5 Handpicked Ways to Formulate Your Mental Model

If you struggle with motivation and taking action consistently, this thread will provide a fix for you:

Motivation is fleeting and discipline doesn’t come naturally. There are moments when you need a push to get to work.

This is where mental models are helpful. How you understand, absorb and process complex things happening around you. The stronger your mental model, the better you get at getting things done.

Some of these mental models are used and have been popularized by famous billionaires.

Here are five handpicked ways to formulate your mental model:

1. First Principles Thinking:

This mental model is about breaking down complex problems into their fundamental building blocks, and then reasoning up from there.

Elon Musk is known to have applied this model to various fields such as energy, space, and transportation (apparently all of his successfully owned industries). By focusing on the first principles, he can identify the core of a problem and find creative solutions.

That’s why most mentors love to say, “Work on your basics first.” Because once you understand the basics, you can handle complexity with ease. If you find yourself in a ditch of complexity, use first principles.

2. The 80/20 Principle:

Also known as the Pareto Principle, this mental model states that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes.

Steve Jobs was a strong believer in this principle and often used it to make strategic decisions. He would focus on the 20% of features in a product that would bring 80% of the value, and then relentlessly refine those features. Hence, the value behind Apple was created.

Just like that, value in your life or a day is created by 20% of activities. 1 hour of exercise, 1 hour of reading and 4 hours of deep work continued for decades will bring the most value to your life.

3. The Lean Startup Methodology:

This mental model, popularized by Eric Ries (American Entrepreneur), emphasizes the importance of learning from customers and iterating quickly in the product development process.

Mark Zuckerberg adopted this model when developing Facebook, and has since used it to launch new products and services at a rapid pace. By embracing a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement, the Lean Startup methodology helps companies to build better products, faster.

The way to use the Lean Startup method in daily life is to take feedback from the people around you and implement it quickly.

• Ask your trainer what improvements you need in your physique.
• Ask your bosses what improvements you need in your way of work.
• Ask your family what change they would like to see in you.
• Ask, take answers and implement on priority.

Apart from mental models used by billionaires, here are some mental models that will increase your efficiency!

4. Become the Mighty Observer

Whenever you go out, observe everything that's around you. How people talk, how people walk, how the receptionist at the hotel speaks, how the waiter speaks to you, how people behave alone vs. in groups.

Journal your observations. If you maintain your journal, day by day you'll gain more clarity. Plus, daily observation and noting things down is like holding a mirror in front of you.

If journalling is boring, start tweeting your thoughts, observations and ideas. Your range of thought will be amplified by virtue of networking with people who have similar approaches.

5. Treat Life Like a Video Game

Treat life like a video game except you get to define player's statistics and define what your character needs to improve.

• Cars, houses, overall assets
• Businesses
• Money
• Social skills
• Mental and physical strength.

Treat them as your mission and use each month to level up. Consider this game as your creation and you set the rules. With each year missions will change and with each month you must level up your character.

Conclusion

Use this article as a reference to research more deeply about mental models and then pick the one that you think suits your temperament.

Thanks for reading! Leave your thoughts in the comments.