You need to get in the habit of chasing concepts back to their source.
"Which of my assumptions is contaminating my thinking?".
Like excising a tumour from its root.
Difficult for a mind to fix itself, though. No external frame of reference.
Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world
-Archimedes
Had he been given the opportunity, I suspect the Archimedes would have executed my ramblings in a much more succinct manner.