Clear Thinking

Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results by Shane Parrish

May 27, 2025

In partnership with

❝

What happens in ordinary moments determines your future.

— Shane Parrish, Clear Thinking

Ever wish you could press pause before making a snap decision?

In Clear Thinking, Shane Parrish lays out a guide to turning those split-second reactions into deliberate choices—so you can finally get out of your own way.​

SMARTEST TAKEAWAYS
Outsmart Your Own Brain

1️⃣ Meet Your Defaults: Parrish reveals four invisible “defaults” (a.k.a. Your Brain’s Autopilots) that shape your decisions without you noticing:

  • Emotion Default: Reacting on feelings, not facts.

  • Ego Default: Protecting your pride, even when it hurts you.

  • Social Default: Following the crowd, even if it’s the wrong direction.

  • Inertia Default: Sticking to what’s familiar, even if it’s not working.

2️⃣ The Power of the Pause: The best decisions come from creating a tiny bit of space between what happens to you and how you respond. That pause is where clear thinking lives—and where you can swap knee-jerk reactions for smarter moves.

3️⃣ Build Your Strengths: Parrish gives you a toolkit to beat your weaknesses:

  • Self-accountability: Own your choices and mistakes.

  • Self-knowledge: Know your strengths and blind spots.

  • Self-control: Master your impulses.

  • Self-confidence: Trust your ability to handle what comes next.

INSIGHTFUL EXAMPLE
Personal Board of Directors

One of Parrish’s favorite strategies is to imagine a “personal board of directors”—a mental panel of wise figures, real or imagined, who advise him on tough decisions.

When facing a dilemma, he asks himself what someone like Charlie Munger or Marcus Aurelius would do.

This habit helps him break free from social pressure and emotional reactions, tapping into broader perspectives for clearer thinking and better outcomes.

BOOK FACTS
Clear Thinking

  • First Published: October 3, 2023

  • Print length: 288 pages

  • Listening length: 6:41

  • Ratings: 4.6 Amazon, 4.2 Goodreads

AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY

He’s already IPO’d once – this time’s different

Spencer Rascoff grew Zillow from seed to IPO. But everyday investors couldn’t join until then, missing early gains. So he did things differently with Pacaso. They’ve made $110M+ in gross profits disrupting a $1.3T market. And after reserving the Nasdaq ticker PCSO, you can join for $2.80/share until 5/29.

This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals. Under Regulation A+, a company has the ability to change its share price by up to 20%, without requalifying the offering with the SEC.

FROM THE AUTHOR
5 Insights from the Book

Using AI effectively can help you think clearly.

Here are two of our favorite AI newsletters. We subscribe to both and get a ton of value from each.

THE RUNDOWN AI

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 1,000,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.

SUPERHUMAN AI

Find out why 1M+ professionals read Superhuman AI daily.

In 2 years you will be working for AI

Or an AI will be working for you

Here's how you can future-proof yourself:

  1. Join the Superhuman AI newsletter – read by 1M+ people at top companies

  2. Master AI tools, tutorials, and news in just 3 minutes a day

  3. Become 10X more productive using AI

Join 1,000,000+ pros at companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon that are using AI to get ahead.

Help Us Get Slightly Smarter

How did you like today's email?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.