Make better decisions ⚒️
Wisdom Letter #136
Hey 👋
what’s up?
If I’ve learned 1 thing being a solopreneur these last 8 months it’s this:
The world is random.
Nobody knows how things are going to turn out in the long term.
I love the Mike Tyson quote on this: “Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth”
When I quit my job in August 2021 I had many plans about how I was going to make a living.
Since then, each of those plans has been tested to its core.
I’ve had to modify, pivot, and even give up on many of those plans.
Yet last month was one of my best months ever. My income has crossed my monthly salary from my job for 2 months in a row now.
Sometimes when I reflect on the crazy adventure it has been, one thing keeps coming back:
Plans change, but patterns remain.
I’ve been obsessed with behavioral science since 2016. I’ve listened to every podcast, read every book, and consumed every blog post out there about how humans make decisions.
How we influence each other.
The habits that make us successful.
And how we do our best under pressure.
Most of all, I’ve gone deep down the rabbit hole of how humans can think better and live better.
This is one of the themes of this newsletter as well.
All of my analysis keeps coming back to this fancy term called Mental Models.
Much has been said and written about mental models.
But not enough has been done to make sense of them in the lives of the average person.
In their barest form, mental models are patterns that keep repeating.
Patterns in human behavior, patterns in complex systems, and patterns in how the world works.
If all of us studied these patterns the world would be a much nicer and safer place.
We would be better equipped to deal with personal challenges like work and relationships.
And we would also be better prepared to handle global challenges such as pandemics and wars.
That’s why I strongly feel that all of us should spend some time wrestling with mental models.
But most of us don’t!
With that in mind, we sat down to write a simple book on mental models.
There are hundreds of mental models out there, and they can get very technical very quickly, but we found that these 5 matter the most:
Compounding 📈
Correlation vs Causation Fallacy 🔃
Confirmation Bias 👍
Narrative Fallacy 🎦
Status Quo Bias 🙈
These are the best tools you need to make the best decisions in life.
And we have tried to explain only these 5 in our latest book:
Look, I know nobody has the time to read through all the material on mental models out there in the world.
That’s why we have intentionally kept the length of this book short, and to the point.
But there are enough examples to help you digest each concept.
Folks who have read this book have loved it so much. I’m sure you will love it as well.
Do check it out.
And let us know what you think 🤗
We will get going now, won’t take more of your time.
See you next week.
We’re planning some cool recommendations around the whole Elon Musk and Twitter situation, I’m sure you will enjoy them 🤣
Also, AI generative art is super cool. We’re looking into that as well.
If you have any recommendations on these trends do hit reply and let us know, we will love to include them in the newsletter.
Cheers,
Ayush & Aditi.
PS:
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Bye 😀