Dr. David Backwell
Founder of Triliteral

🧠 Medical doctor | Cognitive strategist | Systems thinker

“How we think defines how we live.
Living well should be our greatest project.”

I’m a medical doctor with a deep focus on cognition, leadership, and decision-making. Across my career, I’ve been lucky enough to work in community mental health, theoretical cognitive science research, and leadership development. This has developed my interdisciplinary approach to actualizing human potential through thought intervention.

Deep down, we are all fallible people usually trying to do our best. We carry the weight of our past and anxieties around the future while navigating the thin sliver of ‘now’ that we get to experience. My main interest is how we can craft a better mind to take the precious few moments we have and make sense of them and give them meaning.

Portrait of a man with short hair, a thick beard, and a calm expression, photographed in black and white against a clean white background.

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The Mental Spectacle

David’s CV of failures

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How Systems Really Work - Russell Ackoff

"A system is never the sum of its parts; it’s the product of their interactions." — Russell Ackoff

Triliteral

Aligning Thought and Action - Goethe

"To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult of all." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Paradox and Passion - Kierkegaard

"The thinker without a paradox is like a lover without passion; a mediocre fellow." - Søren Kierkegaard

Triliteral

Seeing With New Eyes - Marcel Proust

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Perception and Self - Anaïs Nin

"We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are." - Anaïs Nin

Intelligence and Change - Einstein

"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." - Albert Einstein

Power to Choose - Viktor Frankl

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." - Viktor Frankl

Being the Change - Gandhi

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

Leadership - Lao Tzu

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists… When his work is done, they will say: we did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu

Strategy - Michael Porter

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." - Michael Porter

Thought and Self-Dialogue - Plato

"When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself." - Plato

Preparation - Louis Pasteur

"In the field of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur

Assumptions - Alan Alda

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” - Alan Alda

Doubt, Certainty and Critical Thinking - Voltaire

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." - Voltaire

Igniting the Mind and Inspiring Curiosity - Plutarch

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch

Changing Your Thinking to Solve Problems - Einstein

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." - Albert Einstein

Managing Stress Through Thought - William James

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." - William James

Dr. David Backwell Founder of Triliteral

🧠 Medical doctor | Cognitive strategist | Systems thinker

“How we think defines how we live. Living well should be our greatest project.”

Follow along for commentary on my substack

David’s CV of failures

Dr. David Backwell
Founder of Triliteral

“How we think defines how we live.
Living well should be our greatest project.”