Lesson 2: A mind that’s trained to adapt to different situations and stay neutral can navigate life more easily .

If you’re not careful, you might fall into the trap of overgeneralizing. This is when you make a determination based on very little evidence and apply it to a larger context—like deciding that all women are bad drivers because one woman almost hit you while driving on the highway.

To avoid this pitfall, zoom out from single events or stereotypes. In other words, be objective! This means you shouldn’t make a decision based on singular facts, but rather average them out and leave subjectivity aside, even if it’s not convenient on the spot.

Another great lesson from the book is to learn the skill of adaptability . Life is likely going to push you into new and unthinkable scenarios, regardless of your routine. If you want to come out stronger on the other side, you must learn to adapt.

For example, you might be inclined to think that girls are better dancers. One day, you decide to take dance lessons yourself, and on your first day, you see that your instructor is a man. Besides overgeneralizing, not being flexible can spoil that experience for you.