Gael V.

• One barrier is what psychologists call “cognitive entrenchment,” which is when you have so much knowledge in an area that you start to take for granted assumptions that need to be questioned.
• A second barrier is motivation: "I don’t want to rethink; I’m comfortable with the way I’ve always done things. It makes me feel and look stupid if I admit that I was wrong."
• The third reason is social. We don’t form beliefs in a vacuum. We generally end up with opinions that are influenced by and pretty much similar to the people in our social circles. So, there’s a risk that if I let go of some of my views, I might be excluded from my tribe, and I don’t want to take that risk.

Thinking like a scientist does not mean you need to own a telescope or a microscope, but that you favor humility over pride and curiosity over conviction: You know what you don’t know, and you’re eager to discover new things. You don’t let your ideas become your identity. You look for reasons why you might be wrong, not just reasons why you must be right.

You listen to ideas that make you think hard, not just the ones that make you feel good. And you surround yourself with people who can challenge your process, not just the ones who agree with your conclusion.

The whole point of rethinking is to change your mind in the face of better logic or stronger evidence—not to just roll the dice and say, I’m going to pick a random new opinion today.

An attitude of wisdom as acting on the best information you have while doubting what you know. And for that you need humility.

But people misunderstand what humility is. Confident humility is being able to say, “I don’t know and I might be wrong,” or “I haven’t figured it out yet,” which is essentially believing in yourself but doubting your current knowledge or skills.

This means that when you form an opinion, you make a list of conditions that would change your mind.

That keeps you honest, because once you get attached to an opinion, it’s really hard to let go. But if you identify factors that would change your mind up front, you keep yourself flexible.

Have an end goal in mind when you're learning.

• What do you want to do with this information?
• How is it going to improve your life?

Even if you just want to do it for fun, find a project you can't do without learning the skill.

Set some time aside to see what courses are available.
Take advantage of any free lessons, watch the introductions to their classes and see if the instructor will be a good fit for your skill level and speed.

Watching online tutorial videos can become addictive. Keep in mind that you are trying to learn something, not get distracted.

How long you would be able to study depends on the density of the subject and the level of your knowledge about the subject.

Find out the ideal time you can dedicate to learning, and also resting.
Don't try to push yourself and to fill your mind with too much information in one session. Try to learn over multiple days to let the information sink in.

Watch the lesson through once. Then watch it again while following along. You can also follow along from the start.

Take notes. Write down important steps, tips and tricks.

Once you've learned a new skill, try it out for yourself. You will make mistakes. When you do, review your notes and keep going.

You'll learn the most from your own early errors.

Once you've learned something, review it regularly to make sure you don't forget it.

It is not necessary to actively watch a lesson you've already seen. However, it can be useful to have one on in the background so you can tune in and out as needed.

As a mainstream understanding, we know of doodling as "absentminded scribbling". There are many different types of doodling such as:

• Infodoodles - which are used to explore and educate new ideas
• Meditative Doodling - a practice of purposeful pen strokes that lead into quiet and reflective spaces
• Zentangle Method - where beautiful and structured patterns are used.

The benefits of doodling are:

1. Feelings of relaxation
2. Mood regulation
3. Better memory recall
4. Increase in creativity and authenticity
5. Deepening of learning in a multimodal manner.

There is a time and place for everything, and this includes doodling.

• Doodling in class or during a meeting is not helpful because doodling only improves memory recall if it is structured and combined with note-taking.
• Unstructured doodling can be considered as being distracted and therefore only weakening your recall.

Multitasking fractures your attention between multiple tasks at the same time; monotasking fully focuses on one task.

• Multitasking is less about being able to work on more tasks at the same time, and more about hoe we switch between different tasks while not giving our full attention to any of them.
• Monotasking (single-tasking) means working on one task at a time and it helps to increase our creativity, energy, and focus.

When we multitask, we’re putting tremendous stress on our brains as we flit backward and forwards between different tasks.

Multitasking is a brain drain that exhausts the mind, zaps cognitive resources and, if left unchecked, condemns us to early mental decline and decreased sharpness.

Context switching is essentially bad for us: every time we switch between doing our work and checking our phones for example, we experience a “transaction cost” that drains our energy and slows us down.

• Commit to the Pomodoro Technique: this method breaks down tasks into short chunks of time, with a brief break in between each.
• Save things for later: when you come across articles and videos throughout your day that force you to make a decision, don't break your momentum and start saving these items for later.
• Make a to-do list and break down tasks.
• Reduce digital clutter in your work life (notifications, for example).
• Listen to classical music, electronic music, and even white noise (productivity music).

Perfectionism is a personality trait, which can be an endless pursuit of high standards in every area of our lives, but can also be a 'disorder' like condition or a phobia, akin to 'Fear of Failure'.

The trait of perfectionism constantly makes a person judge, compare and criticize suboptimal decisions or mistakes in any aspect of the daily routine.

A person starts having mental difficulties, striving to do everything the perfect way, but falling short eventually.

Perfectionism is a voice in our head, constantly fed by the media and society's ideals, coaxing us into doing things in the best way, to get the desired results. 

It is useful in its purpose but in extremities can have negative effects on the body and mind.

Courage isn’t about reckless risk-taking but is often the result of calculated actions that are taken in a measured and appropriate manner.

In business, bold, courageous actions provide the risk-takers with psychological currency, a kind of motivational force that emboldens an otherwise risk-averse individual.

Boldness becomes the fundamental component while pursuing an endeavour which is high in risk and reward.

Courage is the pursuit of a higher purpose, according to Aristotle.

Courage is truly present when the fear is known and real, yet action is taken with eyes wide open. Many business actions like a hostile takeover, purchasing volatile stock or even the very act of starting a business are representations of a courageous act.

1. Stop And ask why: Weigh the risk-reward ratio before taking action.
2. Seek advice from someone neutral: Seek a mentor who can give unbiased advice on your plan of action.
3. Winning is not enough: Achieving an end goal feels shallow after a day. Win the entire game by focusing on success in each and every step and action.
4. Reassess your decisions: Don’t just wager big for the sake of it, fine-tune your decision making and tone down the hyperbole and excitement.
5. Hold yourself accountable: Analyze other options and make yourself accountable for your final decision

The spiral of silence is a human communication theory developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in the 1960s.

The theory explains how societies form shared opinions an how we make decisions surrounding difficult topics. According to the theory, we are only willing to express a statement depending on how popular or unpopular we perceive it to be.