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I follow Ankur Warikoo a lot, and he coined the phrase black coffee theory. I wasn’t aware of it, but Sahil Bloom recently wrote about it in his newsletter. I really loved the idea, and maybe I saw some funny reels on it as well.

I’ll talk about this in this edition. First, I’ll explain the core idea and then the rest.

You walk into a café and say, I do not want black coffee. The barista is confused because you have not said what you want. You have only described what you don’t want.

This is how many people think about life. I do not want a stressful job. I do not want to fail. I do not want to struggle financially. But the actual question is missing. What do you actually want?

The black coffee theory shows that focusing only on what you do not want creates a lack of clarity. It is all about your mind not having a clear direction to act on.

When you shift to what you do want, your decisions become more intentional. Your attention starts filtering the right opportunities and aligns with a specific goal instead of a vague fear.

There is a simple psychological reason behind this. Clear goals are easier to act on. Avoidance keeps your mind stuck on the problem. But if you become Intentional, then it moves your mind toward the solutions.

Catch yourself when you say I do not want something and reframe it. Instead of saying I do not want a boring life, define what an exciting life looks like. Instead of saying I do not want to be unhealthy, define what being healthy means in your daily routine.

I said I don’t want to do a job, but I wasn’t clear. Recently, I reflected on it and found out what I actually want.

The black coffee theory is about being precise with your thoughts and clear about your direction. If you cannot clearly say what you want, it becomes harder to move toward it.

Thanks for reading G! See ya!

— Anirban

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a historical fiction novel that follows Amir, a privileged Afghan boy, as he navigates guilt, friendship, and redemption, spanning from the fall of the Afghan monarchy to the Taliban regime

The surface of the ocean is not flat, it mirrors the terrain below, with deep trenches causing dips and underwater mountains creating subtle bulges.