Every day, we make countless decisions—from choosing what to eat for breakfast to navigating complex work projects or personal relationships.
We like to believe that these choices stem from our free will, guided by logic and reason.
But what if many of these decisions aren't as autonomous as we think?
Beneath the surface, hidden forces like cognitive biases and social norms quietly steer us in specific directions, often without our conscious awareness.
Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right-hand man, once said:
“80 or 90 important models will carry about 90% of the freight in making you a worldly-wise person.”
Mental models are the frameworks we use to understand the world.
They’re the lenses through which we see problems, opportunities, and challenges.
And like any tool, they can either sharpen our ability to cut through the noise or, if ignored, dull our perception.
Life is a fleeting, unpredictable, and unapologetic journey.
For most of us, it’s filled with more darkness than we’d like to admit.
We can’t always pinpoint where it comes from, and often, we struggle to tame it, to turn it into something more.
But darkness is part of being human, it’s woven into the fabric of our existence.
Yet, what makes all the darkness worth enduring are those rare, unexpected glimmers of light that break through.
When they come, they feel almost magical, divine.
We're all on this journey together.
Each of us walks through life with complex adversities that shape us over time.
Even if you and I have similar goals, similar problems, and similar occupations, the nuances and complexities of our lives will still differentiate us in ways we can't imagine.
Your life is yours and yours only - no one will understand it better than you.
And likewise, you'll never...
No matter what you do, you will suffer because life is suffering.
You will suffer the pain of never amounting to your own expectations.
Equally, should you achieve something, you will suffer the sacrifices it took to get there.
There is no path forward that doesn’t involve pain and suffering.
Failure to acknowledge this is ignorance at its very best.
There are no handouts.
Everything has a cost.
What if you were the chosen one?
What if you were the one destined to change everything?
That your life isn’t like everyone else's, that your purpose is something more important, more profound.
That you are part of a prophecy destined to come true, destined to change everything.
These are the characteristics we commonly associate with the idea of the chosen one.
It’s an idea that resonates deeply with the majority of people.
But why?
You have dreams.
You have visions for the future.
You have goals.
But why?
Why dream?
Why imagine a better future?
Why lay out goals for yourself?
Is it for money?
For status?
For power?
Look deeper.
If you long for riches, you'll never be satisfied.
If you long for status, you might...
Life is fragile.
In the beginning, this experience feels like a long road to walk.
By the end, it feels like it’s come and gone in the blink of an eye.
You come from the unknown, and when your time comes, you return to the unknown.
In between you live.
You love.
You experience something.
But the nature of what you experience is fragile, afforded by a delicate balance throughout the universe that won’t last forever.
But you could argue the fragility of life is what makes it so special.
Its fragility...
Pride is a double-edged sword.
Too much pride will get you killed.
Too little will get you nowhere.
People with too much pride are arrogant, stubborn, and blind to their flaws.
People with too little pride tend to have low self-esteem, seek to please others to a fault, have difficulty accepting praise, and apologise excessively.
Both are consequential to one’s being.
Both result in a distorted reality of oneself.
You might be someone with...
Time is beautiful, but unforgiving.
Time tells the truth; it won't lie; it can capture the sum of your life in a single moment.
The regret from the opportunities you didn't take, the loathing at the paths you didn't walk, the delusions of grandeur, the self-sabotage, the victimhood, letting your ego run wild - if ignored will compound and consume you eventually.
You can lie to the world, and with luck, your rhetoric might convince them of your lies.
You can lie to yourself, and over time you...