People, books, and breakthrough ideas—connected to the mental models and moves you can use.
3,456 entries
The elimination diet is a systematic diagnostic protocol for identifying food sensitivities: remove suspected trigger foods (gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn, nightshades, processed foods) for 2-4 weeks to establish a symp…
Embodied cognition theory holds that thinking is shaped by the body's interaction with its environment, not solely by the brain
The phenomenon where a system exhibits properties, behaviors, and patterns that NONE of its individual components possess—the whole is genuinely different from (not just greater than) the sum of its parts
Population-level cultural patterns can develop through repeated local interactions without a single plan for the overall result.
A step-by-step protocol for managing a sudden financial crisis — job loss, major unexpected expense, income disruption, or financial fraud
An emergency fund's primary value is psychological, not financial
When emotionally aroused (angry, frightened, excited, sexually aroused), decision-making quality degrades dramatically
The emotional bank account represents how repeated conduct can strengthen or weaken trust and goodwill in a relationship.
Susan Forward's framework for understanding the manipulation pattern where someone uses fear, obligation, and guilt (FOG) to control another's behavior
Emotional Energy Accounting treats emotional experiences as having concrete energy costs and returns that can be tracked and managed
The differentiation of emotional experiences into relatively specific categories
Arlie Hochschild's concept of emotional labor—managing feelings as part of work—extended to intimate relationships where one partner bears the disproportionate burden of the relationship's emotional maintenance: remember…
A four-technique emergency protocol from Dialectical Behavior Therapy for rapidly reducing emotional intensity when you're in crisis or emotional flooding
The tendency for managers to maximize the size of their domain—headcount, budget, scope—regardless of organizational need, because personal status, compensation, and power correlate with domain size
Giving people the authority, resources, and information to make decisions within their domain rather than requiring approval from above
From the Chinese Thirty-Six Stratagems: when weak, display confidence and openness to make the enemy believe you're stronger than you are—turning vulnerability into apparent strength
The empty nest transition occurs when the last child leaves the parental home, fundamentally restructuring a family system that has organized around child-rearing for decades
Install an explicit acceptable range with defined responses when you drift above or below it.
The cognitive bias where people value things they already possess more highly than identical things they don't—simply because they own them
A self-assessment protocol for mapping where your energy goes, identifying drains and sources, and reallocating toward activities that sustain you
An Energy Audit is a systematic assessment of where your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy goes — analogous to a financial audit but tracking your most perishable resource
Physiological ultradian rhythms occur within a day, but a fixed ninety-minute waking productivity cycle is not established for everyone.
A protocol for managing daily energy expenditure and recovery to sustain high performance throughout the day, based on the oscillation principle from performance science
Energy ROI Analysis applies investment thinking to energy allocation: for each activity, what energy return do you get relative to the energy invested? Some activities have high energy ROI — a 30-minute exercise session…