You know those people who always seem to find evidence that the world is against them? The ones who can turn a perfectly decent day into a catalogue of disasters? The ones who, no matter what happens, somehow manage to prove to themselves that yes, life really is as terrible as they thought it was?…
Most people I meet, and most people I talk to professionally, are on the surface just regular people doing the best that they can do to get on with their lives. But go a little deeper, and this is why the self-improvement industry is so large: there are many, many people who want a bit…
This lesson is here to make you see your problems a bit differently. Here’s a question for you that I can guarantee that nobody has ever asked you before. Can you physically put your problem that’s holding you back into a wheelbarrow? I’m serious. Could you pick it up, carry it outside, dump it in…
Where are you right now? Just take a minute or two and have a little think, as I’m asking this question because I want you to think about your present reality. I want you to be honest with yourself too and really step back and take a look at your situation, because denial of this…
Nine out of ten owners say their cats prefer it. That’s the tagline. That’s what sells cat food. Not “one in ten cats don’t like it,” even though statistically that’s exactly the same information. Same data, different frame, completely different response. Previously in the foundation course we talked about the Affect Heuristic and how emotion…
Sometimes when a person gets stuck in a problem, it’s because having that problem gives that person some form of benefit. This effect causes a cognitive bias called primary gain, which can often influence a person’s decision making whilst also making it harder to get rid of that problem. And here’s the uncomfortable truth you…
You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. Wayne Gretzky said that, the famous ice hockey player, and it’s one of my favourite quotes. Not only because it’s true, but because it gives us a perfect example of how omission bias affects us every single day. For some people, omission bias is…
We touched on this in the previous article when we talked about primary gain. Still, I think it’s really also important to discuss pain avoidance in a bit more detail, simply because it is one of the most instinctual and powerful instincts we have. It’s hardwired into your DNA, it’s running constantly in the background,…
Why You Keep Taking the Same Road and Expecting a Different Destination I’d like to talk about stubbornness for a moment. Stubbornness can work for us or against us. I often see people disadvantaged by a stubborn tendency, people who carry on doing what they’ve always done yet possibly expecting a different result. I also…
Reactance bias can help or hinder us in life. Use it the right way, and it’s a powerful driver. Get it wrong, and we’re going to stubbornly hang on to the bad stuff in our lives just because we can. Let me tell you a story that shaped my entire career. When I was a…