The Map is Not the Territory  (2 Min Read) | Vol. 150

May 09, 2025

“A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness.” ― Alfred Korzybski

The Map is Not the Territory
This week marks the 150th edition of TheTwentyPercenter. To commemorate the milestone, I recorded a The ONE Thing podcast on the “16 ½ Lessons Learned” creating this weekly newsletter over almost three years. 

Spoiler alert, the last half lesson may be the most important – just get started. I spent months planning. I did my best to anticipate challenges. I built a model for how I’d plan, write, edit, and promote the newsletters. Some of that work was beneficial, but most was unnecessary. As with many endeavors, the best lessons came from practice. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

The map I created was not the territory.

The idea that “the map is not the territory” comes from a 1931 paper written by  Polish philosopher Alfred Korzybski. Maps are models of the real world. They are incredibly useful. Yet they are reductive and imperfect. A map of Disney World can be perfectly accurate and hold nothing of the experience of being there. “The menu,” noted Alan Watts, “is not the meal.”

Reality tends to change faster than maps can be updated. The people who create maps infuse them with their own biases and perspectives. This is true of any map, model, or framework.

If you struggle with perfectionism, don’t waste too much time planning, mapping, or modeling your next move. Pick the best one available and get moving. Experience will teach you as you go. 

If you’d like to hear all 16½ lessons, including practical tools I use every week, check out Episode #503 of The ONE Thing podcast. 
One question to ponder in your thinking time: What endeavor have you been preparing for that you could simply start today?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent