Introduction

 'I think, therefore I am', as the French philosopher Descartes famously wrote. By which he meant that we know we exist precisely because we have the ability to question whether we exist.

All very philosophical, however it underlines the fact that thinking is at the very root of who we are.

So it follows that the more clearly, effectively and coherently we think, the better we are able to live. Happiness and success can flow from good thinking in a way we struggle to achieve if our thought processes are muddled, messy, incoherent. Our thoughts influence our feelings, so it is important to get this foundation right. Once you can think well, you have the basis on which to build the rest of your life.

This is not a book of tips and strategies for thinking. There are lots of those out there, and some of them are very useful, but you won't find many of their techniques here. This book is different - it's about your mindsets, your ways of thinking. It's about understanding why you think as you do and using that insight to improve the way you think. To adapt a traditional saying: 'Give a man a thought and you feed his brain for a day. Teach him how to think, and you feed his brain for life, I want to pass on a lifetime of observations and experience about the kinds of thinking that really work for people. The habits that turn you into a first-class mind. A Rules thinker.

And it is all about habit. We spend all our waking life thinking, so we stop monitoring how we're doing it. We get sloppy without even noticing. When you take your driving test you consciously do everything just as you've learnt it, but by the time you've been driving a few years you're crossing your hands on the steering wheel, slipping the clutch ... you've stopped thinking about it.

That's great for all the bits you're still getting right - it's good news