One of the most underrated mental models is the ability to ask the right questions.
For every level of perspective or situation, you can connect a set of questions you should keep in mind by default. These default questions serve as a mental framework that activates automatically when you find yourself in familiar contexts.
When you find yourself in a moment where you want to do something but don't know what to do, this is a good time to revisit and keep in the background questions related to priorities:
These questions help break the paralysis of not knowing what to do. They're not about finding the perfect answer, but about finding something that moves you forward in a meaningful direction.
How can you improve your ability to ask good questions?
No matter what topic we're dealing with or what problem we face, one of the first approaches should be:
How can you improve the quality of your days? How can you become more efficient and spend less time at work?
What do you need to get a remote job?
Should you become an entrepreneur? How can you free yourself from the need to have a job? Maybe gradually.
How can you measure the impact and work you have done?
Imagine you only had two hours a day to dedicate to your goals. How would you use them?
Constraints often feel limiting, but they can also sharpen focus. They strip away distractions, force you to prioritize, and sometimes even unlock creativity.
The real question is: what matters enough to deserve those hours?
One way to frame this is by looking at three scenarios:
The 3-month horizon deserves the most immediate attention—it’s where daily effort compounds. But it’s also important to think longer term, to see how each scenario might evolve. That’s second-order thinking: not just asking what’s next? but what might follow after that?
Behind every scenario are four domains that shape a fulfilling life:
Balancing these areas isn’t easy, but they create the compass that points toward peace, satisfaction, and fulfillment.
The next layer of questions is about leverage:
Clarity here can save years of wasted effort.
I’m fascinated by mental models that contradict each other but both hold truth. Life is a complex system, and context changes how a model applies.
Take entrepreneurship, for example. In Silicon Valley, the mantra is fail fast, fail often. Yet DHH, one of the authors of Rework, argues the opposite: that failure doesn’t teach you what will work—it only shows what doesn’t. Both ideas carry weight, but their usefulness depends on when and where they’re applied.
Richard Feynman believed in keeping fundamental questions running in the background of your mind. These aren't problems to solve, but questions that help you verify and deepen your understanding of anything you encounter.
While learning or encountering new information, Feynman would constantly ask himself:
What do I really know about this? - Not what I think I know, but what I can actually explain and verify. This question exposes gaps in understanding before they become problems.
Can I explain this simply? - If you can't explain something in plain language to someone else, you probably don't truly understand it. Simplicity reveals depth.
How can I verify if this is true? - What evidence supports this? What would contradict it? This keeps you from accepting information passively.
What happens if I change perspective? - Looking at the same thing from a different angle often reveals new insights. What does this look like from another person's viewpoint, another time, another context?
What are the implications? - If this is true, what follows? What are the second and third-order consequences? This question helps you think through the full picture.
These questions don't require answers immediately. They run in the background, filtering everything you learn and experience. When you hear something new, test it against these questions. When you're studying, use them to check your understanding. When you're making decisions, let them guide your reasoning.
The power isn't in having the questions written down, but in making them a habit, a constant mental framework that evaluates everything you encounter.
Most of us run on autopilot. We stop questioning, and life becomes momentum without direction.
But when you pause and ask yourself:
—you suddenly feel the power of questions. They don't just provide answers; they shift your entire perspective. Sometimes the right question is more valuable than any solution.
This way, the piece flows from constraint → scenarios → foundations → leverage → paradoxes → background questions → the right questions, like a natural spiral inward.