Before We Begin: Four Questions

WHY does this matter to you?

You’ve listened to successful founders describe their practices. You’ve made notes. You meditate now, or you tried for a week. You read the psychology books they mention. You ask better questions in meetings.

But something’s off. You’re doing what they say they do, but you’re not getting what they get. The gap between their results and yours keeps growing. Why?

Because you’re collecting tactics while they’re operating from a completely different cognitive framework. They’re not successful because they meditate. They meditate because they understand something fundamental about how mental territory works, and you’re missing it.

This matters because you’re working harder to close a gap that tactics can’t close. You need to see the pattern underneath.

WHAT is actually happening?

There’s a profound disconnect between what successful people describe doing and what’s actually producing their results. They talk about meditation, reframing, and perspective-taking. You hear self-improvement tactics.

But these aren’t personal development exercises. They’re applications of cognitive architecture principles, the same principles that govern positioning, category design, and mental territory ownership. The same mechanics Brad Jacobs uses to manage his own mind are identical to the mechanics that create billion-dollar companies through positioning.

Most people can’t see this because they’re pattern-matching at the wrong level. They’re seeing trees when there’s a forest. They’re hearing tactics when there’s a unified theory operating underneath.

HOW does this transfer to your work?

Once you see the pattern (that mental territory operates through schemas, and schemas can be deliberately constructed and occupied), everything changes. You stop collecting tactics and start building cognitive architecture.

For individuals: finding your center, understanding others’ schemas, reframing reality.

For organizations: owning a noun, mapping customer schemas, and creating categories.

Same work. Different application layer.

WHAT IF you could see what they see?

What if Brad Jacobs isn’t teaching meditation, he’s teaching cognitive architecture, and meditation is just one tool for managing it?

What if positioning isn’t marketing, it’s the organizational application of the same mental territory principles that govern individual psychology?

What if you stopped trying to copy what successful people do and started understanding how they think?

Let’s find out.

Here Are My Takeaways From Listening To Brad Jacobs

Most people hear Brad Jacobs talk about building seven billion-dollar companies and extract a to-do list:

What They Think They Heard:

• Meditate 30 minutes daily
• Try “feeling the brain” for creativity
• Use thought experiments to solve problems
• Practice radical acceptance when things go wrong
• Apply cognitive behavioural therapy to reframe negative thoughts
• Ask frontline employees for unfiltered feedback
• Read psychology books
• Think dialectically

They walk away thinking: “I should meditate more and read some CBT books.”

What’s Actually Happening:

Brad Jacobs isn’t teaching self-help tactics. He’s revealing the cognitive architecture that governs how humans organize reality, both in their own minds and in others’. Everything he describes operates on the same fundamental principle: mental territory ownership and schema management.

But most people can’t see this because they’re listening at the tactical rather than the structural level.

The Gap: Surface Tactics vs. Deep Structure

When Brad says he meditates to “find his center,” people hear stress management. When he talks about “theory of mind,” they hear negotiation tactics. When he describes “schema of things,” they hear perspective-taking exercises.

They’re not wrong. But they’re seeing the finger pointing at the moon instead of looking at the moon itself.

Here’s what’s really going on:

Finding Your Center = Noun Ownership

What people think: Brad meditates to stay calm under pressure.

What’s actually happening: Brad is describing how to establish and return to a core identity — a fixed point from which all decisions flow. He says, “When you get off your center, how do you bring yourself back very quickly?”

This is identical to positioning. When an organization “finds its center,” it identifies the NOUN it owns. The concept that defines what it IS, not what it’s like. Volvo doesn’t describe itself relative to other cars. It returns to its center: safety. That’s its fixed point.

Brad doesn’t define himself relative to other entrepreneurs (“I’m like Steve Jobs but with logistics”). He has a center (a core identity) and returns to it when knocked off balance.

The gap: People extract “meditation helps you stay calm” when the actual insight is “establish a non-relative identity and defend it.”

Theory of Mind = Understanding Customer Schemas

What people think: Brad can predict what others will do in negotiations.

What’s actually happening: Brad is modelling the mental frameworks (schemas) through which others perceive reality. He says theory of mind is “like chess, but with people,” predicting moves by understanding how they think.

This is positioning work. You’re not selling products. You’re managing mental territory in customer minds. The customer already has schemas, mental categories for organizing information. Your job is either to fit distinctly within an existing schema or to create a new one.

When Brad asks frontline employees, “What’s the stupidest thing we’re doing?” he’s not just gathering feedback. He’s accessing different schemas: how line workers perceive reality versus how executives do. He knows executives have biased schemas (overly optimistic to align with leadership expectations).

The gap: People extract “ask better questions” when the actual insight is “different people have different mental frameworks, and you must understand theirs to influence them.”

Schema of Things = Category Definition

What people think: Brad reads a lot before entering new industries.

What’s actually happening: Brad is deliberately constructing mental frameworks (schemas) that will allow him to see what others miss. He says, “Everyone has a different prism for the world based on their experiences.”

He interviews CEOs, venture capitalists, journalists, and activists to build a comprehensive schema. This isn’t due diligence. It’s cognitive architecture. He’s building the mental framework through which he’ll perceive opportunities in a new category.

This is category design. When you define a new category, you’re creating a new schema in customers’ minds. You’re not fitting into their existing prism. You’re giving them a new one.

Tesla didn’t fit into the existing “environmentally friendly car” schema. It created a new schema: “electric vehicles as the future of transportation.” Once that schema exists in customers’ minds, it shapes everything they see.

The gap: People extract “do your research” when the actual insight is “actively construct the mental frameworks through which you and others perceive reality.”

Non-Judgmental Concentration = Absolute vs. Relative Positioning

What people think: Brad gives people his full attention in meetings.

What’s actually happening: Brad is practicing what he calls “non-judgmental concentration,” the ability to perceive things as they exist independent of you, not relative to you. He says, “The people and things in your life don’t exist relative to you; they simply exist. If you can take yourself out of the equation, you’ll have a much clearer view.”

This is the difference between derivative positioning (“we’re like Uber for X”) and absolute positioning (owning a noun). When you define yourself relatively, you surrender mental territory. You exist only in comparison to someone else.

Brands that own nouns exist absolutely. They don’t need the comparison. Tesla doesn’t need to say “we’re like BMW but electric.” It owns “the future.” That exists independently.

The gap: People extract “be present” when the actual insight is “exist on your own terms, not in relation to others.”

The Pattern You’re Missing

Every framework Brad describes operates on the same cognitive principle:

Mental territory is organized in schemas, and schemas can be deliberately constructed, occupied, and defended.

This applies whether you’re talking about:

• Your own mind (finding your center)
• Other people’s minds (theory of mind)
• Market perceptions (positioning)
• Category definitions (schema creation)

It’s not a metaphor. It’s literally the same cognitive mechanics operating at different levels.

Here’s The Transference

Brad’s Framework	Individual Application	Organizational Application	Same Underlying Mechanic
Finding Your Center	Return to core identity when knocked off balance	Own a noun that defines what you ARE	Non-relative identity establishment
Theory of Mind	Model what others think to predict behavior	Understand schemas in customer minds	Mental framework mapping
Schema of Things	Your prism for perceiving reality	The mental category you occupy	Cognitive architecture construction
Non-Judgmental Concentration	Things exist independent of you	Your brand exists on its own terms	Absolute vs. relative positioning
Radical Acceptance	Accept reality without judgment	Accept market reality and act accordingly	Perception management without delusion
Dialectical Thinking	Reconcile contradictory perspectives	Synthesize opposing market forces	Multi-schema integration
Reframing	Turn negative thoughts into data	Turn problems into positioning opportunities	Schema reconstruction

The Simba Principle

Remember the scene in The Lion King when Simba sees Mufasa’s ghost? Mufasa says, “Remember who you are.”

Simba had been living relatively. “I’m just a nobody in the jungle.” He defined himself by comparison, by what he wasn’t, by running from his identity.

Mufasa calls him back to his center: “You are my son and the one true king.” That’s a noun. That’s absolute identity.

This is what Brad does with his meditation practice: remembers who he is and returns to the center. It’s what positioning work does for organizations, helps them remember what they actually are, what noun they own.

Most companies are like Simba in the jungle. Living relatively. “We’re like X but faster.” “We’re the Y of Z.” Running from their true position.

Why This Matters For Positioning Work

If you understand that positioning operates on the same cognitive principles as individual mental management, several things become clear:

1. Positioning isn’t communication, it’s cognitive architecture

Just like Brad doesn’t “communicate” his way to finding his center, you don’t “message” your way to positioning. You construct mental frameworks in your organization and in customers’ minds.

2. The same disciplines apply

Brad’s practices (meditation, reframing, schema expansion, non-judgmental concentration) have direct organizational equivalents. Finding your positioning center requires the same discipline as finding your personal center.

3. The work is psychological, not tactical

Brad didn’t build seven billion-dollar companies through better spreadsheets. He built them through superior cognitive architecture. Similarly, strong positioning doesn’t come from better value propositions. It comes from owning mental territory.

4. You can’t outsource this

Brad can’t outsource his meditation practice. Organizations can’t outsource finding their center. This is core strategic work that requires the same kind of ongoing practice and discipline.

5. Consistency is everything

Brad returns to his center daily through meditation. Organizations must return to their position center through every decision, every product, every communication. Waver once and you drift.

What To Actually Extract

Stop making Brad’s to-do list. Start recognizing the pattern:

Mental territory (in your mind, in others’ minds, in markets) is organized in schemas. Success comes from deliberately constructing, occupying, and defending specific territories.

Individual version:

• Find your center (own your identity)
• Understand others’ schemas (theory of mind)
• Expand your own schemas (perspective-taking)
• Return to center when knocked off (radical acceptance)

Organizational version:

• Find your position center (own a noun)
• Understand customer schemas (mental territory mapping)
• Create or reshape categories (schema construction)
• Return to position with every decision (consistency)

It’s the same work.

The Real Lesson

Brad Jacobs isn’t teaching meditation. He’s teaching cognitive architecture.

Positioning work isn’t marketing. It’s the application of the same cognitive architecture to organization.

Most people miss this because they’re listening for tactics. They want the checklist. They want “10 Things Successful People Do.”

But Brad isn’t successful because he meditates 30 minutes daily. He’s successful because he understands how mental territory works (in his mind and in others’), and he manages it deliberately.

That’s what positioning is. Managing mental territory.

The tactics are just the tools. The real work is understanding that minds organize reality through schemas, those schemas can be deliberately shaped, and owning clear mental territory creates a competitive advantage.

Whether that mental territory is in your own head (finding your center) or in your customers’ heads (positioning) doesn’t matter. The cognitive mechanics are identical.

So when you listen to Brad Jacobs, don’t extract his meditation routine.

Extract the pattern: Mental territory can be owned, defended, and used to navigate reality more effectively than people who don’t understand this principle.

That’s what he’s actually teaching.

And that’s what positioning actually is.