A decision framework maps beliefs on two axes: true or false, useful or not useful. True and useful beliefs like resilience drive better performance. Cynicism is true but paralyzing. False but useful beliefs, like Santa, can motivate. The speaker argues we should spend mental energy on what's both true and useful.
There's these two axes. So it's true or it's false, and it's useful or it's not useful. If it's true and it's also not useful, it's cynicism. Everything's fucked. It's focusing on the failures. As someone who wants to get the best out of people, it's not a helpful place to be. Resilience— it's true and it's also useful. So it can be true that there are many builders that are out there that are just out to get money and make it a painful process. But what's useful is there are always good operators. And you can find a good operator and you can persevere. That is a useful belief to help get the job done. Something that is false and also not useful is a trap. We want to watch ourselves doing that. All staff are an issue. They never listen to me. They always take from me. I always give more than I get. That's not true. And it's also not useful. And finally, an example of a belief that is untrue but could be useful You think of Santa, because believing in Santa can bring you more excitement. So when we look at these things, we wanna look at these in these 4 quadrants. Where are we spending our most of the time in business?
