Second-order thinking is a strategy for making decisions that are both advantageous in the short term and nondestructive over time. What appears to be a good investment now may turn out to be a liability in the future. What appeared to be a decent move previously has now turned out to be a disastrous one. Second-order thinking is a mental technique that allows you to consider the long-term implications of your decisions, allowing you to create judgments that will last.