Learning Mental Models

Reading

Not reading to escape. Reading to build. Every book is a chance to install a new mental model, see the world through someone else's framework, or sharpen how I think.

What I Read and Why

I read mostly non-fiction. Business, psychology, strategy, history. Books that explain how things work, why people behave the way they do, how systems succeed or fail. I'm looking for patterns I can apply.

Robert Greene is a favorite. His books on power, strategy, and human nature are dense with examples and frameworks. They teach you to see beneath the surface of situations. The 48 Laws, The 33 Strategies of War, Mastery. Each one gives you a different lens.

I also read biographies. Lives of people who built things, faced challenges, made decisions under pressure. Not for entertainment, but to understand how they thought. What made their decisions right or wrong in context.

How Reading Changes Thinking

Every good book installs a new piece of mental software. After reading about cognitive biases, you start noticing them in yourself and others. After reading about negotiation, you hear conversations differently. The frameworks compound.

Reading also teaches patience. Good books require time and attention. You can't skim them and get the value. The discipline of sitting with complex ideas, re-reading passages, connecting concepts across chapters, that discipline transfers to everything else.

I take notes. Not summaries, but applications. "How does this apply to what I'm working on?" "When would I use this framework?" The goal is to turn reading into action, not just consumption.

Current Focus Areas

Right now, I'm focused on understanding systems and operations. How organizations work, how processes get optimized, how to scale things without losing quality. Books on management, supply chain, decision-making.

Also interested in communication and influence. Not manipulation, but genuine persuasion. How to explain complex ideas clearly. How to get buy-in. How to lead without authority.