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- Elevate Letter #38: 15 mental models everyone should download into their head
Elevate Letter #38: 15 mental models everyone should download into their head
PLUS: A short Quote, Most Underrated Skill, 40 thoughts on 40 & 50 years of travel tips
Ajay Malhotra
March 02, 2025 • Reading Time: 9 minutes
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"Old ways won't open new doors."
Remember this:
If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.
Is your comfort zone holding you back?
Want people to remember you forever?
Stop trying to be interesting—make others feel interesting.
Here’s how
Ever had a conversation where someone made you feel truly heard?
That’s the power of deep listening.
Deep listening strengthens relationships, builds trust, and makes people naturally drawn to you.
The best conversationalists aren’t the ones who talk the most—they’re the ones who listen the best.
How to Listen Like a Therapist
Be fully present – No distractions, no looking at your phone.
Use reflective listening – “It sounds like you’re feeling ___ because ___.”
Ask deeper questions – “What was that like for you?” instead of just “That’s cool.”
Embrace pauses – Silence invites people to open up.
Try this today:
In your next conversation, focus entirely on making the other person feel heard. Watch how they respond.
This small shift makes a massive difference.
Paul Millerd is a writer, coach, and author of The Pathless Path.
A few of my favorites:
4. “The moment” when people take bold action is often a post hoc fabrication. Real change is slow and confusing, I want more people to know this so that they might feel permission to embrace the slow and more confusing journey of going after things that matter to them.
10. Finding your “good work,” the work that feels satisfying at the moment and satisfying upon reflection, can take years to find. But once you find it, you’ll be happy you never gave up.
17. Defining success on your own terms will create tension with those around you who don’t value the same things. It is easier to succeed like those around you, but more satisfying to make progress against your own secret mission over the long-term.
I revisit this thread from George Mack at least once per year.
These are mental models everyone should download into their head.
A few that standout to me:
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.
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.
Munger's Law:
Never allow yourself to have an opinion on a subject unless you can state the opposing argument better than the opposition can.
Taleb's Surgeon:
If presented with two seemingly equal candidates for a role, pick the one with the least amount of charisma. The uncharismatic one has got there despite their lack of charisma. The charismatic one has got there with the aid of their charisma.
Yes, I'm sharing a lot of lists today.
But c'mon, who doesn't love a good list.
These 50 years of travel tips comes courtesy of Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine and "real-life Most Interesting Man In The World" according to Tim Ferriss.
Here are some I'll be using on my next trip:
The most significant criteria to use when selecting travel companions is: do they complain or not, even when complaints are justified? No complaining! Complaints are for the debriefing afterwards when travel is over.
Your enjoyment of a trip will be inversely related to the weight of your luggage. Counterintuitively, the longer your trip, the less stuff you should haul. Travelers still happy on a 6-week trip will only have carry-on luggage.
The best souvenirs from a trip are your memories of the trip so find a way to memorialize them; keep a journal, send updates to a friend, take a sketchbook, post some observations, make a photo book.
I seriously could have included them all here, they're so good.
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Previous Elevate Letters👇
P.S. : If you haven’t read our previous Elevate Letter editions here they are 😀
»Elevate Letter #37: The real reason 90% habits fail
»Elevate Letter #36: 3 Tools That Are Making Me More Productive
»Elevate Letter #35: Build Your Focus Like A Muscle
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