Doubt and uncertainty make us feel uncomfortable.
And when we don't have clarity, we start rushing decisions to avoid that feeling of uncertainty.
When in doubt, take a deep breath and sleep on it before making a decision.
Mental models can save your life.
But psychological biases can ruin it.
Here are 10 psychological biases to help you avoid a life of pain and suffering:
Doubt and uncertainty make us feel uncomfortable.
And when we don't have clarity, we start rushing decisions to avoid that feeling of uncertainty.
When in doubt, take a deep breath and sleep on it before making a decision.
When we want something badly, we start overestimating our odds of success.
It's why so many people bet on their sports team to win.
It's also why millions buy lottery tickets.
Don't let what you want cloud your judgment of what you should do.
The tendency to treat others as they've treated us.
When treated well: "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."
When treated badly: "An eye for an eye."
Sometimes this tendency can lead to endless conflict.
Resist the urge to reciprocate bad behaviour.
We copy other people's behaviour when making decisions.
Especially when we're feeling uncertain.
This is why so many ads have celebrity endorsements and user testimonials.
Next time you make a decision, be mindful of other people's influence.
The psychological pain of losing something is twice as strong as the pleasure of gaining it in the first place.
It's why many gamblers go broke trying to recover from their first loss.
Be careful not to overreact when you lose something you value.
Humans have evolved to avoid pain - it's how we survive.
But this bias often leads us to avoid short term psychological pain instead of facing reality - aka denial.
This commonly happens in market bubbles when investors lose touch with business fundamentals.
We have an innate need to appear consistent to others.
We're afraid of people calling us a hypocrite.
But this prevents us from changing dangerous beliefs and harmful behaviours.
Keep this in mind next time you're trying to change a bad habit.
We have a tendency to follow people in positions of authority.
Children follow parents. Soldiers follow generals. Students follow teachers.
But too much blind faith in authority can lead us to follow the wrong people.
Always question the person "in charge."
More from Zain Kahn
I went from zero to leading marketing teams in 5 years.
But I never studied marketing in college.
Those 5 years I spent 1,000+ hours studying 100s of books and resources.
I've distilled everything I learned in those 5 years into 7 simple frameworks.
Here they are ― for free:
1. How to write world class
2. Master the psychology of
3. Learn how to
4. Use the best marketing
But I never studied marketing in college.
Those 5 years I spent 1,000+ hours studying 100s of books and resources.
I've distilled everything I learned in those 5 years into 7 simple frameworks.
Here they are ― for free:
1. How to write world class
Apple, Nike, Coca Cola.
— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) September 7, 2021
3 legendary companies. 1 common marketing trait:
Great copywriting.
Here are 10 copywriting tips to help you master marketing:
2. Master the psychology of
10 principles from psychology to master marketing:
— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) July 26, 2021
3. Learn how to
Being a new manager is scary.
— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) March 15, 2022
You're suddenly responsible for leading a team and you have no idea how to do it.
I've served as a manager and executive at several companies.
Here's a step by step cheatsheet to help you become a better leader today:
4. Use the best marketing
The right marketing tools give you superpowers.
— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) September 14, 2021
But 90% of marketers don't know about them.
Here are 10 marketing tools to help you master marketing:
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Great article from @AsheSchow. I lived thru the 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980's/early 1990's asking myself "Has eveyrbody lost their GODDAMN MINDS?!"
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
For three years I have wanted to write an article on moral panics. I have collected anecdotes and similarities between today\u2019s moral panic and those of the past - particularly the Satanic Panic of the 80s.
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) September 29, 2018
This is my finished product: https://t.co/otcM1uuUDk
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
BREAKING: @CommonsCMS @DamianCollins just released previously sealed #Six4Three @Facebook documents:
Some random interesting tidbits:
1) Zuck approves shutting down platform API access for Twitter's when Vine is released #competition
2) Facebook engineered ways to access user's call history w/o alerting users:
Team considered access to call history considered 'high PR risk' but 'growth team will charge ahead'. @Facebook created upgrade path to access data w/o subjecting users to Android permissions dialogue.
3) The above also confirms @kashhill and other's suspicion that call history was used to improve PYMK (People You May Know) suggestions and newsfeed rankings.
4) Docs also shed more light into @dseetharaman's story on @Facebook monitoring users' @Onavo VPN activity to determine what competitors to mimic or acquire in 2013.
https://t.co/PwiRIL3v9x
Some random interesting tidbits:
1) Zuck approves shutting down platform API access for Twitter's when Vine is released #competition
2) Facebook engineered ways to access user's call history w/o alerting users:
Team considered access to call history considered 'high PR risk' but 'growth team will charge ahead'. @Facebook created upgrade path to access data w/o subjecting users to Android permissions dialogue.
3) The above also confirms @kashhill and other's suspicion that call history was used to improve PYMK (People You May Know) suggestions and newsfeed rankings.
4) Docs also shed more light into @dseetharaman's story on @Facebook monitoring users' @Onavo VPN activity to determine what competitors to mimic or acquire in 2013.
https://t.co/PwiRIL3v9x
