How to not make thinking errors

How to not make thinking errorsHow to not make thinking errorsHave you ever made a decision that seemed illogical looking back?Were all highly illogical beings even though we think the oppositeEvery person creates their own social reality. The way you view the world is completely subjective because we all have cognitive biases.The concept of cognitive biases was introduced in 1972 by two psychologists, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. A cognitive bias is a systematic thinking error that impacts judgments, and therefore, our decisions.As of this writing, there are 106 decision-making relatedcognitive biasesknown We all make these errors. So theres no point in trying to become a perfect thinker. Its impossible.However, with practice, you can avoid some thinking mistakes that many of us make. And by avoiding these errors, we can improve our decisions, and consequently Our lives and careers.What follows is a list of three thinking errors. The question is Do you make these errors? If so, Ill also share a fix.1. Thinking that life happens toyouMy favorite cognitive bias is the attentional bias. Its scientific evidence for the idea that your life is a result of your thoughts - not events that happen to you.The attentional bias states that our perceptions are affected by our thoughts. And naturally, our perceptions determine our actions and decisions, which make up our lives.If you have negative thoughts, you also have a negative perception of life. Thats what it says. Our mind might be illogical, but its also simple at the saatkorn time.What to do aboutit.Be very mindful of what you expose yourself to The people in your life, the conversations you have, the music you listen to, the books you read, the movies you watch.Understand that everything influences you. Theres nothing you can do about that. However, you cancontrolwhat you expose yourself to.Does your attention go to positive things? Youll have a positive outlook on life. Does yourattention go to negative thin gs? Youll already know the answer to that.2. Thinking that your mindcanbetrustedLook, if you still think your mind is your friend, youre wrong The proof is in a well-known cognitive biases, the confirmation bias.It explains the behavior of confirming our preconceptions. If you believe in something, you will try hard to find information, clues, and signs to back that up. In other words, you do everything to prove yourenotwrong.Scientists also suffer from this thinking error. They are notorious for finding evidence for their preconceptions. You see? No one is perfect.What to do aboutit.Ive found that a pragmatic and neutral perspective on life leads to better-informed decisions. Unfortunately, theres no such thing as the best decision. If that were the case, we would live in a perfect world full of people who made logical and practical decisions.What it comes down to is this Avoid making decisions based on beliefs, obvious logic, and even science.Every time Im stuck in a thinking patt ern, I try to break away by looking at the list of cognitive biases. Its free and easy. Just go to the Wikipedia forlist of cognitive biases.Its very appealing to think that weve got it all figured out because weve read a few books or studies. Theres just one problem You still cant trust your judgments, no matter how much knowledge you have. Being aware of that simple thought helps you to make better-informed decisions.3. Thinking youll NEVER do something againWhen I came back from a stressful trip, I said I will never travel againWhen my first relationship ended in drama, I said Screw relationships Im never going to start a new relationshipWhen I quit my last job, I said Im never going to work for someone againWhen I was sick of taking public transportation, I said Im never going to take the train againWhen I lost half of my money during the stock market crash in 2008/2009, I said Im never going to invest againOf course, I traveled again, invested again, fell in love again, took th e train again, and in the future, I might work for someone else again.What to do aboutit.Look, you cant think that youll never do something after a bad experience. Thats something Ive learned from personal experience. In fact, its something we all learnBut the problem is that we keep saying these stupid things and alsoactthese thinking errors. Thats why we are afraid to invest our money, start a business, fall in love with someone, etc.Youre not doing yourself a favor with this thinking pattern. In fact, none of the above listed thinking errors are helping you.Why do we still make these mistakes?Well, because the solutions to these thinking errors seem like common sense. We think were so smart that we dont even need to think about itAnd thats exactly the point. Werenotlogical. Thats something we must not forget. If we do, ourthinkingerrors becomelifeerrors.Thats why we must change our thinking errors while we can.Thisarticlefirst appeared onDariusForoux.com.