4 Mental Models Essential For Business Success
Sep 06, 2024Do you ever wish you could think like Alex Hormozi, Sam Ovens, Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos?
After all, if you could think like them you would take the same actions and make the same decisions as them - and it would be impossible for your business not to grow.
Well, today I’m going to show you 4 different mental models you can use to do just that.
First, in case you’re wondering, a mental model is simply a way of viewing the world.
It’s an internal representation of external reality, it’s a shortcut for thinking, a compacting of a process.
Essentially, they let you;
- Make better decisions
- Take better actions
- Solve problems (faster and better)
- Think more accurately
All of which will improve the results you get in business and the life you live.
There’s a reason highly successful people preach about and use mental models - and so today, we’re going to go over 4 which are ESSENTIAL for you to unlock peak performance and succeed in the business world;
- Less Is More
This is exactly as it sounds - less is more.
Anytime you’re thinking of adding more things - whether it’s a funnel, an offer, a product, a platform, or a habit, you’re likely making the wrong choice.
More things split your focus, diluting your efforts and worsening your results.
Instead, what you should do is do fewer things - but do them MORE and do them BETTER.
There’s almost no version of this to extreme, especially when you don’t have a team to delegate to.
Have 1 product, 1 sales page, 1 funnel, 1 avatar, etc.
Every single time I remind myself of this and pull back what I’m focusing on, I reach a breakthrough in business.
How To Use It: Anytime you think of adding on something else, remind yourself less is more.
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2. Time Lag
In everything you do there is a delay between the action and getting the result you want.
If you workout today, you don’t see results tomorrow - you see results in 90 days.
If you send cold emails today, you don’t see results tomorrow - you see results next week.
If you work on making your product the best in the market, you don’t see results tomorrow - you see results in 2 years.
Things take time. Simple.
Most people try something for a week, or a month, and then quit because they don’t get results, but what most people don’t consciously realise (although we all subconsciously know this) is that great things must be earned.
And for great things to be earned, an activation energy must be reached.
Think of water.
Water doesn’t boil at 80ºC, 85ºC or 90ºC - it boils at 100ºC.
Only then do the water molecules have enough heat energy to break the hydrogen bonds holding the molecules of water together and allow it to change form.
An activation energy must be reached, and this takes time.
You achieving your goals and getting results is no different, you have to continuously increase the energy by showing up daily, for however long it takes, and reaching the activation energy.
Realise this.
Internalise it.
Because this is exactly how you learn to play the long game and build the ability to do the right things for as long as it takes.
How To Use It: Do work today. Expect results in a year.
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3. Paradigm Switch
Every single problem you have in your life and in your business is because of a belief system that caused you to do the wrong things, creating the problem.
And of course, to solve a problem you have to change your actions.
BUT…
Your actions are dictated by your beliefs (paradigm) and as such, if you want to solve a problem, and solve it in the long run, you need to change your beliefs around that problem - otherwise you’ll be doomed to act out that belief again and reignite the problem.
How To Use It:
- Identify the problem in your life or business
- Ask yourself “What is everything I believe to be true about -the problem-”
- List out every single thing you believe to be true
- Identify and write down the positive opposites of those beliefs
- Read these new beliefs daily
- Stack evidence daily that these new beliefs are true
What you’re doing here is rewiring your belief (through repeated experience, which is how all beliefs are formed) around the problem, allowing you to solve the problem in the long term and not just in the short term.
Of course, you can and should work on actual solutions to the problem.
But often it’s hard to diagnose why we have a problem, simply because we think we’re doing the right things (otherwise we wouldn’t have done them and caused the problem), hence we need to first identify the beliefs we have around the problem.
Once you know what you believe about it, you can identify which of these beliefs are blatantly incorrect and you can then work out, based on the incorrect beliefs you hold, what you’re doing wrong and fix it.
Just remember, that without rewiring your beliefs, you’re not fixing the cause of your problem and therefore you’re just doomed to repeat it again in the future.
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4. Systems Thinking
The entire universe, and everything in it, is a system - a collection of: inputs -> processes -> outputs
From the hydrogen protons violently colliding in the sun (input) causing nuclear fusion that allows the sun to heat the earth (process) and facilitate life (output).
To you creating content (input), having viewers read a sales page (process) and booking a call (output).
Or you signing a client (input), going through your process for fulfilment (process) and getting them results (output)
Everything is a system.
Systems create replicability and give an objective view of the world for how it really is, allowing you to make better decisions and take better actions.
So anytime you want to achieve something, solve something, or do something, think about it in a system.
What is the output you want? (eg. goal, outcome, thing you want to happen)
What is the input you need to create for that output? (eg. tasks, thing you need to do)
What is the process it needs to be ran through? (eg. how does the input create the output)
For example;
If the output you want is sales, the input must be cold emails (or some other way to get traffic) and the process must be a sales call (or however you sell).
Or if the output you want is to get your clients results, the input must be you signing clients (after all you need clients to get clients results) and the process is how you get them results, the thing you do for them.
Systems can be as big (such as the way your entire business operates) or as small (such as the specifics of your onboarding system) as you want or need for the given context or purpose of you building that system.
You can even draw out system ecosystems for how every system in your business affects other systems in your business.
How To Use:
- When doing anything ask yourself what is the desired output here and what is the input I need to create?
- When setting goals, build out a systems diagram with your goal as the output and then work out the inputs and processess.
- Build systems for everything in your life and business
- I highly recommend reading “Thinking In Systems” by Donella Meadows.
What mental models do you think are essential for success?
You can let me know by replying - I may or may not steal them and implement them in my life haha
– Ross
PS: Do you want my systems for removing limiting beliefs, unlocking peak performance and becoming who you need to be to grow your business? Click here
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