9 Ways your Thinking might be Distorted!

What is Cognitive Bias? How can we recognise it? And how can we stop doing it?

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you.

You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you".

Cognitive bias is patterns of distorted thinking.

We all think in distorted ways from time to time.

But some more than others.

Problems arise when we have cognitive bias more than not...

It is important to remember that your thoughts are not necessarily correct and may be heavily skewed for a variety of reasons.

Thoughts become inaccurate and exaggerated in distorted thinking.

People often think in absolutes with no grey areas.

The problem is that once we start 'thinking errors', we tend to stick with them.

They become assumptions and beliefs, and they are retained, unless...

...we make an effort to identify and change them.

So how do we do that?

Here's how...

There are 9 Distorted Ways of Thinking;

And what we must do is learn to recognise them.

Once we can spot ourselves thinking in some or all of these ways, we can stop ourselves and find alternative, more realistic and helpful ways of thinking...

So here are the 9 Distorted Ways of Thinking:

1. Generalising the specific. e.g. "Everyone thinks I'm boring".

Maybe one colleague thinks you're boring, but probably not everyone, right?

2. Mind-reading. "I can tell she doesn't like me".

Really? How do you know? Are you a mind-reader?