Reverse Thinking and Sequential Thinking: A Comparison in Setting Life Goals (Bite-size Article)

Do you currently have something you are working on long-term and aiming to achieve?

There are various approaches to setting life goals. Among them, “reverse thinking” and “sequential thinking” are very popular and well-known methodologies for achieving goals.

Personally, I tend to lean towards reverse thinking, but after various experiences in my twenties, I now primarily base my actions on reverse thinking while occasionally incorporating sequential thinking.

In this article, I will compare these two thinking methods and explain how they can be useful in setting life goals.

Reverse thinking is like looking at the picture of a completed puzzle and figuring out where to place each piece.

Since the ultimate goal (the completed picture) is clearly visible, it becomes easy to determine which pieces (steps) should be placed and in what order to achieve the goal.

• Goal: The completed puzzle picture
• Action: Placing the puzzle pieces

The advantage of this method is that you can always keep the big picture in mind as you progress, making it easier to take specific and planned actions. It’s easy to set realistic schedules and timelines, and clearly manage task prioritization.

However, long-term plans are vulnerable to changes in the environment and circumstances. What you envisioned a year ago might not remain the same today. In the real world, the picture of the completed puzzle often changes over time. When this happens, you may be forced to change or abandon your plans. While the term “reverse thinking” sounds solid and low-risk, it can actually become risky if you cannot adapt to changes.

Advantages

• Always keeping the big picture in mind, making specific and planned actions easier.
• Easy to set realistic schedules and timelines.
• Clearly managing task prioritization.

Disadvantages

• Long-term plans are vulnerable to changes in the environment and circumstances.
• The goal may change over time, forcing plan changes or abandonment.
• While reverse thinking seems solid and low-risk, it can become risky if you cannot adapt to changes.

Sequential thinking is like exploring unknown land while drawing a map. Starting from your current location, you observe the paths and scenery in front of you and proceed step by step. As you advance, the map (the path towards the goal) gradually becomes clearer.

• Goal: Focus on the immediate task (proceeding along the path)
• Action: Determine the next step based on what you see in front of you (deciding the next action based on the current situation)

The advantage of this method is that it allows you to always take actions that are grounded in reality. You can remain agile and flexible, adjusting your direction as circumstances change. Additionally, serendipity (fortunate accidents) is more likely to occur.

The disadvantage is that there is no plan to reap the benefits of long-term strategic planning. The place you are exploring might be a barren island with cliffs, and there would be no point in exploring such a place for a long time. Of course, it might not be the case, but you won’t know until you try.

Advantages

• Easy to take actions grounded in reality.
• Always remain agile and flexible, adjusting direction as circumstances change.
• Serendipity (fortunate accidents) is more likely to occur.

Disadvantages

• It is difficult to plan and proceed with long-term strategies.
• Current actions may not always lead to optimal long-term benefits, risking wasted time and resources.
• There is a high possibility of proceeding haphazardly, lacking consistency in reaching a major goal.

Reverse thinking and sequential thinking differ significantly in how they maintain motivation, and I believe this is a very important aspect.

Maintaining Motivation with Reverse Thinking

Reverse thinking is fundamentally about “maintaining motivation through clear goals“. Since you always have a clear goal in sight, thinking about how far you are from that goal becomes a source of motivation.

For example, imagine you work in sales and have 1,000 pairs of shoes in stock. After six months of hard work in sales and operations, the stock has been reduced to 500 pairs. In this case, you can think that if you continue with the same effort for another six months, you will be able to sell out the remaining 500 pairs. The thought of “just six more months” can become your motivation. By concretely grasping the progress towards achieving your goal, it can make you feel relieved and motivated, making this method suitable for such situations.

Maintaining Motivation with Sequential Thinking

Sequential thinking also has its own method for maintaining motivation.

Sequential thinking is characterized by “maintaining motivation through the accumulation of small successes“. By clearing the tasks and steps in front of you one by one, you can gradually feel that you are getting closer to your goal.

For example, imagine you continue running for 30 minutes every day. Even if you could only run a short distance at first, by noticing that you can run a little further each day, you can gain a sense of achievement. In this way, each small goal you achieve provides a success experience that motivates your next action, allowing you to continually move towards your ultimate goal.

Unlike reverse thinking, not having a long-term goal can lower the barriers, which is a strength of this method.

Comparison

Finally, let’s briefly summarize and compare the content discussed so far.

Conclusion

Which method do you use more often? In my opinion, both methods have their own characteristics, and neither is necessarily better than the other. The smart approach is to combine and switch between them depending on the situation.

I hope this article was helpful in some way! Thank you for reading.