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MICRO MISCONCEPTS

Join a community of independent thinkers iterating our way towards better mental models to build the life we actually want.

Why Social Comparison is Rigged (And How to Stop Playing)
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Misconcepts 032 - Social Comparison Is a Rigged Game

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. Social Comparison Is a Rigged Game 13th February 2026 | misconcepts.org You probably know you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. You've heard the quotes. Maybe you even have a favourite. But knowing you shouldn't compare doesn't translate into knowing how to stop. I spent years thinking I just needed to try harder, achieve more, finally be enough. Then I discovered something that changed everything: I was playing a...

Mistakes provide real-world feedback for us to learn, grow and iterate towards our goals.

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. Fall In Love With Good Iterations 6th February 2026 | misconcepts.org What if the fear of making mistakes is the actual mistake? For years, I tried to avoid mistakes by over-analysing all my decisions and perpetually planning. I thought I was being careful, but all that caution didn’t make me better. It just made me slower, more anxious, and trapped in a prison of my own making. The breakthrough came when I realized...

The witness test on how to distinguish genuine desire from performed wanting and escape the status trap.

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. The Witness Test 30th January 2026 | misconcepts.org You've achieved everything society says you should want – the prestigious degree, the respectable career, the six-figure salary. But somewhere along the way, you lost touch with what you actually want. Not because you failed – but because you succeeded at playing someone else's game. This is status obscuring your authentic self. In spite of the disconnection you...

The Next Play Mentality That Makes Peak Performers

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. Winners Are The Best Losers 23rd January 2026 | misconcepts.org Have you ever noticed how one mistake multiplies into five? You miss a shot, and suddenly you can't hit anything. You stumble over a word in a presentation, and your entire train of thought vanishes. One biscuit becomes the entire packet. Here's what's happening: when you make a mistake, you start spiraling. You ruminate on what went wrong. Your attention...

The Utility or Futility Principle

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. The Utility or Futility Principle 16th January 2026 | misconcepts.org Doctors are taught from day one: Never order a test unless the result will change what you do next. This is clinical utility, and it's one of the most useful mental models I've ever borrowed from medicine. Before ordering any test, a doctor asks: "Will this result change my management of the patient?" If the answer is no, they skip it entirely. This...

Mountains are moved one rock at a time, demonstrating the power of taking small daily actions to achieve a big ambitious goals.

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. The Man Who Moved A Mountain 9th January 2026 | misconcepts.org In 1959, Dashrath Manjhi's wife fell while fetching water and died because she couldn't reach a doctor in time. A massive ridge separated his village from the nearest town, blocking direct access to medical care and turning a simple journey into a perilous 70km detour. Devastated, Manjhi made a vow: he would carve a path through that mountain to ensure no...

Sustainable consistency is achieved by building systems that bend not break.

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. Sustainable Consistency 2nd January 2026 | misconcepts.org January energy is a gift and a trap. Right now, you feel motivated. You can see yourself executing perfectly towards your goals. That energy is wonderful…but it won’t last. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but to prepare you. Because the real question isn't whether you'll start strong. It's whether you'll still be in the game when April arrives and your...

On inherited goals and the courage to question what matters

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. In Pursuit of What Matters 26th December 2025 | misconcepts.org As the new year approaches, you can feel it — that renewed sense of ambition. That uplifting sense of what's possible. But here's what I've learned to pause and ask before I get swept up in January energy: What goals are worth pursuing? And perhaps more importantly — are they actually mine? Because the fresh start effect gets you energised, but it doesn't...

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. Watch Your Coffee 19th December 2025 | misconcepts.org There’s a thought experiment from Jim Rohn that I can’t stop thinking about. What would happen if someone dropped sugar in your coffee? You’d be fine. What would happen if someone dropped poison in your coffee? You’d be dead. Here's the twist: What if your worst enemy drops in the sugar? You'd still be fine. What if your best friend accidentally drops the poison?...

Micro Misconcepts A weekly upgrade for your misconcepts in under 5 minutes. Your Mind Is a Factory (But Who's Running It?) 12th December 2025 | misconcepts.org I recently came across a metaphor that I wish everyone understood. Jim Rohn describes the mind as a mental factory. The information you consume are the ingredients you put into this factory. What you think about all day long are the processes running on the factory floor. And the outputs? They construct the fabric of your life. Here’s...