Navigating Life: Maps & Compasses

Do you have life figured out? I don’t have life figured out.

Do you know anyone who has life figured out? I don’t know anyone who has life figured out.

There are some people that claim to, and they love giving advice.

Just as a cartographer can only draw a map effectively if they have complete information, a person can only give advice effectively if they have complete information.

But, nobody has complete information.

A false map can lead you off a cliff or get you stuck crossing too deep a river.

The metaphorical equivalent of pursuing a career at the expense of a relationship. Or, fitness advice saying to lift a 70lb dumbbell with muscles fit for a 40lb dumbbell.

The result: The Map Is Not The Territory.

Here’s an excerpt from Shane Parrish’s Farnam Street blog about the mental model The Map Is Not the Territory:

“[The] territory contains details the map doesn’t describe. We run into problems when our knowledge becomes knowledge of the map rather than of the actual underlying territory it describes. Reality is messy and complicated, so our tendency to simplify it is understandable. However, if the aim becomes simplification rather than understanding, we start to make bad decisions.”

It’s easy to give advice in simplifications. But, those simplifications don’t always transfer to our individual situations.

The way most people navigate life is by finding a cartographer — a role model or mentor — they admire and following that cartographer’s map as closely as possible. Then get discouraged when key details are missing.

What if a map is the wrong tool?

What about a compass instead?

A compass doesn’t claim to have a high fidelity view of an area. Only to keep you pointed in the right direction.

The beauty about compasses is that more than one can point in the same direction. And, they can point you away from wrong directions.

Compasses tell you if the next step in your path is correct.

In this way, it is much more useful to treat people, advice, bad role models and your own inner monologue as compasses instead of maps.

With this in mind, it’s also important not to collect too many compasses. While you can find many that point in roughly the same direction, collecting too many compasses will inevitably lead to some pointing in directions that you shouldn’t go. And, as a result, paralyze you with which direction to head next.

Your inner monologue is the most important compass. Regular self reflection can help you adjust it with surgical precision. Or, on occasion, chart a different course altogether where you have to search for a whole new set of relevant compi. The plural of compass should be compi that would be way more fun. If only because in this context because compi is colloquial Spanish for friend and changing course drastically often times requires finding new friends.

As Naval says, “The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life."

Therefore, having the intelligence to select the right tools for your journey is crucial.

Words I Wish I Wrote

Bonus New Year’s Life Hack

I found HabitKit two weeks ago and it turns your habits into a Github style tracker. It’s the only habit tracker I’ve ever personally used that make’s me actively want to complete my habits. Perfect for anyone trying to adopt new habits for 2025. - H/T WVFRM Podcast

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