maximize life?”

As I write this now, I realize that I’m different from most 17-year-olds.

Small talk bores me. I’m overly obsessive. And I could care less about being “popular”.

Before writing online, I didn’t have an outlet to focus my thoughts. And that led me to feel like being a deep thinker was a curse.

But since building my personal brand for the past 2 years, I now understand that being a deep thinker is actually an asset in business and life.

In fact, as a creator, being a deep thinker is a competitive advantage.

But before we dive into what deep thinking is and how to get better at it, we first have to address the problem:

Shallow thinking.

In a world of cheap dopamine, fast thoughts, and abundant pleasures… shallow thinking is the root cause.

Shallow thinkers lack depth in their thoughts. They only think about the first-order consequences of their decisions. And they’re unable (or too lazy) to consider multiple perspectives.

Shallow thinking is seeking “a” truth, not the truth. Shallow thinking is wanting “a” reality, not the reality. Shallow thinking is never seeing beyond your limited, singular perspective.

On the other hand, deep thinking is:

• Becoming aware of your mind’s cognitive biases
• Considering multiple perspectives and higher-order consequences
• Questioning the beliefs others put on you to determine if that’s truly what you believe or what you think you should believe

The problem?

Most people aren’t deep thinkers. They’re subject to external factors, emotions, and cognitive biases.

They’re living life asleep.

They form and adopt beliefs simply because those around them are doing so. (Groupthink)

They live in echo chambers created by algorithms constantly showing them what they want to see. (Confirmation bias)

They rarely change their minds and are unable to see things from a fresh perspective. (Belief perseverance)

And for some, that’s completely fine. Ignorance is bliss.

But others, they can’t stand giving the remote control to their mind away to others.

If you’re that 2nd person, this is for you:

The Levels of Awareness

I’m convinced people operate on different awareness levels. We all start out at level 0, but some progress faster than others.

🔴 Level 0 - Unaware

You have no control over your mind. You’re subject to influence by external forces, cognitive biases, and emotions. You don’t consider anyone but yourself and your survival. You follow your instinct.

🟠 Level 1 - Slightly Aware

You’re aware there’s a pattern behind your behavior. You’re able to slightly navigate your way to avoid negative emotions more frequently. You follow your intuition.

🟡 Level 2 - Self Aware

You’re aware that you aren’t your emotions. You’re no longer controlled by happenstance. You control your internal state. You can keep yourself in emotional homeostasis most of the time. You follow your insight.

🟢 Level 3 - Collective Aware

You’re aware that others have different perspectives. You consider multiple perspectives before making decisions. You understand that you aren’t the only being in existence. You follow your ideals.

🔵 Level 4 - Consequence Aware

You’re aware that your actions have higher-order consequences beyond just their initial impact. You’re able to zoom out and consider multiple levels of effects. You follow your wisdom.

🟣 Level 5 - Awakened

You’re fully aware of yourself, your purpose, and the way you have an impact on those around you. You’re not perfect. But you’re aware of your shortcomings and how they influence your behavior. You follow your mission.

As you self-improve, you begin to peel layers of yourself… getting closer to the “real” you. This is what writing does — it forces you to become aware. Aware of holes in your logic, aware of flaws in your beliefs, aware of problems you have yet to solve. But most importantly, aware of yourself.

How do you become a deeper thinker?

1) Self-observe

• When do you get angry?
• When do you get defensive?
• When do you get frustrated?

Notice your reactions to external stimuli.

I find it helpful to visualize myself 3 feet above myself looking down at me:

“Hmm, Jay is experiencing the emotion of frustration right now.”

“Why is he feeling frustration?”

“What can he do to let the emotion of frustration go?”

It sounds silly. But don’t knock it until you try it.

2) Hunt for useful ideas

The quality of your thoughts is determined by the quality of your inputs.

In order to think different thoughts, you must consume different thoughts.

In order to change your outputs, you must change your inputs.

The way I thought changed dramatically when I replaced:

• IG scrolling → Books
• Music → Podcasts
• Tweets → Blogs

But more importantly?

When I stopped consuming out of boredom and started consuming with a purpose — that’s when my creativity and depth of ideas began to form.

Then I could scroll Instagram, listen to music, and read tweets… and still gain useful ideas and interesting stories.

Do you understand?

Idea hunters find inspiration everywhere.

It’s a mindset.

3) Connect and synthesize ideas

Note-taking is sense-making. It's Reverse-engineering golden nuggets to make your own.

But don't write just down what the author wrote. Write your response to that thought. Essentially you're having a conversation with the author, and with yourself.

This is why physically writing down your notes is key. The goal is to make connections between ideas, not copy/paste shallow ideas into your notes.

Don't be a collector, be a connector.

What do I mean?

Every time you take a note, go through self-reflection questions:

• What does this remind me of?

• How is this different?

• What's a metaphor for this?

• What story supports this?

• What story contradicts this?

• What does this make me feel?

Is it tedious? Yes. But the alternative is being a shallow thinker incapable of organizing your thoughts in a clear and coherent manner. Choose your hard.

4) Write to explore

Writing forces you to clarify your thoughts. It forces you to organize and structure your ideas. Writing is the ultimate tool for becoming a clearer thinker.

When you get stuck on a word, sentence, or idea… that’s good. That’s your mind stretching past its previous limitations.

With each word you write, you rewire your mind to think differently.

Writing online is self-improvement in disguise.

Want to build a profitable writing business? Start here.

5) Teach to clarify

Teaching is the ultimate teacher.

Teaching forces you to simplify a concept to explain it simply to someone. It forces you to understand what you’re explaining.

This newsletter is a prime example. I started writing this with a vague idea of what I wanted to write about.

Through intentional research, brain dumping & outlining, and writing & rewriting drafts — I’ve managed to articulate a big idea in ~1,500+ words.

But more importantly: I’ve clarified my thinking, poked holes in my logic, learned more about myself, and hopefully added some value to your life.

We live in a society that neglects the power of deep thinking. We outsource our thinking to big businesses, the government, or AI.

So those who are able to think clearly, craft a compelling message, and articulate it will win big in the coming years.

"If you can think and speak and write, you are absolutely deadly." - Jordan Peterson

Keep thinking, learning, writing, and building.

‘till next time.

Jay “Don’t Outsource Your Thoughts” Yang

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