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The Iceberg Mental Model — What You Don’t See Matters
Why do some people seem to skyrocket to success while others struggle for years?
Why does one writer’s book become a bestseller overnight while another grinds away in obscurity?
Why do some businesses scale fast while others barely make it past the starting line?
Here’s the truth: what you see is only a fraction of the true story.
This is where the Iceberg Mental Model comes in.
It explains why surface-level success is tricky and why the real work — the kind that actually leads to long-term growth — happens where no one can see it.
The Tip of the Iceberg — What You See
Imagine an iceberg floating in the ocean.
The part above the water is what you notice — the accolades, the wins, the highlights.
It’s the viral post, the successful launch, the big moment when everything clicks. It’s what people celebrate.
But that’s just 10% of the iceberg.
The real mass — the other 90% — is hidden under the surface.
When people see success, they assume it happened fast.
