1. Read a lot and read widely.
  2. Create systems not goals.
  3. Don't jump into conclusions.
  4. Argue with yourself.
  5. Change your opinion.
  6. Be Unattached to information
  7. Seek Adversity.

1. Read a lot and read widely.

Reading Exposes you to unique points of view, sparks constant curiosity within you and allows you to stay open-minded.

Well-read people understand that there are always multiple ways to look at a problem and multiple lenses with which to view the world.

2. Create systems not goals.

A system can be measured, refined, and optimized. A goal cannot.
You can work on the inputs of your system to create better quality and quantity of outputs. A goal only focuses on the output.

For example, creating a system; habit or ritual that promotes writing everyday is more effective than setting the goal of writing an essay a week.

3. Don't jump into conclusions

A good critical thinker has built up the habit of not jumping to conclusions, especially in the absence of data.

They make a judgment once they've studied a topic and can justify their position with sound reasoning.

4. Argue with yourself

Great thinkers routinely and intelligently try to counter their own arguments. They go back and forth until only the most rational and strongest argument exists based on the knowledge they have.

5. Be Unattached to Information

Have the willingness to change an opinion in the face of better data. Don't fix your assent on any position until you have a firm unalterable ground for it or sure evidence after turning the proposition on all sides and searched the matter through and through so that you cannot be mistaken.

Even then, caution yourself not to be too early or too frequent in expressing this assurance peremptorily, bearing in mind that everyone makes mistake including you and two persons can have varying perspective on a single issue.

Finally, if by chance you state a false perspective, you should learn to be able to retract a statement or admit an error when you are proven wrong, never be too proud to change your opinion.

6. Seek Adversity

In adversity, you learn to create new rules and break old ones. You have to because it's either do or die. 

The shift from a passive thinker to an active thinker is very subtle on the surface because it happens internally. It requires internal conviction: a strong belief in oneself. 

Adversity generates a lot of internal conviction. This internal conviction drives you, and makes it easier for you to shift into active modes of thinking. Instead of living defensively, you attack life with ferocity.

7. Write

Writing is thinking. The better we get at writing, the better we get at thinking.

Writing also helps us separate what we actually know from what we think we know.

Writing is one of the ultimate meta-skills: a skill that allows you to develop other skills. Writing leads to better thinking, communication, reading, and researching skills.

This post was extracted from a video with the same title on the YouTube channel freedom of thought, see video below:

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