Mental Methods: How to Act on the World
Mental Methods are practical techniques that translate abstract models into real-world action. While mental models help us understand how the world works, mental methods provide the steps for engaging these models effectively. They are the operating procedures of thought – systems to organize tasks, make decisions, and solve certain problems.
For instance, the Eisenhower Matrix distinguishes urgent task from important ones, guiding us to focus on what truly moves the needle. The Checklist Method, famously used by pilots and surgeons, ensures complex tasks are completed without error. These methods provide clarity, reduce cognitive overload, and hlep turn understanding into execution.
Mental Methods
Multi-Models: Think Again (models) for Adaptive Thinking
At its core, Think Again – a book by Wharton professor, Adam Grant – is a book about learning how to learn better. Or as
Multi-Models: Tiny Experiments (models) for Self-Discovery
At its core, Anne-Laure Le Cunff‘s book, Tiny Experiments offers a playbook for sustainable growth through small, exploratory actions (models). This book isn’t about productivity
Multi-Models: Unlocking Hidden Potential
Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential book isn’t just about personal growth – it’s a roadmap for designing it. The people who rise the farthest aren’t necessarily the
Multi-Models: Getting Big Projects Done
Most projects fail. It’s not always because the idea is flawed or the people are wrong – but because the thinking is. Bent Flyvbjerg and
Mental Method: The Let Them/Let Me Theory
The Let Them Theory: When people disappoint you, ignore you, cut you out, talk behind your back, or forget to include you – what do
Mental Method: W.R.A.P Decision-Making Process
When we make poor decisions, it’s rarely because we’re irrational. More often, we’re human: we narrow our focus. We fall in love with our own
Mental Method: A Tennis Theory
In The Inner Game of Tennis, W. Timothy Gallwey doesn’t just teach tennis – he reveals a radically different way of learning and performing. The book
Mental Method: A Clear (Thinking) Decision Process
In the book, Clear Thinking, Shane Parrish offers up essential mental methods for clear decision making – tools that help us pause, focus, and act
Mental Method: Commanding the Spotlight (Law 6)
Invisibility is a weakness. If you’re not seen, you’re not considered. And in the game of power, what’s unseen counts for nothing. That’s the core
Multi-Models: Forecasting
As Wharton Professor Philip Tetlock explains in Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, accurate forecasting follows a disciplined process. IT begins by priortiziing the
Mental Method: Power Negotiating
In the book Secrets of Power Negotiating, by Roger Dawson (a Tim Ferriss favorite) readers are introduced to master negotiating. Dawson emphasizes understanding human psychology and
Mental Method: Shameless Self-Promotion
In Your Next Five Moves, Patrick Bet-David argues that self-promotion demands a shameless attitude. As he argues, true visionaries overcome fear of judgement and humiliation.
Mental Method: Execute With Speed!
In the book, Your Next Five Moves, Patrick Bet-David stresses a critical lesson: If You Overdose on Anything, Overdose on Speed. In other words, obsessing
Mental Method: Guarding Your Reputation (Law 5)
Your reputation is a silent (mental method) ambassador – it speaks before you even say a word. As Robert Greene’s Law 5 in “The 48
Mental Method: Kissing Frogs – Quantity Unlocks Creative Wins
In the book, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Adam Grant introduces the concept (mental method) of “kissing frogs.” Kissing Frogs is, of course, is
Mental Method: Mastering the Art of Silence (Law 4)
In The 48 Laws of Power, author Robert Greene introduces Law 4: “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” emphasizing the strategic advantage of restraint in communication.
Mental Method: Eisenhower Matrix for Time Management
“I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” – Dwight D.
Mental Method: The Art of Concealing Your Intentions (Law 3)
If you seek power, master the art of of concealing your intentions. As Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, and Robert Cialdini argue, deception gains strength when intentions
Mental Method: Pomodoro (focus) Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity method developed by Francesco Cirillo. The technique structures work into a set of focused intervals. Each “pomodoro” involves 25
Memory Palace (Loci) Technique
Imagine you’re trying to memorize a grocery list that includes lemon, bread, tomato, cheese, onion, and carrot – or perhaps lists much longer. Why not