This guide is drawn from Think Like a Philosopher, and gives you a taste of it. For the full toolkit, read the book, listen to the audiobook and work through the free PDF study guide.
1. Question the assumptions nobody has examined
The beliefs that steer you most are usually the ones you have never put into words. Questions flush them out, which is why Socratic questioning has lasted for so long: it asks what you mean, how you know and what would change your mind.
The book borrows from centuries of people who made a habit of looking anyway, and turns their questions into ones you can sit with.
Try this: Pick a decision you made recently and ask three times, 'Why did I think that was right?'
2. Ask what you are optimising for
Many people pursue goals they never chose on purpose. Asking what you are really aiming at, and whether you picked it deliberately, can change a lot. The philosophy of enough asks when more stops helping, and purpose makes discipline easier shows how clarity about purpose lightens effort.
One of the book's recurring questions is: what am I optimising for, and did I choose that on purpose?
Try this: Write down the three things you are currently working hardest at, and next to each, why.
3. Leave space between stimulus and response
Between something happening and your reaction there is a gap, and wisdom lives in widening it. The philosopher's pause is about creating that space, and philosophical reflection in a reactive world looks at how to keep it when everything demands an instant response.
The book offers questions to ask in that gap, such as what you would do if you weren't worried about how it looked.
Try this: The next time you feel provoked, wait ten seconds before answering and notice what changes.
4. Separate what you control from what you don't
A great deal of stress comes from trying to control what cannot be controlled. The Stoics made this their central practice, and the Stoic trick for separating what you control from what you don't is a practical version of it. Philosophical resilience draws on the same tools for modern stress.
The book applies timeless ideas like this to modern challenges.
Try this: Take something worrying you and split it into two lists: what is up to me, and what is not.
5. Keep your priorities in view
Remembering that time is limited sharpens what you choose to spend it on, which is the point of memento mori and modern priorities. The same applies to attention: the ethics of attention asks what deserves your focus, not just what grabs it.
The book treats examined living as a way to find purpose and balance.
Try this: Ask yourself at the end of today: what did I give my attention to, and was it worth it?
6. Keep asking who you are becoming
People change continuously, and philosophers have long asked what stays the same. The Ship of Theseus and the self you keep rebuilding turns that puzzle into a question about your own growth. Philosophy of growth and the inner expedition explore becoming wiser, not only smarter.
The book aims to help you find clarity and balance through reflective thinking.
Try this: Write down one belief or habit you have changed in the past five years, and why you changed it.
7. Argue against your own side
A view you have never tested against its best opposition is only a preference. Steelmanning the other side means stating the strongest version of the view you disagree with, and intellectual humility is the willingness to say you might be wrong.
The book is not an argument for any particular answer. It is practice at asking better questions.
Try this: Take an opinion you hold strongly and write the best case a thoughtful person could make against it.
You don't need all seven at once. Pick one, carry its question around for a week, and see what it shows you. When you want the fuller toolkit, Think Like a Philosopher is Book 5 of the Sharper Thinking series, for readers who want to slow down and examine the assumptions steering their decisions, not just the decisions themselves. You can read it, listen to it, and work through the free PDF study guide alongside it.