Ask These Questions If You Want More Success

A different perspective can make all the difference

How easy is it to act impulsively when you get starry-eyed? The long-awaited gadget arrives in stores or if your lucky hometown is selected to host the McRib. Whatever your quick fix is, caving in to indulgence often leaves you searching for the return policy.

When it comes hasty decisions I’m a repeat offender.

10 months ago I quit my job. Without worry. Without a plan. I don’t regret it but a contingency could have saved several stressful months of penny-pinching.

It wasn’t that I didn’t think about the consequences, I chose to sweep them under the rug. The thought of escaping drowned out the whispering nags of responsibility.

Rather than only focusing on, “how can I gain freedom” I should have also considered, “how can I prevent myself from gaining freedom?”

Solutions to the latter could have been: quit without an exit strategy, have no money saved up, have no other income streams.

This technique of thinking through the opposite scenario is called inversion. And you can use this technique in various areas of your life.

Although it sounds like a Sci-Fi thriller straight out of a Christopher Nolan film, the idea has been around a few millennia dating back to famous philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius and Seneca.

The purpose is to think through the negative things that could happen in life. A counterintuitive way of thinking to solve everyday problems.

Consistently working toward your goals while also planning for the opposite could lead to fewer mistakes and a competitive advantage in anything you do.

That said, inversion doesn’t come naturally. It requires regular practice. Below is what you need to know and how you can apply inversion in your life to minimize failures.

Inversion Explained

Inversion is a way of thinking about what you want to achieve from a different perspective. It’s like hedging your bets. As Missy Elliot once said, “flip it and reverse it.”

In other words, instead of only thinking about what you have to do to accomplish a goal, you flip the script and put thought into what you don’t want to happen.

For example, before I wrote this article, rather than only thinking about what goes into creating a good article, I focused on avoiding the mistakes made in bad ones — poor grammar, incoherent ideas, unrealistic takeaway, etc.

This works especially well when you’re spinning your wheels on a topic.

If I was writing about “trusting the process” but didn’t want to regurgitate the same reasons why we all need to, I might take the opposite approach and explain why trusting the process is sham.

The ancient philosophers believed that by putting themselves in worst-case scenario situations, they could overcome not only their fears of negative results but also create preemptive plans to prevent them.

It’s big picture thinking. They considered how they would manage mishaps. And those answers dictated how they should prepare today.

When I sold on Amazon, first I checked out my competitors — their product specs, prices, and most importantly their reviews. I compiled all of the one and two-star reviews and made sure I resolved those issues before I put my product out onto the market.

Inversion is a crucial thinking tool because it draws attention to potential mistakes and obstacles that you might have otherwise overlooked. What if the opposite was true? What if the shoe was on the other foot?

Instead of only asking how to achieve something, ask yourself how to not achieve it.

Solving Productivity and Money Problems With Inversion

On Productivity

We all like to squeeze every ounce of energy into being productive. It’s what all the books tell us to do.

Implementing inversion thinking to productivity can initially feel like a hassle. With regular practice, you’ll get used to brainstorming solutions to questions like, “What if I procrastinated longer? Or how can I keep myself distracted?”

By answering these questions, you will identify and eliminate interruptions so you can use your time and energy more efficiently.

This counterintuitive strategy has other added benefits.

For instance, back in college before midterms, I used to guzzle coffee as well as other mind-enhancing stimulants. While temporarily effective, I paid for it the next day.

Meanwhile, there’s no harm in keeping your phone away from your work area or temporarily deleting social media, is there?

Both methods address the same issue but inverse thinking tackles it from a different perspective with no danger to your body and health.

On Money

There’s nothing wrong with having a fatter wallet. But let’s invert the problem. How could you sabotage your finances?

Off the top of my head, a few ways are: spending more than you earn, no savings, no investments, no budgeting.

Accumulating credit card debt is an easy trap to fall into if you’re not paying attention. Rather than racking your brain for “get rich quick” tactics, figure out how not to lose money or at least how to curb your spending.

You’ll be ahead of the curve and you’ll save yourself from stress-induced headaches.

Conclusion

Inversion is counterintuitive. But it’s an essential skill for making logical decisions. It helps keep our ego in check. Sometimes we blindly chase our dreams (or impulsively quit jobs) which can have serious consequences or setbacks.

It helps you see issues from all angles so that you can hedge your bets and make the best-informed decision.

The ability to avoid mistakes is a very underrated way to success. While mistakes are typically thought of as inevitable, if we can remain proactive, we can sidestep some of the stumbling blocks of failure to a clearer path to success.