The Mental Backflip
- List all your assumptions about your subject.
- Reverse each assumption. Consider their opposites.
- Ask yourself how to accomplish each reversal.
The end result is a new viewpoint you might not have considered otherwise.
MORE IDEAS FROM THE ARTICLE
Think outside yourself a little and pretend like you're offering advice.
The reasoning here is really simple: your short-term emotions get in the way of decisions, and that clouds your judgment. It's hard to break free of your emotions, but it helps to know they affect your choices.
We usually believe that the more information you have, the better decisions we can make. However, at some point, we cross a threshold where we have too much information. That's when we start to fill in gaps and add weight to information that doesn't matter.
This makes decision making way more difficult.
You're so prone to continue making the same kind of choices throughout your life that challenging yourself and doing the exact opposite is often the best way to get around this problem.
The idea here is to confront your default behavior, step outside your comfort zone, and use your imagination to test some completely new ideas.
RELATED IDEAS
- We are quick to jump to conclusions because we fail to search for information that might disprove our thoughts.
- We're overconfident. We look for information that fits our ideas and ignore information that doesn't.
Knowing these and other biases is not enough. We need a framework for making decisions.
Deciding is too much effort so we’re likely to just stick with the default or safer option if it’s already been chosen for us.
When we get offered too many choices, the same thing happens—we shut down, unable to decide. Often, we end up simply choosing anything, just to get the process over and done with.
Waiting around often means you’re not happy with any of the options, because they’re not right for who you are. So, when you find yourself stuck between possibilities, think about what you really want.
For example, if you’re unsure about a career change, ask yourself what it is that appeals to you about your current position and the one you’re debating.