Mental models can save your life.

But psychological biases can ruin it.

Here are 10 psychological biases to help you avoid a life of pain and suffering:

7 powerful concepts everyone should teach their children:

Compound interest:

Large outcomes are often the result of small gains in performance compounding over the course of years and decades.

Small improvements may look tiny in isolation, but they result in gigantic outcomes when you zoom out.

Evolution by natural selection:

People and culture evolve through a process of generational iteration.

In every generation, the fittest organisms reproduce to create the next generation - while the unfittest die away.

Most things in our world are the result of this process.

Evolution-environment disconnect:

We evolved in the scarcity of jungles but find ourselves in the abundance of cities with unlimited food and pleasures.

Our biology isn't equipped to deal with this abundance - which often leads to addiction and obesity.

Many things around us are designed to exploit this evolutionary disconnect:

• Added sugar to exploit your taste buds
• Pornography to exploit your sex drive
• Social media to exploit your social instincts

Recognizing and limiting these things is critical for a healthy life.

11 of the wisest things ever said: 🧵

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.”

― René Descartes

"The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life"

― Confucius

"If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing."

― Margaret Thatcher

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."

― The Buddha

I have a $100,000 business degree.

But I've learned 10x more by reading books.

10 business books that will change your life:

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher

Lessons:
• You can negotiate anything you want.
• The best negotiation tactic is to first offer the other side something they want.

Drive by Daniel Pink

Lessons:
• Money alone isn't enough to motivate us.
• We are most motivated when we can also achieve control and freedom.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson

Lessons:
• The most effective way to get rich is to learn how to build and sell a product.
• The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Lessons:
• Habits compound to produce huge results.
• The best way to build habits is to make them easy, attractive and rewarding.

Things I know at 28

I wish I understood when I was 18:

Hard work is overrated. Consistency is underrated.

It's not about how hard you swing your bat.

It's about swinging over and over again till you learn to hit it out of the park.

Consistency gets you places hard work doesn't.

You gain confidence after doing something hard ― not before.

Too many people never try hard things because they think confidence is a precondition when, in reality, it's a reward.

Goals are bullshit.

Successful and unsuccessful people have the same goals.

You never rise to the level of your goals. You always fall to the level of your habits.

Goals are just dreams. Habits make them a reality.

h/t @JamesClear

Your need to fit in is your biggest barrier to personal growth.

Let's face it ― most of us would rather be wrong with the crowd than be right alone.

Learning to overcome your constant need for social approval is the first step to growth.

Most people suck at decision-making.

Let's change that.

Here are 15 of the best decision-making mental models I've found 🧵

The Inside-Outside View

We have a natural tendency to favour the inside view—our own independent solution to a problem that incorporates all of our hidden biases.

To make better decisions, we should favour the outside view—one that incorporates the best available data.

Ladder of Inference

Describes the thinking process we go through—often subconsciously—to get from a fact to a decision or action.

To make better decisions, we should move slowly and deliberately from the bottom of the ladder to the top of the ladder.

h/t (image) - @amrancz

Confidence Determines Speed vs. Quality

The more confidence you have in the importance of a problem and your understanding of its solution, the more you should focus on quality.

However, if you need to learn more, move fast and break things.

h/t - @BrandonMChu

@BrandonMChu Devil’s Advocate Position

The antidote to confirmation bias.

It involves forcing yourself to view a decision from the opposite viewpoint or finding people who disagree with you.

It forces you to create a more compelling argument.

Don't take my word for it:

15 Deep Philosophy Quotes From “Rumi "

| Thread

1. “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes.

Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation."

– Rumi

2. “Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

- Rumi

3. “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."

– Rumi

4. “Whenever you are alone, remind yourself that God has sent everyone else away so that there is only you and Him."

- Rumi

20 of the smartest things that have ever been said: 🧵

"Holding onto your anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

–Buddha

“We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence is therefore not an act but a habit."

–Aristotle

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end.

It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's a day you've had everything to do and you've done it."

–Margaret Thatcher

“There are only two great tragedies in life: one is not getting what you want and the other is getting it.”

–Oscar Wilde

15 Deep Philosophy Quotes From "Socrates"

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1. “Strong minds discuss ideas,
average minds discuss events,
weak minds discuss people.”

- Socrates

2. "Awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom."

- Socrates

3. “The mind is everything; what you think you become”

- Socrates

4. "By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy;

if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."

- Socrates

THREAD: 15 of the most useful razors and rules I've found.

Rules of thumb that simplify decisions.

Bezos' Razors:

• If unsure what action to take, let your 80-year-old self make it.

• If unsure who to work with, pick the person that has the best chances of breaking you out of a 3rd world prison.

Skinner's Law:

• If procrastinating on an item, you only have 2 options:

1. Make the pain of not doing it greater than the pain of doing it.

2. Make the pleasure of doing it greater than the pleasure of not doing it.

Luck Razor:

• If stuck with 2 equal options, pick the one that feels like it will produce the most luck later down the line.

I used this razor to go for drinks with a stranger rather than watch Netflix.

In hindsight, it was the highest ROI decision I've ever made.

Bragging Razor:

• If someone brags about their success or happiness, assume it’s half what they claim.

• If someone downplays their success or happiness, assume it’s double what they claim.

The map is not the terrain.