You’re reading the “Spark” edition of Abundance Mindset.

On the second week of each month, I share a personal reflection, story, or mental model to help you think differently, stay inspired, and take meaningful action in your career & life. For more on-demand insights, career thinking, and career coaching, follow my YouTube Channel.

I've been thinking about goals differently lately.

We usually describe progress by looking at what someone did, the habits they built, the decisions they made, or the milestones they reached. But that only describes the end of the story, and not the beginning. Every meaningful pursuit leaves behind something less obvious: a trail of changing beliefs.

When someone accomplishes something difficult, they don't simply accumulate actions. They replace old explanations with better ones. Their understanding of the problem evolves, and their behavior evolves with it. Looking back, you can almost reconstruct their journey by tracing how they thought about the problem at different points in time.

The E.R.E. Mental Model

I've started calling this backwards tracing the E.R.E. Mental Model: Excuses, Realizations, and Executions.

It's less of a productivity framework, because it doesn’t tell you what or how to do something. Instead, it’s more of a way to classify how your thinking changes throughout the pursuit of a goal.

The first category is Excuses. I don't use that word in a negative sense. An excuse in this case is simply the explanation you're currently using to make sense of why progress isn't happening. Sometimes it's objectively wrong and other times it's completely valid. Either way, it's the mental model you're operating from. For instance, if you believe there are no opportunities available to you, that belief will naturally limit the actions you’re willing to consider. And so, your behavior will remain consistent with the reality you think you’re living in.

The second category is Realizations. A realization isn't just new information; it's a revision to your model of the world. You stop asking, "How do I succeed under my current assumptions?" and begin operating from a different set of assumptions altogether. Often, nothing external changes in that moment. The opportunities were always there. What's changed is your interpretation of the situation, and suddenly possibilities that were previously invisible become obvious.

And then there’s Execution. Most advice starts here, but like I mentioned before, I think that's backwards. Execution is often the visible consequence of a realization, not the cause of one. This is true, because you often have to make up your mind about something first, before you take an action. From the outside, execution looks like discipline or motivation. From the inside, it simply feels like the next logical step because the person's understanding of the problem has changed. The action isn't disconnected from the belief; it's an expression of it.

The E.R.E. Mental Model In Action

Let’s look at a quick example of how you can use this model to breakdown your past, present, and future pursuits.

Let's say you want to become an expert in a niche field. At first, you might believe that no one in your city, workplace, or immediate network can teach you what you want to learn. That's your current explanation, or your Excuse. As long as it feels true, your options remain narrow.

Then you have a Realization: expertise doesn't have to come from a single institution or mentor. It can be assembled from books, online communities, side projects, conferences, AI tools, conversations with practitioners, and intentional outreach. Nothing about your environment has changed, but everything about your understanding has.

This new explanation naturally leads to Execution. You begin taking action outside of your comfort zone, reaching out to people you admire, building projects around your interests, and creating opportunities that previously felt unavailable.

Ask Yourself Better Questions

What I like about the E.R.E Mental Model is that it shifts the question. Instead of asking, "What should I do next?" it encourages us to ask, "What excuse am I currently operating under?" and "What realization would make that excuse obsolete?"

I'm beginning to think that progress isn’t simply an accumulation of actions, but a sequence of increasingly accurate beliefs. Every goal leaves behind a trail, and E.R.E. is a simple way to read it.

🤔 QTNA #1: What's one realization that changed the trajectory of your life or career?

🤔 QTNA #2: What's an explanation or excuse you're currently operating under that might be limiting what's possible?

Hit reply and send me the answer to any of the above questions!

Until next time,
DEJA WHITE | BREAKROOM BUDDHA