Understanding Life Through Models

Life is complicated. There are so many different layers of understanding we can aim to improve in as people striving to be our best selves in this world. Even the concept of understanding and the world itself is all a conceptualization formed through your sensory experiences in a way that your mind has decided to be best equipped for survival.

Among all the sciences, emotional experiences, and Tik Tok videos that your brain must make sense of, it can be tough navigating through life in a way you might consider is efficient. That is where the use of models comes in.

Model (noun)

1. A simplified representation of a system or phenomenon […]

Your mind constructs models for everything in life. You have a model for how to take care of your body, form relationships with your partner of choice, or even how to efficiently use your phone for your goals.

That being said, don’t you want to be equipped with the best models that will help you achieve your goals in life? On this site, we’ll go over a couple I’ve selected to be the most important in maintaining a healthy and fulfilling life.

Habits

Everyone has heard of habits. You can likely list a few good and bad habits that you have. But if you think on the topic a little longer, you’ll come to realize that habits are much more important than you realize. They automate our daily actions; the way we interact with others and the way we choose to spend our time. Habits are quite (figuratively but) literally the bones and foundation of our lives. So, it makes sense to optimize your habits to point you on a trajectory towards success.

My main recommendation for this topic is to read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. It is an amazing book that breaks down the importance and science behind habit formation into a simple and practical model. I cannot recommend it enough and stand behind the claim that the knowledge in that book can completely change your life if utilized correctly. Here is a link to the author’s personal sales page: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits

For now, here is a simplified version of his model for creating good habits.

How to Create a Good Habit

1. Make it Obvious	A good take away from Clear’s model is the importance of intentional environment design. Make your good habits as obvious and visible as possible.
2. Make it Attractive	There are a few ways to make your desired behavior more attractive and likely that you’ll follow through. Reward yourself for accomplishing it, hang around social circles where your desired behavior is the norm, and finally form a routine around the habit until it becomes part of your identity.
3. Make it Easy	It’s wired into our biology to follow the path of least resistance. If you prime your environment to not only make it obvious, but also easy as well, you greatly increase your chances of completing the task.
4. Make it Satisfying	We only repeat behaviors if they are satisfying for us to do so.

Being Mindful and Self Aware

Finally, I will end off on the topic of mental health and mindfulness. Try this: Sit somewhere with your eyes closed and focus on the sensation of breathing and that only. If you are anything like me before I learned about this topic, your mind will wander off and you’ll go down 7 different trains of thought before you realize that you lost focus.

The practice I just detailed is the act of practicing Mindfulness: The awareness of your own thoughts and where your mind is going. Meditating. It is normal to have thoughts. The goal is not to stop thoughts from occurring. The goal is to recognize when a thought arises, and then purposefully choose to focus on your breath again. You are practicing focus.

The list of benefits for practicing mindfulness is almost laughably long. But to name a few: Decreased Depression, Increased emotional regulation, Reduced anxiety and stress, better memory, Stronger relationships, other cognitive improvements, etc.

Sybastian Chao takes full responsibility for the information posted. The information on this page

represents that of Sybastian Chao and not that of California State University, Sacramento.