Josh Waitzkin might be the most INTERESTING person alive.

He doesn't have Twitter. And he barely uses the internet.

I've compiled my favorite 5 MENTAL MODELS of his below.

THREAD...

WAITZKIN MODEL 1 - DEPTH OVER WIDTH

His life so far:

1. Chess prodigy + National champ

2. 2x world champion in Tai Chi push hands

3. The 1st black belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Marcelo Garcia (GOAT)

4. He's now in an unknown ocean town mastering surfing + advising elite investors

The Waitzkin paradox:

He's achieved more WIDTH across disciplines in 43 years than most could in 100 lives

How?

His obsession with DEPTH over WIDTH.

His life is the testimony to deep work and singular focus.

He spends 5-10 years of his life dedicated to each craft

Even when he approaches a new discipline, he goes for DEPTH within the DEPTH

E.g. Chess

Most just play countless games

Instead, Josh insists on having only 3 pieces on the board - King & Pawn vs King

He drills micro positions until he understands them from first principles

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” - Bruce Lee

Waitzkin's theory is that once you've understood one thing so deeply in the discipline - you understand the principles

You can then copy & paste them