The following is a growing list of ideas and mental models I learned from other smart people.
Not everything becomes a nail because I am holding these hammers. I don’t always use these ideas in every situation, but I evaluate opportunities and see the world through these lenses:
- Master myself. Help others.
- If it is not a hell yeah, it is a no — via Derek
- If you can’t decide, the answer is no — via Naval
- Believe in evolution. Not in revolution.
- Believe in the process. Not in events.
- Base goals on identity. Not on performance or appearance.
- Rely on habits, rules, and systems. Not on goals or willpower.
- Do big. Talk small.
- Progress > Perfection
- Exert, submit, exit, accept — Venkatesh
- Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.
- Invest in preparedness, not in prediction —Nassim Taleb
- If you can’t train a monkey to juggle flaming torches while standing on a pedestal, don’t waste time building a pedestal.
- Be an uncertainty killer — reduce uncertainty for others as much as possible.
- Be minimally extractive — leave something on the table so that everyone else wins more as a result.
- Life is suffering, so choose something worth suffering for. (Graham Weaver)
- Everything you want in life is on the other side of “worse first”. (Graham Weaver)