Simi’s Reviews > CRITICAL THINKING DAILY: 365 LESSONS TO SHARPEN YOUR MIND: Daily Practices for Mental Toughness, Clearer Thinking, and Better Decision Making Every Day > Status Update

Trucking my way through this book and because it's a nearly daily practice, and because I'm approaching it academically and conscientiously, I can see how it's starting to seep into my psyche and truly making me pause, think (critically!), and respond in a more mindful manner.

I like how Status Quo Bias builds on Loss Aversion. They are interdependent thoughts that ask you to examine habits and patterns, determine if they serve you positively, and then change things when they don't work in your favor so you can keep growing and improving.

The fear of losing something that's already gone keeps us from possibly gaining something else. Better to lose and learn, than to hold on to things and ways that don't work and keep losing over and over again.

Sunk cost fallacy: Letting go of what no longer serves you is not waste; it is the first step toward freedom. Move on from "failures" - you learn something from them and go on to the next thing. Sticking with something that isn't working is just sucking you deeper into a bad situation.

Reframing is a bit of what I did with resumes. How you present your information shapes the outcomes. How information is presented to you can shape your decisions.

There are different kinds of biases and today was a reminder that overconfidence bias can lull us into a sense of security that is false.

Started Chapter 2 which is about Cognitive Biases - how the mind misleads itself. I do think a lot of the training and reading I've done over the past decade has me well-versed in these points, but I want to see how this book breaks it down and phrases things.

I'm seeing a lot of overlap in the foundational things taught in Critical Thinking Daily and my mindset as a BA as well as my personal drive to have a growth mindset. So far, this book has made me pause and revisit some known things through different lenses and reengage in other practices. It's also made me pause every day for some self-reflection, which is a good thing to do daily.

Sharpen through others: talking thoughts, ideas, problems, etc. through with other people helps you become better at considering alternate perspectives, options, solutions and not just live in an echo chamber of self-congratulation, agreement, and limited thought based on past experiences and biases.

Notice Emotions: Unwittingly did this exercise today, when I inventoried the type of tasks I avoid and dug into why. Hitting pause (the first lesson) to give space to respond to a conversation or incident rationally instead of from a place of knee jerk reaction takes conscious effort and practice. It isn't always comfortable work, but it is necessary work.