Want to become a world-class engineer or a legendary entrepreneur? Then do yourself a favor: smash your smartphone. OK, maybe that’s extreme, but you absolutely need to get rid of those constant distractions if you want to build something real—something that leaves the rest of the world in your dust.

I know, I know: we live in a society that treats phones like oxygen. You can’t go anywhere without seeing everyone’s face buried in a screen—checking notifications, hammering out texts, swiping left, right, up, down, sideways, what have you. But here’s the kicker: to truly crush it, to do big stuff—like design a rocket that flies on half the usual fuel or build a startup that disrupts an entire industry—you need something that’s becoming endangered: first principles thinking.

You’ve probably heard people name-drop “first principles” like it’s some cheat code. And in many ways, it is. Think about it: you take a problem, strip out all the assumptions and hype, and rebuild from the ground up. You see the world not just as it is, but as it could be when you dig beneath the obvious. This is the method Elon Musk credits for rethinking rockets at SpaceX and EVs at Tesla, or how the biggest names in tech spot brand-new markets that no one else believes in yet. But there’s a massive catch: first principles thinking is worthless if you can’t even see the signals that point you to bigger questions. And guess what kills your ability to notice crucial signals? That blazing little notification rectangle in your pocket that pings every time your friend sends you a cat meme.

This “tuning in” to your world is what I call Attunement. It’s the first of seven overlapping phases that make up a cycle of first principles thinking: Attunement, Observation, Intuition, Transformation, Analysis, Execution, and Iteration. Yeah, seven steps might sound like a lot. But trust me, if you nail them, you’ll solve problems that no one else even knows exist yet.

Let’s break these phases down, all while highlighting how being married to your phone basically wrecks them. I’m not just going to lecture you. I’ll give you legit examples—a bakery, a hunting trip, and even rocket engineers at SpaceX—so you’ll see how this process repeats in every domain. The big question is: are you missing out because you’ve replaced your real-world senses with that addictive dopamine drip from your smartphone feed?

Attunement. Attunement is where it all starts—basically turning up your sensory dial so you pick up tiny anomalies you’d otherwise ignore. When you’re locked into your phone, you’re not noticing squat. You’re half-listening in conversation, missing subtle shifts in your environment, and all your best opportunities slip away while you refresh your feeds.

Consider a small bakery. The staff might casually note that on super-humid days, the dough feels weird, or the oven hum changes when it’s overloaded, or that certain types of bread just sit there all sad and unsold. No one’s slapping labels on anything yet—they’re just…tuned in.

Same thing when you watch an experienced hunter. They step into a forest and immediately pick up wind direction, faint tracks by a stream, and weird rustling that might signal a deer or a predator. They’re not jumping to conclusions; they’re just quietly in harmony with what’s around them.

And in the realm of big rockets, a SpaceX engineer might detect a subtle shift in the roar of a rocket engine or see a slight temperature change in the data. They’re not writing a big scary memo about a potential meltdown yet, but they keep that mental note. That’s Attunement.

Observation. Next up is Observation: collecting real, measurable data. Once you sense something is off or interesting, you start gathering the facts. Without actual data, you’re just speculating.

The bakery staff, now convinced something’s weird with leftover bread, decides to measure precisely how many loaves remain unsold, what times customers show up, and which breads hang around like the last guest at a party. Hard data replaces random assumptions.

The hunter logs hoof-print size, the time of day animals cross certain paths, and even the moon phase. They don’t rely on vague memories like “I think I saw a bear last Tuesday.” They write it all down.

SpaceX engineers measure all the stuff you’d expect: thrust levels, fuel flow, temperature readings, vibration patterns, plus every anomaly that pops up. That data builds a clear picture of the rocket’s performance.

Intuition. Now that you have data, a feeling creeps in—Intuition. It’s the sense that you’ve got an uncharted problem waiting to be cracked.

For the bakery, as those stats pile up, the staff starts feeling squeamish about half-full racks at closing time. Something’s not right. They’re tossing away perfectly good bread, so a question lingers: what the hell is happening?

For the hunter, after logging footprints and noticing odd changes in animal behavior, they might suspect there’s a bigger predator on the scene. They don’t have a photo or a body to confirm yet, but the numbers and patterns feel fishy.

The SpaceX engineer sees minor fuel-flow issues that keep popping up across multiple tests, sparking that gut-level belief that something deeper is going on. This is the moment you stop ignoring coincidences and wonder if there’s a real puzzle to solve.

Transformation. Transformation is when you refine that vague hunch into a crisp question: What’s the actual problem here?

The bakery goes from “Ugh, we always have leftovers” to “How do we reduce leftover bread without killing freshness?” This is now a pointed challenge that can focus everyone’s effort.

The hunter wonders, “Is there a new apex predator, and how do I adapt my tracking methods?” Instead of an uneasy feeling, it’s a direct problem to tackle.

The SpaceX engineer says, “Which design flaw or hardware variable is causing these weird pressure differences?” By asking that question, they start homing in on a real solution.

Analysis. During Analysis, you challenge the assumptions you’ve always taken for granted. A big question is “Why the hell have we been doing it like this?” Because sometimes you’ll find you’re ignoring some simpler, better approach.

The bakery wonders if they really need to bake all their bread in the morning. Do they need two dozen varieties every day? A quick look at customer behavior might reveal folks want fresh bread on demand more than they crave a giant selection.

The hunter rethinks their usual methods—maybe their usual route, their pre-dawn strategy. They question if they’ve been ignoring updated info about migration patterns. They keep what’s essential and toss what’s outdated.

SpaceX engineers reevaluate the rocket piece by piece. Are certain engine components necessary, or can they simplify the design? Do outdated calculations need an overhaul? They line up everything against the truths of physics and engineering.

Execution. Now we hit Execution. You roll out your potential fixes, test them in reality, and see if your brilliant ideas solve the issues—or blow up in your face.

Our bakery tries smaller, staggered baking times, maybe slims down the fancy loaves nobody actually buys, and offers a preorder system so they know how many pastries the daily regulars want. Then they measure waste again. That’s how they know if they’re really onto something.

The hunter switches up location, tries new gear, hunts at different hours. Maybe they use a new scent masker. They watch if their results improve.

At SpaceX, they might swap out an engine nozzle, tweak the fuel pumps, or relocate sensors. Then they test-fire the rocket to see if the pressure issues vanish. If you’re unlucky, you get another glitch. If you’re lucky, you move forward.

Iteration. Finally, Iteration. You circle back to the data, see what worked or didn’t, and keep refining. This cycle never really ends—you’re always collecting fresh observations, asking new questions, and adjusting yet again.

The bakery checks if these new baking strategies actually slashed waste. If yes, awesome—keep refining. If not, try another approach. With each loop, they improve their system.

The hunter sees if the new strategy yields more game. If it’s better, they lock it in. If not, they pivot. Success here is about constant adaptation.

The SpaceX engineers check the new data. If the fuel flow is smooth and stable, they’re gold. If new anomalies pop up, they refine again. Rinse and repeat until the rocket roars without a hiccup.

Throughout all these phases, attunement is the heavy-duty glue that holds everything together. If you don’t pick up on subtle changes—like a squeak in your design or a shift in customer behavior—guess what? You’ll never do real observation, never have that uneasy feeling in your gut, and never formulate a question that triggers transformation. In other words, if your attention is always split, you’re dead in the water.

So let’s talk about phones again (or any screen, for that matter). Their constant pings degrade your situational awareness. You’re forever glancing away from a conversation or ignoring that faint background hum that might be the biggest clue of your life. It’s not that your phone is evil—it's that you’re letting it constantly yank you out of focus so your mind never fully locks onto anything. This partial presence kills your ability to do the real detective work that leads to breakthroughs.

For an engineer, that might mean you miss the subtle wobble of a circuit board that leads to a meltdown. For an entrepreneur, it might mean ignoring small hints in consumer feedback that could tell you exactly how to pivot your business. While you’re double-tapping Instagram posts, some other badass is paying close attention—and they’ll beat you to the punch.

The point: to crush your competition and your own limitations, you’ve gotta go all-in on cultivating awareness. That means scheduling periods of pure, uninterrupted work. It means intentionally ignoring your phone so you can give your project or environment 100% of your brain. It might mean journaling those oddities you notice each day, because small anomalies can lead to massive breakthroughs if you have the patience to dig. But none of that’s possible if your phone’s always blowing up your mental bandwidth.

If you want to master first principles thinking, start by stepping away from that digital siren song. Give yourself the gift of paying close attention to what’s right in front of you. Then cycle through the phases: Attunement, Observation, Intuition, Transformation, Analysis, Execution, Iteration. You’ll see deeper truths than the average person even knows how to look for, and your solutions will be leaps ahead.

Engineers who perfect this skill anticipate problems before they explode—and fix them while everyone else is still scratching their heads. Entrepreneurs who stay hyper-aware adapt faster to changing markets and invent entirely new ones while the competition is out chasing the same old trends. That’s why I’m shouting from the rooftops: crush your smartphone habit. Train yourself to spot the signals others ignore. Step into your environment with all your senses blazing, and then re-engineer reality from the ground up.

You want to become truly world-class? Then pay attention. The breakthroughs are all around you, hiding in plain sight—if you’re willing to tune in, shut out the noise, and do the work. Get started right now. Kick your phone to the curb for a while and see the world differently. Who knows—you might just change it.