Inversion Thinking

His video is framed that way (how to stay poor) inspired by Charlie Munger and his seminar “how to live a miserable life”, as he believes in a process called “inversion thinking”.

Inversion thinking is the practice of thinking through problems in reverse. Our brain is better at finding problems than solutions. So we take advantage of that. We start by asking how an endeavor could fail, by identifying every possible problem or threat. Then we flip that in reverse to find solutions, being careful to avoid those pitfalls.

“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”
— Charlie Munger

The 28 Problems

1. ✅ Start tomorrow.
   👉 Start today.
2. ✅ Read lots of books and then do nothing.
   👉 Do the stuff in the books.
3. ❌ Take advice from “poor” people on how to be “rich”.
   👉 Take advice from successful people.
4. ❌ Pick a life partner who will make you feel guilty for working.
   👉 Pick a life partner who makes you feel awesome about working.
5. ❌ Fail once, quit forever.
   👉 Fail and try again, and again.
6. ✅ Think that the world is fair.
   👉 Think the world is unfair and act accordingly.
7. ✅ Blame your circumstances.
   👉 Thank your circumstances for making you who you are.
   Strong character is built through hard times.
8. ✅ Complain (about things you can't control).
   👉 Don't complain, accept and move on, do something.
9. 🤔 Expect other people to save you.
   👉 Expect no one to save you except for yourself.
10. ❌ Value the opinion of others over your own.
    👉 Value your opinion over those of others.
11. 🤔 Avoid discomfort.
    👉 Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
12. ❌ Tolerate mediocrity.
    👉 Tolerate nothing but excellence (always, from you and others).
    Lead by example.
13. ✅ Make promises, break promises (especially to yourself).
    👉 Always keep your promises (especially to yourself).
14. 🤔 Wait for perfect conditions.
    👉 Act now on what you want, no matter the conditions.
15. ❌ Prioritize looking rich over being rich.
    👉 Be real to you (or you will be real to no one).
16. ✅ Avoid working on what matters most.
    👉 Work on the things that matter most, ignore what doesn't matter.
17. ✅ Say you're going to do something and then don't do it. (same as #13)
    👉 Do the things you said you would do.
18. 🤔 Do what everyone else is doing.
    👉 Do what no one else is doing.
    Don't model the 99%, nor look for their approval.
19. 🤔 Do your best, not what it takes.
    👉 Make it above what is required, becoming better when needed.
20. ✅ Think/talk more, do less. Getting prepared to work and actually do very little.
    👉 Just do it. Think/talk less, do more.
21. ✅ Start something new today, start something new tomorrow.
    👉 Finish what you start. Push through the valley of despair.
    Success is a process, not an outcome.
22. ❌ Believe what other people think about you more than what you think about you.
    👉 Know and trust yourself, not what others think about you.
23. 🤔 Make a mistake then wait and repeat.
    👉 Fix your mistakes ASAP and learn from them.
24. Be replaceable. (Do what everyone else is doing, do it for less.)
    👉 Be irreplaceable. Be able to do what no one else can do.
25. ✅ Find something that works, and then stop doing it.
    👉 Find what works and keep doing it.
26. ❌ Hire dumb people.
    👉 Hire smart people, smarter than you.
27. 🤔 Assume you're always right.
    👉 Assume you're always wrong and be willing to learn (from anyone).
    “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know but need to know. Learn from them.” – Carl Jung
28. ❌ Spend more than you make.
    👉 Spend less than you make.

14. Wait for perfect conditions.
Secret: There are never gonna be perfect conditions! Even crazier, if you need perfect conditions to be successful, the moment the conditions change, you will stop being successful. If you can prove success when things get bad, when they get bad again, which is guaranteed, you will still remain successful because you've learned how to do it in these circumstances.

16. Avoid working on what matters most.
Don't do the most stuff, be sure the right stuff get done (by you or someone else). Often the most important ones are the ones you don't want to do and are procrastinating on. Stop doing things that don't matter.

19. Do your best, not what it takes.
In reality, a lot of times, your best may suck and what is required may be beyond you… meaning you must become better.

21. Start something new today, start something new tomorrow.
Do stuff, try something, try something else, try something else, etc. Always leave half-built bridges. You never complete anything you start, just keep starting new things because it's exciting and new. It's called uninformed optimism. As soon as you jump into the new thing, you realize that it will take work and the things that were awesome about it also have downsides which is the work that is required to be good. And as soon as you realize that is work, you go through the change cycle, you go from uninformed optimism to informed pessimism. And then you go through the valley of despair… where everyone jumps to the next opportunity. And they just do this forever, and they just never achieve what they want.

Watch Alex Hormozi's full video here: