The overwhelming necessity of ‘the ability to think for oneself.’

There is a skill that people who want to achieve something, or even those who don't, should acquire. It's the ability to think for oneself. Life becomes more interesting, especially if you acquire it when you're young. While it's something that develops to some extent with work experience, there's no harm in acquiring it early. The reason young people "ask detailed questions about everything they're asked to do" is because they lack this ability. Some might think, "But if you're completely unfamiliar with an industry you've never experienced, you have no choice but to ask, right?" However, that's not actually the case. Let's look at excellent consultants. Even though they challenge different industries every time, they derive their own conclusions and hypotheses and make proposals. They can research, gather information, and compile it for submission themselves. What is this difference?

The answer lies in whether or not the "ability to think for oneself" has been trained. People who can think for themselves about problems, challenges, and what they need to learn, ponder them, form hypotheses, and find answers. There is an overwhelming difference between those who have trained this ability and those who haven't. For example, when acquiring something. There are people who can find shortcuts to learning and make it their own, and people who can't solve anything without asking others for answers. Both might progress at the same speed in terms of acquisition itself, but the former is better at applying what they've learned. And this ability to apply creates an overwhelming difference between the two. For example, let's say you hit a big wall. People who have trained their "ability to think for oneself" will think about how to overcome the wall and clear it, while those who haven't will just stand still in front of the wall. Only time passes, and it doesn't lead to results.

The ability to think for oneself and come up with answers. This is the fundamental "difference" among humans. Some might think, "Isn't that just talent or a knack?" However, that's not necessarily the case. The ability to think for oneself can be acquired through training. However, for those who have never consciously practiced these skills, it might take time to acquire them. It's similar to sports; it's impossible for someone who has never been able to exercise to suddenly master a sport! To use a brain analogy, it's like the body's inherent ability is the power to think for oneself. It's similar to how people with good motor skills can adapt to various sports. If the body knows how to use itself well, it's easy to get into any sport. If you have self-solving ability, you'll be able to freely wield the weapon of knowledge you've gained, no matter the industry.

Now, let's unravel that logic little by little.

First, what is the ability to think? To think about something means there is a purpose. There is meaning in thinking because there is a purpose, and you achieve it. So, you'll understand that a purpose is necessary first.

For example, let's say an entrepreneur has the idea of wanting to start their own business, wanting to make a living from their own business. In this case, the goal is to start a profitable business and make a living from it. But usually, it ends there. Because they don't know what to do. Because they don't know what to do, they get lost in thought and end up doing nothing. It's different for people who have the ability to think for themselves. In most cases, an association game begins. For example, if they don't have a "this" kind of innovative idea. Even then, ideas can be found.

What do you need to start a successful business? An idea. You need a business idea. So how do you come up with a successful business idea? Let's thoroughly gather information that is currently attracting attention from the world. What kind of information should we gather? Information about what people are looking for. What does everyone want? I heard it's good to solve existing problems. So what are the problems in the world? Let's gather the world's problems. There are many. So how about working on something you also understand? And so on.

People who can think for themselves will instantly deduce the above process and start researching the world's problems and what everyone wants. However, people who cannot think for themselves will not be able to follow this process in their minds and will stop thinking. Regardless of the association game, if there is a goal, you can trace back from it to find a path to resolution. So first, let's set a goal.

The problem is an association game. We delve deeper into our understanding until we know what actions we should take next.

What if the proposition was not to create a business, but to increase a company's sales? First, the goal is to increase sales. So how can sales be increased? To increase sales, we must increase orders. What should we do to increase orders? We must satisfy our customers. What should we do to satisfy them? Provide good products to customers. Wouldn't that be the case? And to make it a good product for customers, we research, study, and improve the quality of the product.

I've given two examples so far, and what they both have in common is identifying 'what needs to be done fundamentally.' We develop an association game that traces from the goal to the 'essence.' The ability to think for oneself could be called an association game for tracing the 'essence.' The rest is how to develop this association game. This is difficult, but let's break it down.

1. Determine the goal to be achieved.

— Start a successful business
— Increase company sales

2. Consider what is needed to achieve the goal.

— A business idea is needed.
— Orders must be increased.

3. Consider how to obtain the necessary things or achieve the goal.

— Let's thoroughly gather the world's problems.
— Customers must be satisfied.

4. Consider the means to realize the acquisition or achievement methods.

— Let's tackle the world's problems.
— Provide good products to customers.

Can you see how we start with the broad framework of a goal and progressively narrow down our thoughts towards more micro, related directions? By following the steps above, moving from the large category of a goal towards action, what needs to be done actually becomes clear.

However, what needs to be noted here is when the fundamental aim is wrong, considering the goal setting. For example, in item 2, it states that to increase company sales, orders must be increased, but what if the judgment was, for example, 'another business must be launched'? The entire foundation would be overturned. Regarding business creation, what if options like 'steal a successful idea' emerged at stage 2? To follow a path closer to success, it would be necessary to have more discussions at each step in this flow.

There is still a need to deepen our understanding of the ability to "think for oneself." However, the thought process for discovering things generally follows the flow described above. If you ever have doubts or problems, why not give it a try? And what's important is to repeatedly discuss within yourself whether your associative path is correct. At first, ideas might not come immediately, but by trying again and again and finding answers, you will surely acquire the "ability to think for yourself." While analyzing the flow of thought is certainly important, the most crucial thing is to keep thinking and trying to solve something with your own brain.