Timeless Mental Models I Learnt The Hard Way
When you read about people like Naval Ravikant, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, & numerous other massively successful folks, one thing that is common across their lives is their use of tested mental models. Very simply, while habits are (often involuntary) responses or routines coded into our brain, most of which are not deliberate or well thought out, mental models are rules that you deliberately code into your brain , mostly to prevent yourself from making stupid decisions in important situations.
I have made many mistakes in life, and have seen so many others around me repeat some of those exact same patterns- walk with me for the next 3 minutes as I talk about my first hand learnings & 4 of the mental models I vouch to live by without fail. Strongly recommend reading the books The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant as well as Super Thinking to ponder more.
- If you can’t decide, the answer is no
IMO, this is one of the most critical mental models. When it comes to big life decisions- should I marry/ date this person, should I take this job, should I continue this relationship which doesn’t seem so great, should I hire this person for my early stage startup- the right answer is mostly no if you’re doubtful. I’ve been indecisive often in these big decisions, & I’ve regretted it ONLY when I went with a ‘YES’ after being doubtful. True for a job switch, true for stretching a relationship that was just bad, true for hiring the wrong person in my early team in my last startup. Have seen friends get married when doubtful, which didn’t turn out well eventually.
Pause for a second & think about 3 instances where you were confused about such big decisions, & you’ll be convinced that this mental model is GOLD.
2. When confused about a tough decision, take the path more painful in the short term
Literally all benefits in life- relationships, career, money, health- come from taking the path that is harder in the short term. Delayed gratification is the only way to unlock these. My 2 year journey building my first startup between 2019–2021 was the hardest thing I’ve done, & even though it failed, these years were massively rewarding in every which way from a medium to long term perspective. When planning to switch jobs in 2017 from a big company to a small startup, I regret not joining the even smaller, super capable team in favour of a small yet very well funded startup. At least for the hyper ambitious folks out there, this is a critical mental model, though very tough to practise consistently given our monkey-brains that just want to take the easier way out all the time.
3. Design your environment towards your goals
The only way to get smarter is to surround yourself & work with smart(er) people. The only way to get super fit is to not store processed food & have a gym membership/ PT for accountability. The only way to be consistent with reading is to hoard sexy books that interest you so much that the very sight of those sitting visibly on your table, nudges you to read daily (trust me, this works wonders). The only way to continue to be an optimistic, positive person is to avoid pessimistic, negative people at all costs. Read more about this in the best book on habits I have ever read, Atomic Habits by James Clear
4. Only play the games you want to play, to hell with social programming
Last few years I have got immense clarity about the games I want to play in life, & I try to condition myself to filter out everything else that comes my way. I want to build something massive, a company that offers something that is 10x better to the consumers than the status quo, while staying super healthy for the next 50 years & keeping folks around me healthy & happy too- that’s it. Everything else is just noise for me. If you listen to each advice that comes your way, even from folks who really care about you, you’ll end up not being able to play those games. The universe has been around for 10Bn years & will vanish in another 10Bn- you are literally a passing moment- do you really want to be a robot programmed by your peers, relatives, social media, brands & all that noise around you?
I’m sure I’ll keep adding to my list, but if this was interesting to you, I recommend skimming through Shane Parrish’s blog on mental models. Don’t just read or ingest content, keep enriching & building mental models :)
