7 Cognitive Biases You Might Use

Welcome to Actionable Insights, a newsletter exploring health, mindset, and productivity!

In This Issue:

• 7 cognitive biases to avoid

• Tool of the week - Ten Percent Happier

Reading Time: 3 minutes

7 Cognitive Biases to Avoid:

Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information. They can cause errors in judgemnt.

Here are 7 cognitive biases to avoid if you want to have a strong mindset.

1) Dunning-Kruger Effect

Definition - when a person's lack of knowledge and skills in a certain area cause them to overestimate their own competence

How to overcome it - consistently evaluate your skills and find ways to upgrade them through courses, books, etc.

2) Confirmation Bias

Definition - the tendency to select information that confirms our existing ideas

How to overcome it - intentionally seek out a variety of information sources and surround yourself with people from different backgrounds

3) Representative Heuristic

Definition - when we estimate the probability of an event based on how similar it is to a known situation

How to overcome it - use data to make decisions and solicit feedback from others

4) Present Bias

Definition - the inclination to prefer a smaller present reward to a larger later reward

How to overcome it - consider the long-term implications of your actions and be patient

5) Loss Aversion

Definition - the tendency to prefer avoiding loss to receiving equal gains

How to overcome it - make sure you do not become emotionally invested in decisions

6) Optimism Bias

Definition - the tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing positive events and underestimate our likelihood of experiencing negative events

How to overcome it - consider the possibility of negative outcomes and plan for them

7) Spotlight Effect

Definition - the tendency to overestimate how much others notice aspects of one's appearance or behavior

How to overcome it - remind yourself that people are too busy living their lives to think about you

Cognitive Biases TL; DR:

• Dunning-Kruger Effect

• Confirmation Bias

• Representative Heuristic

• Present Bias

• Loss Aversion

• Optimism Bias

• Spotlight Effect

Tool of the Week — Ten Percent Happier:

Ten Percent Happier is a meditation app that I love. Here are some of its useful features.

1) Gamification

The app tracks your streaks and provides a variety of milestones.

2) Engaging challenges

Every few weeks, there are challenges where you win a medal based on how much you meditate.

3) Comprehensive courses

There are tons of courses to develop specific skills like focus and managing stress.

4) Multiple in-app podcasts

The podcasts are deep dives into topics related to relationships and psychology.

5) Customizable meditation lengths

Most meditations can be customized to be 1, 3, 5, or 10 minutes.

Ten Percent Happier TL; DR:

• Gamification

• Engaging challenges

• Comprehensive courses

• Multiple in-app podcsts

• Customizable meditation lengths

Final Note:

I'm excited to start this journey of writing a newsletter that aims to improve your life. I look forward to sharing valuable insights on health, mindset, and productivity with you every Tuesday and Thursday.

If there's anything you'd like to see in this newsletter, feel free to reply to this email!

Stay consistent,

Simrun