Category: Mental Models

If doing things you don’t like is the only way to improve your life then you’ll improve your life as little as possible. If you feel rich when you spend money and poor when you save it then your financial psychology is wired to wreck you. Because every positive action you take based on that…

Connect every fact you know to every other fact you know. This is a core principle of learning. If you know what a chair looks like, and you understand what it’s for, it’s easy to learn that another chair-like object is also a chair. Look at enough chair like objects and you will learn the…

There are limits to your capabilities. But if you work within them and repeatedly accomplish productive work you will build abundance within those limits. Abundance that gives you the energy to try a new challenge and push those limits. If you constantly strain against your limits they will wear you down. But if you do…

See the good in yourself because it’s useful. If you make nine good decisions and one bad decision you’ll probably call yourself a bad decision maker. Because we like to dislike ourselves. If you do this, you’ll make your belief come true, and make bad decisions because your picture of reality is wrong. The more…

Listening to your own instinct is an important element of strength. And listening to your own instincts results in better outcomes over time. If you have an instinct to do or say something and you don’t act on it because you’re not sure about it or concerned what others will think, then you won’t learn…

If you’re uncertain you should allow yourself to be seen by the world, and you’re worried because you think it might be selfish, remember that it has nothing to do with whether it’s selfish or not. You’re doing a service just by showing up. People need to see others doing things in order to do…

Study learning not in the masturbatoryand pretentious sense of learning for the sake of learning Don’t glorify learning over accomplishments. That’s just stupid and a symptom of a dying academic culture. Study learning so you can accomplish things faster. Study learning so you can optimize it and understand that you don’t magic yourway to knowledge…

You don’t know where you’re going. You only know where you’ve been. And you shouldn’t pay too much attention to either direction. Most of us focus on our past regrets and future dreams. And those are useful. One can be learned from and one can inspire you. But when the mistakes of the past are…

There are limits to your capabilities. But if you work within them and repeatedly accomplish productive work you will build abundance within those limits. Abundance that gives you the energy to try a new challenge and push those limits. If you constantly strain against your limits they will wear you down. But if you do…

If you’re a creative, visionary person, you should do realistic things. This isn’t because you can’t make your vision come true. It’s because you’re already good at envisioning things and now you need to keep it together. In some cases you should just play to your strengths. And if you can imagine a great piece…