Challenge Your Model of the World
Swap the consumer-and-employee rulebook for one that fits building a business
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 78%
Wedmore argues that success is uncommon for entrepreneurs because most people run their business on a model of the world built for other games. We spend our formative years as consumers, students, and employees, and from those vantage points we manufacture rules — 'selling is bad', 'I shouldn't fail' — that felt true at the time. Then we decide to build a business but keep the same rulebook, which he likens to spending your life learning American football and then wondering why you are terrible at basketball. It is not you; it is the wrong set of rules. The coaching mechanism is to challenge and crumble the beliefs that do not serve the desired outcome and install new ones. Because a business is a reflection of its creator, changing the model changes the results. Crucially, understanding the new model conceptually does nothing; the shift only happens when you choose to operate from it repeatedly.
Origin
Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show
Core principles
- 01Your model of the world is not the world; it is just your model of it.
- 02Most beliefs about money, selling, and business were formed as a consumer, student, and employee.
- 03Running a business on employee-era rules is like learning football and then playing basketball.
- 04Knowledge of a new model is only potential power; nothing changes until it is applied.
- 05Your business is a reflection of you, so growing the business means growing you.
How to run it
- 1
Name the belief
Identify a belief you hold as common sense about selling, money, failure, or business.
Pro tip 'Selling is bad' is a common one — watch for beliefs stated as obvious fact.
- 2
Find its origin
Trace the belief back to the consumer, student, or employee experience where you created it.
Pro tip 'Selling is bad' usually traces to being sold to badly and disliking it.
- 3
Test it against the new game
Ask whether the rule serves building a business or belongs to a different game entirely.
Pro tip If a belief was made for being an employee, assume it needs re-examination.
Watch out Common sense is not that common — do not exempt a belief because it feels obvious.
- 4
Break and replace the model
Deliberately crumble the belief that does not serve you and construct a new one that aligns with the outcome you want.
Watch out This can be bumpy; expect real resistance when a core belief is challenged.
- 5
Operate from the new model
Choose to act from the new belief repeatedly, because knowing it conceptually changes nothing.
Pro tip Every time the old model resurfaces, it is a fresh choice between old results and new ones.
Watch out Acknowledging the concept while still acting on the old rules keeps you getting the old results.
In the wild
Wedmore describes a client he worked with who held the belief that selling is bad. He traces that belief to a time, or series of experiences, of being sold to and not liking it, from which the client built a whole model of the world as a consumer. The coaching move is to surface where the belief came from and challenge it, so the client can operate from a model that fits running a business rather than one built from being a reluctant buyer.
→ The origin of the limiting belief is exposed so it can be replaced.
Common mistakes
Mistaking your model for reality
Treating your beliefs as 'the way the world is' rather than one model of it prevents you from ever updating them.
Playing basketball with football rules
Carrying employee and consumer rules into entrepreneurship makes you blame yourself when it is really the wrong rulebook.
Stopping at understanding
Grasping the new model conceptually feels like progress but produces nothing until you actually operate from it.
Is it for you?
Best for
New or stuck entrepreneurs whose 'common sense' about selling and money quietly blocks growth.
Not ideal for
People who need concrete tactical execution rather than belief-level work.
From the transcript
“It is not the world. It's just our model of it.”
“learning your whole life how to play football. Learning all the rules of football, American football, and then saying, great, let's play some basketball.”
“your business is simply a reflection of you”
From the episode
Break Free from the Fear of Failing with James Wedmore
James Wedmore