Efficiency is necessary for pursuing our goals and solving difficult problems. Perhaps, this is the reason why we often get frustrated about how small our accomplishments are.
According to research, there are only about 26% of people who leave the office finish well-done tasks. If you belong to the remaining 74% who weren’t able to accomplish their task, don’t burden yourself too much since you are not an optimized robot in which all actions you make speak productivity. We tend to focus our minds on survival and not on prosperity.
In this article, we’ll dive deep into the 8 mental errors that are keeping you from getting rich. This will help you avoid falling prey to the same mental traps over and over again just like everyone else.
1. The Sunk Cost Fallacy
If you are pursuing a certain goal or venture just because you have already invested a lot of your money, time, and effort on it even though you know you are bound to fail— then you’re indulged in the sunk cost fallacy.
Let me paint a picture of sunk cost fallacy in your head for you to understand.
Let’s say you have placed big bets in the game of poker, then eventually you realize that you are holding onto a losing hand. Still, you remained on the bet since you have already placed the majority of your chips into the pot.
Or let’s say in your career. You’ve been in the same old job for the past 15 years, and you no longer find happiness in doing it. Yet, you don’t want to find another job since you have worked your way up the ladder in the company you are in right now.
The relationship isn’t an exception to the sunk cost fallacy. Staying in an unhealthy long-term relationship that’s not bringing you any good because you don’t want the inconvenience of starting over again is a perfect picture of the sunk cost fallacy in relationships.
The earlier you recognize and act against the sunk cost fallacy, the better your life will be.
2. Personal Bias
Each of us was just a sum of everything that has happened to us in this life. The worldviews we have are shaped and were greatly influenced by our family, friends, peers, education, beliefs, and personal experiences. And so, the opinions and advice we give out are merely subjective worldviews skewed by all of that.
With the latter being said, it’s quite easy to look down on someone without even understanding the variables (or experience/s) that brought them into that situation.
In every circumstance, it’s important to remember not to project your perception of reality onto others that are fundamentally different from you. This is where the statement of the Former First Lady of the Philippines would kick in, “Perception is reality, and the truth is not.” Having something that is not in your scope of knowledge doesn’t mean that it doesn’t truly exist.
3. Anchoring
Anchoring is when you base every decision you make on the first information available because it is all you have, making it serve as an “anchor.” Most of the time, such a situation is what makes the mind play trick on the people. It doesn’t matter whether the information is accurate or not, it’s the only one available, and so you take high regard for it.
Our mind is programmed and is default to the accessible and available data regardless of what the data is all about. Hence, if you heard someone gossiping about another person, your perception of that person will be based on the information you have heard even if it isn’t entirely true.
Anchoring can also be applied in business. Anyone who states a number first sets the anchor in a negotiation. This mental error shouldn’t be overlooked. You need to heed attention to the anchor you set for yourself, and even to those that others set on you.
4. Cascade Denial
Our minds tend to do mental gymnastics to justify the actions we make. This is often observed in politicians but is not limited to their group. Even you might have done it a few times without realizing it.
Cascade denial is basically a person’s tendency to save face by constant denial or acceptance of the fact while justifying it so badly. This mental error is widespread and there’s at least one person in every family to get away with things.
5. Survivorship Bias
You must have heard of the line, “History is written by the winners.” We live in a world where the press only releases people who managed to reach success, this is also called survivorship bias. The latter term mentioned possesses a pretty interesting story like dating during the second world war, and how people figure out which parts of the airplanes to reinforce.
At first, people used to look at the bullet holes of the planes when they come back and add extra armor to the hit spots. This scenario pretty much was a common practice until a mathematician pointed out that these are the planes that truly make it back despite those hits. Hence, reinforcing everything else aside from the hit sports is the smartest move to make. This event has changed the way air battles are carried out.
So, what is the main point of this? Refrain from basing your strategy for success on the evidence provided by survivors. But instead, look around and see what made everyone else lose and begin formulating your strategy there.
6. Black and White Dilemma
Don’t deny it. As humans, we love duality. Our brain was naturally binary, and this is probably why code is created in zeros and ones as well. The black and white dilemma trait has transpired and shaped a big part of our society—either you “win” or “lose”, “yes” or “no”. We limit ourselves to only two options when, in fact, life isn’t black and white.
You might not have noticed, but there’s always a third option that is always being neglected. Life is not and will never be a zero-sum game. There’s a win-win alternative. All you need to do is find it where it lies.
7. Correlation vs Causation
Not everything that happens around you is related just because they have a causation relationship. However, we can see this mental error all over social media— people connecting everything even though there’s really no connection at all.
According to statistics, correlation doesn’t always imply causation. And because not everyone knows and acknowledges this, many predictions fail. People just can’t seem to recognize that some things aren’t connected just because they have a statistical relationship.
For example, since both forest fires and high ice cream sales often take place amidst the summer heat, they have a correlation. However, there’s no causation between the two because purchasing a Gelato has no impact on forest fires.
8. Confirmation Bias
Admit it. You are also guilty of this. Oftentimes, we select and choose facts that are in line with our narrative, and since the internet space possesses abundant resources, we can prove whatever it is that we believe is right.
If you want to grow as a person, be open to opposing ideas and equip yourself with knowledge of the logic behind them.
