You trust old information more than new information. You believe the way you’ve always done things is better than trying something different. And that belief, comfortable as it is, is probably keeping you stuck. Welcome to Conservatism Bias, one of the most common cognitive biases you have. It’s the mental shortcut that makes you hang…
There’s something I call the FOWI-FOMO scale, and it’s based on fear. Because used in the right way, fear is a good thing. It’s a pretty strong motivator, and if something’s going to get you moving in the right direction, fear can be the catalyst you need. The problem is that most people are being…
There’s a well-worn path most people take through life. It’s gentle. It’s easy. It’s crowded with everyone else who’s chosen comfort over effort, safety over risk, acceptance over achievement. It’s called the Path of Least Resistance, and it will almost always lead you to an average destination. Not terrible. Not great. Just average. And if…
Sometimes moving forward is as simple as letting go of what’s holding you back. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But you’d be amazed how many people stay stuck precisely because they’re gripping too tightly to the very thing that’s keeping them trapped. Think of monkey bars in a playground. You know how they work. To move…
You’re free. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Freedom. Choice. The ability to steer your own ship. But here’s what nobody tells you about freedom: it comes with a price tag, and that price is responsibility. I speak to people every day who’ve forgotten they have choices. They sit in my consulting room and tell me they’re…
On a surgical rotation, one of my old mentors at the time (thanks Rob) told me that there are three types of decisions you can make when you have a sick surgical patient in front of you. You can make the decision to operate and take the patient to the operating theatre. You can make…
Remembering the Fallacy of Fairness from the last article, let’s move onto another concept that seems to affect a lot of people, causing indecision, hesitancy, uncertainty, and a lack of resoluteness in their life. I call it the Grass Is Always Greener Misconception, and it’s quietly destroying your ability to commit to anything long enough…
“It’s not fair.” I hear this expression at least every week. Usually from people who aren’t particularly happy with their lot in life, especially when they feel others have more than them. Sometimes it’s said with resignation, sometimes with anger, sometimes with genuine bewilderment that the universe is out to get them or hasn’t arranged…
Moving away from chaos, we need to move on to its close friend: causality. Causality is simple in theory. It’s the relationship between an event (the cause) and a second event (the effect), where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first. Press the button, the light turns on. Touch the fire,…
You’re looking to make the big move. The one decision that changes everything. The perfect plan that guarantees success. Here’s a fact: for most of us, it doesn’t exist. Here’s what does exist: chaos. Not the panic kind, not the mess kind. The mathematical kind. The kind that means small changes in what you do…