"The paradox of our modern world is that pursuing mainstream leads to downstream."

"You see what others have. And you focus on acquiring these things but without the effort."

"The comfort zone is a place where an individual uses a limited set of familiar behaviors to deliver familiar results. He is strictly focused on routines that are risk-free which stalls his progress in life."

"Plainly, a comfort zone is a safe place where we can successfully predict what will happen."

"Outside the comfort zone is the Great Unknown."

"“people who experience the highest levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of close relationships and volunteer work, but that those who experience slightly lower levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of income, education, and political participation.”1"

"The takeaway from the above-mentioned study is a decision you have to make in relation to how you allocate your time."

"More precisely: Do you want to do great things, or do you want to solely consume great things done by others?"

"Going out of your comfort zone not only results in increased confidence, income, muscles, etc. But makes you more resilient. Prepared for unexpected things."

"The Panic zone: A place so far outside your current capabilities that you not only feel uncomfortable but stressed and agnostic."

"The Stretch zone: The zone between the two zones above. In this area, also known as the Learning zone, you are doing things that are just a bit harder than what you’ve done before."

"According to psychologists and educational professionals. Learning can occur only in the Stretch zone."

"getting outside your comfort zone should happen in this sweet spot between your comfort zone and the panic zone."

"While physical strength is good-to-have to get outside your comfort zone."

"Based on my experience, one needs psychological strength more than anything else."

"Adopt certain mental models. Thinking strategies that will help you respond better to the ever-changing environment. Become emotionally resilient, adaptive thinker, and also find a mentor that can help you progress."

"A common thing authors writing about how to get out of your comfort zone mention is that you should be open-minded. You should adopt a positive attitude towards life. That you should “just do it”."

"Risk compensation: Risk compensation theory explains that we adjust our behavior based on the perceived risk."

"In other words, our comfort zone can disturb our decision-making while uncomfortable situations can freeze us."

"Effort justification: We evaluate the outcome of a situation based on the amount of effort it took us to achieve it."

"In other words, we’ll consider something more valuable if it was harder to obtain."

"Appeal to tradition: This one probably doesn’t need a lot of introduction. Basically, you justify your actions by saying: “this is right because we’ve always done it this way.”"

"Appeal to novelty: Appeal to novelty is bad because it focuses us on the new trends. Our desire to be perceived as modern people makes us spend money on trendy stuff."

"The degree to which we develop is much greater when we are under expert guidance, as compared to alone."

"That’s why I see reading as mentorship."

"It’s fascinating that we can learn from the greatest people who ever lived by immersing in the knowledge and wisdom they left behind. It’s foolish not to read."

"One of the most fruitful areas of the human brain is the habit formation ability."

"Despite these upsides, we still steer towards bad habits. Why?"

"Our brains are programmed to chase that dopamine high. When we are introduced to behavior that results in a reward. Internal links are formed in the brain that are triggered when there is a cue reminding of the end prize."

"But the reason we find it so hard to keep a list of good habits around is the amount of energy we have to expend in order to perform even a single good behavior."

"The setup that can make a difference in your life is embracing the idea of micro habits."

"Micro habits are tiny routines that don’t take long to execute and have the potential to lead to big results."

"Your brain doesn’t paralyze when you think about them. It perceives them as something doable."

"“How can I introduce 5 micro behaviors that will last for a lifetime?”"

"Reportedly, nearly half of the people who set new year’s resolutions fail.1"

"Plainly, if you are not ready. Introducing a typical new habit into your life will probably dissolve after a while."

"Though doing these tiny things is definitely good. If you want to make meaningful progress, it’s not enough to stay in the micro habits area."

"1. Continue Building Your Long-Term Project"

"Instead of focusing on what to get. Spend a quarter of an hour a day building something."

"The point here is to commit to a long-term project and set some time daily to make progress."

"2. Read For a Couple of Minutes Per Day"

"3. Write Down What You Will Do Tomorrow"

"This tiny habit is strangely productive."

"4. Reset Your Room"

"5. List All of The Things You Said No To"

"6. Have Another Look"

"It’s amazing how much better the email or the design can turn out if you have a second look after a brief break, or if you leave it for the next day."

"“The morning is wiser than the evening.”"

"State what you want to embed in your life."

"First, let’s think about the change you want to introduce."

"Next stop: Remove all barriers."

"Finally, you should ensure that you keep doing the activity."

"Start really small – that’s why these are called micro habits. When possible, increase the efforts."

"When small new behaviors are introduced. They start to reshape our old-rooted routines."

"Good problem-solving is good thinking."

"1. The Map is Not The Territory"

"Maps are representations of reality, but they are not reality."

"2. Do Something Syndrome"

"The do something syndrome explains that we are taught to act. When something happens, we want to “do something” with the intention to solve the problem faster."

"Doing things is a wonderful method to create the illusion of making things better."

"3. First-Conclusion Bias"

"“The mind works a bit like a sperm and egg: the first idea gets in and then the mind shuts.”"

"The moment an idea morphs in your brain is the moment you’ll stop trying hard to find new ideas."

"4. Social Proof (Safety in Numbers)"

"When we see a lot of positive reviews for a product. We are immediately sold on the idea that “this” product is the right one because it has the right amount of reviews."

"When we don’t know how to act, we turn to others for advice. And when many people are doing the same thing, we tend to mimic their behavior."

"The safety in numbers mental model explains that we look at the crowd – what others are doing – to justify our behavior."

"5. Tendency to Distort Due to Liking/Loving or Disliking/Hating"

"We tend to favor comments and suggestions from people we like and disregard the same things from people we are not particularly close to."

"Don’t add or reduce the value of the statement simply because of how you feel about the person. Think about what the person said. Not who said it."

"6. Two-Front War"

"When you need to make a couple of important decisions. Pause. Don’t try to solve different problems at the same time. Don’t split your cognitive power in different locations. Focus your efforts."

"7. The Law of Diminishing Returns"

"When we have a problem, we don’t always need to add more people or more resources to solve the situation. Often, it’s helpful to reduce units or the number of people working on the issue to correct the situation."

"Theoretically, the law of diminishing returns means that after a system reaches an optimal level of productivity, adding additional adjustments can result in smaller gains."

"When approaching problems, it’s useful to think about this principle for a lot of reasons. The main one is that you can reduce efficiency by trying too hard to be more efficient."

"The point of learning is to choose a topic and progressively study everything there is to it."

"1. Circle of Competence"

"The circle of competence is an essential tool to understanding your limitations."

"Developed by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, this mental model explains that our level of competence is smaller than our perceived level of competence."

"Taking the time to define your limitations will not only help you avoid making (bad) decisions about subjects you don’t completely understand."

"2. Thought Experiment"

"A thought experiment is a way to flex your brain and explore a particular concept in a detailed manner."

"The main purpose of a thought experiment is not to solve the presented problem – these are usually unsolvable. Rather, to dig deeper in a given field to improve your knowledge, learn, uncover what you don’t know, and strengthen your understanding about the world."

"3. Occam’s Razor"

"Occam’s razor is a mental model that explains that when we have two explanations for the same thing, the simpler explanation should be preferred."

"Ask yourself: “Amongst the pile of complicated algorithms and theories, what is the simplest explanation?”"

"4. Availability Heuristic"

"The availability heuristic, or the availability bias, is something that threatens learning and improving."

"In short, the availability heuristic states that we make decisions and conclusions based on the most recent information we have ingested."

"If you are not satisfied with what’s available. You seek beyond what’s flooding modern media. Eager to learn the best – not only what’s presented as best."

"5. Hindsight Bias"

"When we look back, we always see past events as being predictable. However, that’s because we now know what happened. Thus, we are biased."

"We start to think that our predictions are bulletproof and nothing we decide can lead to a downfall. Therefore, we don’t think that we should learn more. And, we don’t learn more."

"Understanding the hindsight bias will equip you with a fresh perspective."

"6. Common knowledge"

"The reason I put common knowledge on this list is because common knowledge – while surely useful – won’t get you far in life."

"Common knowledge aims to describe the things that everybody knows."

"Outlining the common knowledge in your field and learning extra things will qualify you as rare and unique. Thus, desirable."

"7. Feynman Learning Technique"

"The Feynman learning technique is a way to approach a subject to learn it faster and better."

"In short, when you want to learn something, you follow these 4 steps:"

"Pretend that you’re teaching the concept to a child"

"Identify the gaps:"

"Organize and simplify:"

"Transmit:"