Learn from people's models, not their lives

Alex Hormozi’s ability to get business knowledge across in a simple way never ceases to amaze me.

People pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars for his knowledge, because what he can tell you in 10 minutes can unlock millions of dollars for you.

He’s made hundreds of millions through Acquisition.com, and gives away his knowledge for free online.

He’s also jacked.

So out of curiosity I watched a video of what he eats in a day to stay productive AND jacked.

Well, one of the things he eats (drinks) is ultra-pasteurized egg whites mixed with low-calorie chocolate syrup to get 100g of protein (brotein).

Egg Whites

Whatever works for him, probably won’t work for most people.

That made me think of a quote from Morgan Housel’s book Same as Ever that references Elon Musk:

“People love the visionary genius side of Musk, but want it to come without the side that operates in his distorted I-don’t-care-about-your-customs version of reality. But I don’t think those two things can be separated. They’re the risk-reward trade-offs of the same personality trait.”

The optimization mindset that allows Hormozi to build $100M businesses is the same trait that makes him think that egg whites + chocolate syrup is an acceptable meal.

So the question is, is the underlying trait separable from the results?

If you want to be successful like Hormozi, do you have to take the FULL package and eat like he does too?

It’s not just Hormozi.

Warren Buffet drinks five Cokes a day and eats at McDonald’s.

Naval Ravikant meditates 2 hours a day and barely talks to people.

Bezos laughs maniacally at meetings and used to fire people on a whim.

Steve Jobs used to wash his feet in the toilet, parked in handicapped spots and told employees their work was shit to their faces.

Elon Musk named his kid X Æ A-12.

Newton invented calculus and classical mechanics, but spent more time on alchemy and biblical numerology than physics.

Many famous rockstars did hard drugs in their prime.

When you learn from these people, are you to take the entire package?

Or is it possible to nitpick the “good” from the “bad”?

Are you not achieving the most you can out of our lives because you’re trying to mash together the best of everyone instead of just taking one complete package?

I believe that the difference lies between

Personality traits - you’re either as obsessive about optimization as Hormozi or you’re not.
Mental models - which you can cherry pick.

In other words, learn from people’s models and not their lives.

The skill is separating the model from the expression of the model in your life.

Basically, go down layers of abstraction until the model is applicable to your life.

Hormozi posts 6 hours of content a day. Here’s what you should take from that:

Level 1 (Surface): Just post a lot of content ==> you post a lot, nothing happens and you say “that didn’t work”
Level 2 (Floating): Output volume creates compounding feedback ==> faster iteration = more surface area for luck
Level 3 (Outer Space): Shorten the time between internal planning and receiving feedback ==> now it’s applicable to anything (sales, writing, product)

Furthermore, at higher levels of abstraction you’ll see that everyone is actually saying the same thing in different clothes.

Here’s where you could screw up: you could copy the surface behavior and not the underlying model.

You could wear the same outfit every day like Jobs to reduce decision fatigue, but his underlying model was actually to remove literally everything that doesn’t matter to go after the one thing that does.

People also take advice out of context, for instance “hire slowly, fire fast”: it only works when you have the leverage/resources to be selective, not when you’re pre-revenue.

So when you find someone worth learning from, and you read many memoirs & autobiographies like me, ask:

What is the core belief that explains this behavior?
Which behaviors are just personality traits that don’t abstract?

You must take the belief and express it in a way that fits your context and YOUR personality.

Don’t steal someone else’s personality, because it just won’t work in the long run.

For instance, I agree with Hormozi’s optimization & Steve Jobs decision fatigue elimination mindset.

However, I would change the way that manifests itself in my life.

Instead of drinking a carton of egg whites, I would bulk-prep protein-rich recipes and optimize for speed there.

(Rather than optimize just the variable of gs of protein, I would optimize multiple variables of protein x health x taste).

I also don’t understand why Hormozi doesn’t hire a private chef to cook him high protein, but also healthy, recipes, but to each his own.

The next question is, how to best combine/triage models from multiple thinkers?

Categorize by stage of the game.

For instance, you’d use one model when you’re just starting out (0 to 1), another model if you’re investing, and yet another if you’re scaling.

Every piece of advice has a context, and taking it out of that context is going to confuse you.

Seek the overlap at layer 3. At that layer, most advice start to sound the same, or they will contradict each other.

This allows you to find similarities between models, and group similar thinkers.

When you find a contradiction, proceed to the following:

Reduce friction. What model sounds like nails on a chalkboard to you?

If a model requires you to do things that completely oppose your natural disposition, then find something else. No matter how successful it made its creator.

For instance, I wouldn’t live the way Elon Musk does—I don’t even want to be that rich or influential.

I value other things like sitting for hours at a coffee shop or walking with nothing on my mind. That makes me happier than the thought of having a trillion dollars to my name.

I would instead optimize the rest of my week so that I have time to do things like that without guilt.

This is why I believe it’s important to read many books (especially memoirs), and drop them as soon as you realize you’re not benefiting.

You get to live many lives and pick parts of who you want to become.

PS: if that helped you, you’re obligated to let me know: @armaanagrawal_ on X