Great post Wes! It reminds of when I was in college & I had a choice of working in a lab.
There was a list of labs & what they did.
I scanned the list & chose the lab which I knew nothing about. They were working in a field I didn't even know existed at the time, smart materials.
Didn't realize it then but I was building an internal compass that nudged me to go towards the unknown for 2 big reasons:
1) That's where the personal growth is.
2) I was testing the mental model of myself & what I was capable of. Choosing the smart materials lab led to difficult projects but also boost in confidence because I proved to myself I can handle unknown situations.
Thank you for sharing this interesting post about reshaping your mental models. This is a great reminder that our inner and outer world are constantly changing and we need to break our rules and continually experiment. I relate to your story about scallops…I thought I didn’t like olives until I tried them in my mid 20s, outdoors at a quaint cafe on a little side street in Cadaques, a fishing village near Girona in Spain. Yes, the setting and that they were a local delicacy may have helped me finally enjoy their sharpness. Your story reminded me I have pivoted in my own life too. As a university student, I thought I could never work in a business and I idealistically wanted a “life of the mind” in academia. But by moving out of that lifestyle and now working for a start up, my mental model as a student was incorrect. Working for a start up is much more interesting than being a professor. I work on challenging problems and use my research and writing skills every day. It is far more rewarding than I ever expected.
I really like the idea of more consciously considering my mental models. The strange thing is that I'm unsure if I could articulate some mental models I live by, let alone consciously update them. I think this speaks to how embedded my habits are. So, how do you update your models and live by these updated versions instead of defaulting to old ways of thinking? I'm tempted to write them down and keep a log, but that seems to defeat the point...?
Great post Wes! It reminds of when I was in college & I had a choice of working in a lab.
There was a list of labs & what they did.
I scanned the list & chose the lab which I knew nothing about. They were working in a field I didn't even know existed at the time, smart materials.
Didn't realize it then but I was building an internal compass that nudged me to go towards the unknown for 2 big reasons:
1) That's where the personal growth is.
2) I was testing the mental model of myself & what I was capable of. Choosing the smart materials lab led to difficult projects but also boost in confidence because I proved to myself I can handle unknown situations.
Thank you for sharing this interesting post about reshaping your mental models. This is a great reminder that our inner and outer world are constantly changing and we need to break our rules and continually experiment. I relate to your story about scallops…I thought I didn’t like olives until I tried them in my mid 20s, outdoors at a quaint cafe on a little side street in Cadaques, a fishing village near Girona in Spain. Yes, the setting and that they were a local delicacy may have helped me finally enjoy their sharpness. Your story reminded me I have pivoted in my own life too. As a university student, I thought I could never work in a business and I idealistically wanted a “life of the mind” in academia. But by moving out of that lifestyle and now working for a start up, my mental model as a student was incorrect. Working for a start up is much more interesting than being a professor. I work on challenging problems and use my research and writing skills every day. It is far more rewarding than I ever expected.
I hated Tuna as a child.
Then I needed protein from canned Tuna and got creative in how I made it.
It’s actually delicious when paired with Korean sauce and red peppers along with mayo.
Phenomenal point of view.
This is good! Stay open to change ❤️
Great piece Wes, thanks for sharing!
I really like the idea of more consciously considering my mental models. The strange thing is that I'm unsure if I could articulate some mental models I live by, let alone consciously update them. I think this speaks to how embedded my habits are. So, how do you update your models and live by these updated versions instead of defaulting to old ways of thinking? I'm tempted to write them down and keep a log, but that seems to defeat the point...?