9 Cognitive Biases That Impact You Every Day!
They are indirectly harming you.
How many times has this happened to you? You overestimated your success compared to other people, focused on things which validate your pre-existing beliefs, or you got invested in an irrelevant project.
I’m sure you can resonate with most of these experiences. I know it happens to all of us. So in this post, I’ll share with you the 9 most common mental biases which you fall prey to every day!
Let’s dive in.
Optimism Bias
How many times have you overestimated your success compared to other people? Our optimistic friends might be feeling guilty about this.
Over-optimism can come with a huge cost. In this bias, people overestimate the probability of their success, which leads to wrong estimations and predictions. As a result, they waste time and energy in pursuing unrealistic goals.
Sure you deserve the success! But being overly optimistic can have its downsides too.
How to avoid it:
Be skeptical of everything that sounds too easy.
Assume things will be difficult and it’ll be a hard road. Question everything, and continuously ask yourself what could go wrong. In this way, you’ll avoid goals or paths which aren’t worth your energy.
Negativity bias
This is the tendency to change our thoughts and actions because of negative things rather than neutral or positive things.
How to avoid it:
Track your wins and remind yourself about the small wins you’ve had in your journey.
In Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins shared an interesting perspective. Whenever you feel self-doubting or unconfident, write down your small wins and accomplishments in the most detailed fashion. What you achieved, how you you achieved it, what were the obstacles in the path, etc. Think about your key takeaways and lessons, and everything in between.
You can read more about it here!
Confirmation bias
This is our tendency to focus on things that would confirm past beliefs or preconceived notions. And avoid anything that challenges it.
As humans, we all seek external validations to confirm our thoughts. And if you confirm or validate someone, it can have the most seductive effect on them.
But you should seek inner validation. Build that inner world that would validate your thoughts and beliefs.
How to avoid it:
Seek out information that challenges your pre-existing thoughts and evolves your thought process. The best way to do this is to surround yourself with smart people who are completely different from you.
Sunk-Cost Fallacy
It’s the tendency to stay invested in something which has taken your time and energy — even if things are going south and giving up is better. This happened a lot to me.
I’ve learned that sometimes, the best way is to quit.
It could be an irrelevant project or a toxic relationship that lasted way too long. Deep down inside, you know you should give up and move on. But continuing seems easier and you don’t want to think you’ve wasted so much time.
How to avoid it:
Objectively visualize the big picture, seek out evidence, give up on irrelevant things and move on. Don’t cling to the past.
IKEA effect
Getting attached to something which you’ve created.
I know a friend with this bias, he gets attached to the designs he created for some products, and it’s hard for him to change anything. It was quite weird for me because I don’t get attached easily.
How to avoid it:
Regularly practice the stoic mentality and view the situation objectively.
The more distant you are, the less you’ll get attached to your work. Zoom out, and perceive things more clearly.
Anchoring effect
The original explanation for anchoring bias comes from Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. It’s a tendency to rely on the first piece of information we encounter even when the other information could be more realistic and relevant.
How to avoid it:
Be sure to view data and perspectives from all angles. Building critical thinking takes time!
Goal Gradient Effect
Coined by behaviorist Clark Hull in 1932, the Goal Gradient Effect states that as people get closer to a reward, they speed up their behavior to get to their goal faster.
How to use it for your benefit:
Set realistic goals with deadlines. That’ll motivate you to achieve your dreams faster.
Hyperbolic discounting
In today’s world, we humans are getting hooked on cheap dopamine. Likes, followers, notifications, fast food, and other short-term pleasures. They trick our minds and target our dopamine feedback loop.
The instant dopamine gives us a quick shot of happiness but for the short term. To maintain this level of happiness, we seek more instant gratifications. And the cheap dopamine has hijacked our brain’s reward system.
I don’t blame anyone for this because the root cause is in our evolution. Our ancestors had to focus on short-term things, the next source of food, the next shelter and so on and so forth.
Coming back to the bias, it’s the tendency of giving way more weightage to short-term things rather than long-term things.
For instance, if I give you $200 right now or $380 after 30 days, you’re more likely to choose the first option. It’s in our genes to think for the short term. As discussed earlier, we humans have acquired this ability from our ancestors and due to evolution, we continue to sign up for short-term things.
How to avoid it:
Continuously zoom out and see the bigger picture. Seeking long-term goals than short-term gratifications.
Thankfully we can rewire our brain. It’ll take time but it shall be worth it. For now, take small steps towards it.
Regularly build deep work sessions, 2–4 hours of blocked time can skyrocket your productivity.
The planning fallacy
It’s the false belief of underestimating the time it takes to complete future projects.
How to avoid it:
Be more realistic while setting deadlines. Prepare an Eisenhower matrix and tick off the task according to it. Block off time for most important tasks. And follow the Pomodoro technique.
Now that you know about these biases, avoid them as much as you can!
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