For the longest time, I thought I needed more information.
Another book.
Another podcast.
Another productivity system.
I kept searching because I believed clarity was something I would eventually stumble upon if I just learned enough.
But the opposite happened.
The more information I collected, the more overwhelmed I became.
No wonder that many other people also feel overwhelmed.
We live in a world where we’re constantly told to consume more.
More advice.
More opinions.
More courses that promise to change our lives.
But after a while, we realise that we cannot put all those inputs together.
That’s exactly where I found myself.
Then I came across an idea from Aristotle that completely changed the way I think.
It’s called syllogism.
The name sounds complicated, but the idea is fairly simple.
A syllogism is a chain of reasoning.
It starts with a general observation.
Then you add a specific fact.
And the conclusion follows naturally.
For example, take the general observation: All humans are mortal.
Then we add a specific fact: Socrates is a human.
Therefore, we conclude that Socrates is mortal.
The conclusion is not just a guess.
It is not just an opinion.
It is a solid truth that follows from the premises.
When I understood that, I started asking myself some difficult questions.
Why was I not making all my decisions this way?
Why was I not using logic to give shape to my life?
Instead, I was using emotions and pretending they were logical.
My emotions prevented me from thinking logically —- they made me turn in circles.
As a result, I failed to seize opportunities that made me uncomfortable.
And then I told myself that the circumstances were not auspicious.
Do you see what was happening?
I was not thinking logically — I was not using syllogisms.
I was allowing my emotions to control me, pretending that were logical
Many people do this all the time.
They mistake their emotions for evidence.
So I decided to change my approach.
Whenever I faced an obstacle, I stopped asking, “How do I feel?”
And I started to ask “What do I have to do to solve this problem?”
Then I built a syllogism.
Like every worthwhile skill, syllogisms require practice.
And since I wanted to master the skill,
I started to practise consistently.
Sometimes I did not like the conclusion that came from thinking logically.
But I pushed myself to accept what is true.
And that proved incredibly beneficial for my effectiveness.
Because I no longer had to wait for the right emotions.
I only had to ask whether my conclusion was logical or not.
Over time, I noticed something else.
Whenever I felt confused, the problem was not in my logic.
The problem was in one of the premises, or in both of them.
The problem is that I had accepted wrong assumptions.
For instance, I had wrongly assumed that success must happen quickly.
And that failure means that the game is over.
And that everyone else is doing great.
Once I challenged those assumptions, my conclusions also changed.
That’s when I realised something I’ll never forget.
Clarity is about starting with better premises.
That’s what Aristotle understood more than two thousand years ago.
If we start with true facts, then our conclusions will be true.
That’s why, whenever I feel stuck, I check my premises.
For instance, what do I believe to be correct that it isn’t?
Or what do I believe to be true that it isn’t?
And when I find the mistake, I correct it and draw the right conclusion.
When I use Aristotelian logic, my conclusions become clear.
And my actions become more effective.
That’s how I found total clarity thanks to Aristotle.
If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “The 10 Principles of Rational Living.”
https://johnvespasian.com/aristotle-how-i-got-total-clarity/
