Introduction

In this episode we discuss how you can understand the world with powerful clarity. What makes other people behave in certain ways? What are the most important concepts and ideas in the business world? Do you often feel like you’re looking for a magic bullet or paint-by-numbers approach to solving your problems? The solution to all of these questions lies in the powerful framework that we explain in-depth and show you how to apply with our guest Josh Kaufman. Why Mental Models are so important and one of the best thinking frameworks you can use to organize information and understand the world.Mental models are universal, important, and flexible concepts that describe how the world works in some key way Mental models - for me - come from a fundamental place of curiosity - I'm obsessed with understanding HOW and WHY things work - businesses, humans, success etc - and I find mental models to be a very helpful tool for organizing the reasons that things happen in the world Mental models are cognitive tools to approach any situation and understand it better How does the world work? What makes other people behave in certain ways?What are the most important concepts and ideas in the business world?Mental models are one of the defining factors that separate ultra achievers from people who plateau in their lives and careersMental models are powerful and systematically underrated and studying mental models is one of, if not the most, high leverage activities you can do with your time We often fall prey to having too narrow of a focus and ignore the bigger picture, we often under-value versatility and a broader persecutive - which mental models give you. What are the most useful mental models to start with? What mental models does Josh frequently apply over and over again?How do you start with mental models? How do you begin to implement them into your life?What do people often get wrong about the 10,000 hour rule? Have you ever said “I would really like to learn how to do something new” but felt like you didn’t have the time?The “Law of Practice” - the early hours of practice at a skill lead to an extremely rapid improvement and development in skills What’s the method or framework for rapidly learning any skill in 20 hours or less?Adult learners often struggle when they compare their skill level with that of other people. Your job is not to compare yourself with others - it's to compare yourself AFTER the 20 hour framework to yourself BEFORE the 20 hour framework. How to fight a hydra is a story of - Ambition, Uncertainty, Risk, Fear of the Unknown How do you deal with the difficulties and self doubts of whether or not you are doing the right thing?Where do most people go wrong with their approach to uncertainty and fear of the unknown?Most people wish uncertainty would go away - they think that if the uncertainty is still there that they are doing something wrong and that they need to change course - but it’s the opposite - you have to be willing to tolerate, accept, and live with uncertainty.Homework: Do some research on mental models and do some reading and learning around mental models. Start filling your mental model toolbox. A practical way to do this - choose to read or listen to something that is dramatically outside your area of expertise. Broaden your intellectual landscape as much as you can. Homework: If you were going to invest 20 hours into learning how to do something that is either personally fulfilling or very helpful for work - if you invested 30 to 40 mins per day for a month - what skill would you focus on first and why? Is that skill really worth committing 20 hours of practice? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.