I avoid 'mental models' altogether because I think this notion that there is some sort of model world different from lived reality is weirdly dualistic and fortune cookie like.
I think if you're faced with a problem the answer to that is having acquired proper integrated intuition through experience, not 'advice' in form of some model. Say if you're a runner, the better you get, the less you have a model like "I put the left foot in front of the right foot and breathe three times" you just learn what to do holistically.
Or if you get better at chess, the less you rely on generic advice like 'the pawn is worth 1 point, the bishop 3", and the more you get a sense of a position that you can't express as some verbal model. The very best players can play 'without thinking'.
I think if you're faced with a problem the answer to that is having acquired proper integrated intuition through experience, not 'advice' in form of some model. Say if you're a runner, the better you get, the less you have a model like "I put the left foot in front of the right foot and breathe three times" you just learn what to do holistically.
Or if you get better at chess, the less you rely on generic advice like 'the pawn is worth 1 point, the bishop 3", and the more you get a sense of a position that you can't express as some verbal model. The very best players can play 'without thinking'.