"A surfer not only is carried by the wave, but it gives an exceptional forward speed to its rider, provided the surfer can get on to the wave at the right time and not get thrown off in between. The second most important thing required to ride a wave is to recognize that the a wave is approaching. Which means 90 percent of the times you would find a surfer lying on his surfing board and paddling slowly, waiting for the right wave. So why are we talking about waves and surfers in a place reserved for discussing mental models? That’s because “surfing” isn’t just a sport. There are brilliant insights that can be used to analyse a business opportunity through the lens of a mental model with the same name i.e., Surfing. Charlie Munger used the surfing metaphor in his lecture on Elementary Worldly Wisdom to represent the idea of some large business force that developed, which a company was able to ride to grow itself much bigger." - safalniveshak
James Clear Mental Models Overview