Good morning, friends!

I recently wrote a guest post for Jack Butcher’s Visualize Value about the mental frameworks that exceptional people use every day, and I wanted to share it with you guys. I hope you enjoy. (Visuals by Jack Butcher)

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5 Mental Frameworks Exceptional People Use Every Day

What distinguishes the great from the truly exceptional?

After four years of writing The Profile, I've studied how the most successful and interesting people in the world reason their way through problems, rise up in times of hardship, and perform under extreme pressure.

The highest-performers don't use "tricks" or "hacks" to achieve greatness. They use mental frameworks that fundamentally change the way they see the world.

Below are the five mental models that I've identified exceptional people use every day:

1. They start from first principles

The most exceptional people are able to think independently without succumbing to society's immense pressure to conform.

Take SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who's one of the most radical thinkers of our time. Musk believes we need to think like a scientist, cut through all the conventional thinking, and start with only the information you know to be scientific fact. Here’s what he says about how he learns: “It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree — make sure you understand the fundamental principles, like the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.”

Another such thinker is chef Grant Achatz. He once saw a giant-scale piece of art and asked himself: "Why can't we plate on that?" "It frustrated me that, as chefs, we were limited to scale that was determined by plate manufacturers," he says. "Why not a tablecloth that we can eat off of? Why do you have to eat with a fork or a spoon? And why does it have to be served on a plate or in a bowl?" Remember, every revolutionary idea starts with the question "Why?"

2. They focus on process over outcome

The people who are at the top of their fields have the same thing in common: They insist on precision and have an eye for the tiny, obscure details. That's because greatness is about the unrelenting pursuit of perfection.

Monica Aldama is the head coach of Navarro Junior College, which boasts one of the best college cheer programs in the country. She is a no-bullshit leader who repeats one sentence over and over again regardless if you failed or nailed the stunt — “Do it again.” She seeks out the obscure details that make up our daily routines, improving them by small increments, and repeating the habits until they stick. Her motto is: “You keep going until you get it right, and then you keep going until you can’t get it wrong.”

Alabama's head football coach Nick Saban has a similar saying: "Don't look at the scoreboard; play the next play." Saban has a vision he literally calls “the process” — a philosophy that emphasizes preparation and hard work over results. It’s about constantly examining weak spots and gradually improving. If you fall short, you work to meet the standard of excellence next time. And if you win, you work to fight off complacency. The process, then, is never over.

3. They create alter egos when they have to perform

Many high-performers adopt alter egos to summon confidence when they have to perform under extreme pressure.

Believe it or not, early in her career, Beyoncé was shy and reserved, which is antithetical to the powerhouse we saw on stage. That’s because she created an alter ego she called ‘Sasha Fierce’ that allowed her to perform with a level of confidence she herself didn’t yet have. “I’m not like her in real life at all,” Beyoncé said. “I’m not flirtatious and super-confident and fearless like her.”

NBA legend Kobe Bryant created his "Black Mamba" alter ego as a way to get through the lowest point of his career. His nickname was inspired by the movie "Kill Bill," in which the snake, known for its agility and aggressiveness, was used as a code name for a deadly assassin. "The length, the snake, the bite, the strike, the temperament," he said. "That's me!'" At a time when people were chanting "Kobe sucks," while he was playing, Bryant said that using an alter ego gave him emotional distance from his real self. "I was able to switch my mind to something else," he says. "When I make the mental switch [to the Black Mamba], I know it's 'go time.'"

Research supports these mental cues. Adopting an alter ego is an extreme form of “self-distancing,” a psychological tool that helps people reason more objectively and see the situation from a slight distance.

4. They develop mental resilience

Do you know who you are after running for 19 hours straight with no sleep? Do you know who you are when someone manipulates your emotions? Do you know who you are when you hit rock bottom? The most mentally resilient people do.

Ultra-marathoner Courtney Dauwalter has managed to stay calm even through bouts of severe nausea, a bleeding head injury, and temporary blindness. She talks about pain as an actual place: she visualizes herself entering "the pain cave." The reason it’s helpful to personify pain is that it serves as a reminder that you’re in control when you enter and equally as aware that you can leave.

David Goggins has completed three Navy SEAL “hell weeks," more than 50 endurance races, and holds the Guinness World Record for most pull-ups (4,030) in 24 hours. He's mastered the ability to stay calm in chaotic and emotionally-taxing situations by following the 40% rule. The rule is simple: When your mind is telling you that you’re done, that you’re exhausted, that you cannot possibly go any further, you’re only actually 40% done. “A lot of cars have governors on them at, let’s say, 91 miles an hour. It may only go 91 miles an hour because the governor stops it from going 130. We do the same thing to our brain,” he says. “When we get uncomfortable, our brain gives us a way out — usually quitting or taking the easier route.”

The problem is that you can't teach yourself to regulate your physiological and psychological instincts when you're sitting comfortably on your couch. The most resilient people regularly put themselves in challenging situations where they can be "stress-tested."

5. They understand that the biggest successes can come from the most devastating failures

The ability to bounce back after failure is what sets apart the great from the exceptional.

Growing up, Spanx CEO Sara Blakely wanted to be a trial attorney, but then she bombed the LSAT. After college, she auditioned to be Goofy at Disney World, but she was too short to wear the costume. After a stint as an Epcot ride greeter at “the happiest place on earth,” Blakely returned home and moved in with her mom. When she was working on Spanx, she got a ton of rejections but she re-framed failure as an opportunity: Instead of failure becoming an outcome, it simply became about not trying. Plus, she makes a really good point: “Spanx wouldn’t exist if I had aced the LSAT."

In order to avoid becoming complacent, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson keeps the painful memories at the forefront of his mind. “As crazy as it may sound, in my mind, I’m always a week away from getting evicted, and that’s what keeps me motivated, not the material things,” he says. That thinking shifts his mindset from waiting for opportunity to creating opportunity.

Russian chess expert Lev Alburt has played chess with some of the highest-profile figures in finance, including Carl Icahn and Stephen Friedman. The financiers took lessons with Alburt to get “frustrated, intimidated, and demoralized.” Why? To grow. 

When you grow, you get better. And if you get better, you eventually win. That’s why most of our biggest successes often come after our most devastating failures.

Read It on the Website

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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time. Become a premium member, and check it out here.

GREAT READ: Morning Brew solves the problem of dry, dense, traditional business news with a clever, witty tone and easy-to-read format. You’ll get the top news stories delivered to your inbox in a five-minute read every Monday through Saturday along with a healthy dose of humor and wit — for free. Check it out here.

PROFILES.

— The billionaire who avoided criminal charges [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The CEO behind software’s biggest IPO
— The baseball player who got another chance at life
— The retail chief leading through uncertainty
— The serial sperm donor
— The woman waging digital smear campaigns
— The investment firm profiting off surveillance states
— The Facebook antidote
— The master of cutthroat capitalism

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The billionaire who avoided criminal charges: U.S. prosecutors and IRS agents spent four years piercing the veil of secrecy that billionaire money manager Robert F. Smith wove to hide more than $200 million in income. It was the largest tax-evasion case in U.S. history. The chief criminal investigator for the IRS says, “I have not seen this pattern of greed or concealment and cover-up in my 25-plus years as a special agent." This is the story of how Smith parlayed connections, charity and cooperation to win a non-prosecution agreement from the Justice Department. (Bloomberg)

“People of lesser economic means normally don’t avoid getting charged when they cooperate."

The CEO behind software’s biggest IPO: Snowflake’s Frank Slootman doesn’t start companies. But no CEO has a better track record for turning other people's ideas into jackpots. He's a 3-time IPO veteran who runs a tight ship. "CEOs are only there for one reason, and that is they need to win," he says. "When you win, nobody can hurt you. And when you lose, nobody can help you.” For the first time, he's sharing his executive playbook. (Forbes)

“The job of the board is to hire and fire the CEO. If I’m doing a bad job, you should go ahead and fire me. Otherwise, I’m going to go ahead and run the company.”

The baseball player who got another chance at life: San Francisco Giants outfielder Drew Robinson hated his life. Even more so, he hated that no one knew how much he hated his life. In some weird way, the handsome and charming baseball player was living his dream and wanting to die. On April 16 at 8 p.m, he reached out to the coffee table, lifted a gun, pressed it against his right temple, and pulled the trigger. That was supposed to be the end of the Drew Robinson story. Over the next 20 hours, he would come to realize it was the beginning of another. This is a spine-chilling profile. (ESPN)

"I'm free now. I shot myself, but I killed my ego."

The retail chief leading through uncertainty: Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass is no stranger to the challenges of navigating a high-profile business. In this Q&A, she shares her blueprint for ensuring that Kohl’s weathers the global health crisis both financially, and with its company culture and morale intact. "I didn’t have all the answers, but I could speak to what I knew on any given day and be a realist, while also highlighting the progress we were making," she says.

"I realized quickly as things were changing by the hour that these were not decisions I could communicate by email. I needed to be present."

The serial sperm donor: Jonathan Jacob Meijer was so prolific with sperm donation that his donor children could run to several hundred, even 1,000. The Netherlands is a small country, home to 17 million people, so some of the half siblings have encountered one another on Tinder. The group keeps a list of potential siblings to refer to before going on a date. One half brother says: “I have a very trained eye by now.” What a story. (The New York Times)

“I can’t imagine what our son is going to think when he finds out.”

The woman waging digital smear campaigns: In September 2018, Guy Babcock discovered that he and his entire extended family had been branded pedophiles, scammers, thieves and sexual deviants online. None of it was true, but it was now permanently etched into the internet. Here's the bizarre story of how one woman destroyed the online reputations of more than 145 people. (The New York Times)

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The investment firm profiting off surveillance states: Francisco Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, invests in tech that governments use for both mundane and controversial purposes. The firm's portfolio includes companies like Sandvine and NSO Group, which have both pursued deals with authoritarian regimes. What happens when you profit off corruption? (Bloomberg)

“What that could lead to—we’re talking about journalists vanishing, whistleblowers put in jail."

The Facebook antidote: Signal, the encrypted messaging app, promised to be different from all the other social platforms. Signal’s mission is to promote privacy through end-to-end encryption, without any commercial motive. But current and former employees worry that the fast-growing company is making itself increasingly vulnerable to abuse. (The Verge)

“The world needs products like Signal — but they also need Signal to be thoughtful.”

THROWBACK.

The master of cutthroat capitalism: This 2019 profile on Jeff Bezos is a good one to read as he lets go of the reigns. It explains how Bezos’s ventures are now so large and varied that it is difficult to truly comprehend the nature of his empire, much less the end point of his ambitions. This piece attempts to answer the ever-so-important question: “What happens when one man is able to impose his values on the rest of us?” (The Atlantic)

“We have to go to space to save Earth."

This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Stephanie Cohen on the business of smart dealmaking: Stephanie Cohen, who oversees Goldman Sachs's consumer and wealth-management division, is a big believer in constant innovation. In this podcast, she discusses the push and pull between exploring innovation and enacting change. "When you're asking people to operate more efficiently, you're asking them to operate differently," she says. "That's uncomfortable for people." (Link available to premium members.)

David Rubenstein on interviewing the world's most successful: Jeff Bezos. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Phil Knight. Oprah. David Rubenstein has interviewed them all. He always asks one question in his interviews: "Did your parents live long enough to see your success?" He believes that one of the great pleasures in life is seeing a child grow to be successful. In this podcast episode, Rubenstein deconstructs the mental frameworks of the world's highest performers. It's a good one. (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO WATCH.

Mike Krieger on Instagram's humble beginnings: The very early iteration of Instagram looks nothing like it does today. There were a million little decisions along the way that got Instagram to a billion users. In this fascinating interview, Krieger discusses the original business plan, which was a blueprint for something called Burbn, a platform that would show you local coupons based on your location. This is a masterclass in company-building. (Link available to premium members.)

Jeff Bezos on building the Amazon empire: This documentary on Jeff Bezos explores how he built an empire unprecedented in the history of American capitalism. The film covers worker safety, consumer “ecstasy,” surveillance concerns, and questions around regulation. Here’s how Bezos executed a plan to build one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world. (Link available to premium members.)

Tom Brady's race against time: Before you watch the Super Bowl today, take a look at this mini-documentary on Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. It seems as though he has aged backwards. He appears more youthful, more agile, and more durable than he did in his 20s — yet he's 43. This multi-part series explores Brady's race against Father Time and the quest for the fountain of youth. (Link available to premium members.)

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