Think Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Scott's Thinking

Sample Size Of One

Posted on January 29, 2020

There is incredible power in one data point.

One data point can shift people’s views, swing elections, give great hope, inspire, raise spirits, destroy ambition and generally mess with your mind.

I am sure many of us will have come across the sample size of one in every day use. “My friend said she knows him and that he’s a bit of a psycho. She wouldn’t date him.” This one data point could steer you clear of your soulmate. Or maybe you’ve heard something like, “My brother went and he said it was fantastic. You’ve got to go!”. Or perhaps even, “The man said he knew someone that tried that once and it didn’t turn out very well”.

In these scenarios, a person has referenced only one opinion and yet it can create quite an impression. This is exacerbated when the sample size of one is an extreme example, either good or bad.

Very often the sample size of one is based on unsubstantiated claims, with no context and you are unable to assess the source’s bias. However, despite these limitations we can see people frequently use just one data point to their advantage.

It’s fascinating to watch yourself, or others, get convinced in a conversation or while consuming media. Listen to people use it to strengthen their argument. Many of us will have done this frequently over the years.

Seven billion-ish people on the planet and we can use one data point to sway a position. It may not be right or wrong, but it is fascinating. And powerful.

Reframe your thoughts Think About It

200 Years Ago

Posted on January 27, 2020

History repeats itself. Or, more accurately, as Bon Jovi sang, in his 1980’s mega hit, Wanted Dead Or Alive, “It’s all the same, only the names will change”.

People, things, events, activities and outcomes, tend to be very similar to those in the last 200 to 2,000 years. We still eat, communicate and travel, though maybe we’ve swapped hunting for grocery stores, telegraphs for mobiles and horses for aeroplanes. It’s all the same thing, just faster, better, shinier – but you still get the same outcome.

I have to look back about 200 years, at least, to remind myself of a truer sense of the basics of life: how things were without the modern world overlaid on it.

If you only looked back 50 years, you’d still think Final Salary Pensions were the norm and home ownership should be in the region of 70%, etc. You could fool yourself into thinking that things are getting worse or that this new generation is missing out on all the great things that the last one had.

The reality is though, that the last several decades have dramatically skewed many people’s view of the world and what expectations people might or should have. Now if you want to suffer the deep challenges of the Expectation versus Reality Gap, go right ahead and think about life based on recent history.

However, if you want to overcome this ER Gap trap that can lead you into darkness and a depressive state, then I highly recommend thinking about things through a 200 – 500 year lens to remind you how far things have actually progressed. And yet, it’s all the same.

Action Think About It

Horse to Water

Posted on January 23, 2020

“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him* drink.”

I love this proverb. I simply say “Horse to water” as I don’t think people need to hear the whole thing anymore. People quickly grasp what you are saying. (And it eliminates the whole gender issue that way, so double bonus.)

It’s amazing how many people are swimming in water (i.e. lots of opportunities), but they won’t commit to a drink (i.e. they don’t act on them).

We live in the most amazing period of time in all of history. The most opportunities for the greatest amount of people, with the least friction and fewest obstacles to get in the way.

99% of the obstacles people see are just mirages in their mind. Focus on the opportunities and those mirages will disappear.

I wish you could all see the opportunities before your eyes. Focus more attention on coming up with the Results! Not reasons.

The next time someone gives you a valid piece of advice, or suggestion, think about it. Go for it.

Don’t be that thirsty horse. ?

(*this is the original quote. Sub in “her” if that makes it better for you)

Reframe your thoughts Think About It

You Always Have A Choice

Posted on January 17, 2020

No matter what the situation, you always have a choice. Now the best choice, from your perspective, may be obvious, or the idea of one of the choices may be revolting or incomprehensible, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have a choice. It simply means you have a preference for one of the options and are not interested in the other option.

Sometimes we hear the words, “I don’t have a choice”, or, “I didn’t have a choice”. It may feel, or seem, like our choices are limited to one, but it isn’t actually true. It’s just a story you tell yourself, and others, to try to rationalise or justify your decision and action.

For people who don’t like to take personal responsibility, who are often looking for someone else to blame, these kind of comments are perfect. They feel they can be absolved, as they didn’t have a choice. “The devil made me do it”, is a classic excuse to try to escape personal responsibility.

If you find yourself challenging the above idea, that we always have a choice, you may find success, and joy, are more elusive than you had hoped.

Goals, Results & New Thinking

Habit Forming

Posted on January 14, 2020

Constant repetition is required until you reprogram your mind and body with the desired habit (remember your times tables). There are no set number of days to create a habit. It can take some people 15 years to say goodby to cigarettes and only a few days to start going to a new place of work.

If you want to create a new habit, do the thing you should do, but maybe don’t want to do, everyday, until it’s a habit. You’ll know it’s a habit when you no longer think about doing it, it just happens.

Be focused, make it important enough (like a new place of work) and it will be a habit very quickly.

You’ll soon start doing the thought or activity out of habit and start to realise, and focus on, the benefits you are getting. That’s when you will want to really make this new habit stick and not fall back into that old habit.

Call it ‘crossing the threshold’.

It gets easier from there to make this growing habit into a permanent one.

Go try it.

Think About It

You’re being brainwashed

Posted on January 13, 2020

Call it brainwashing or programming. Even influencing, education, training or encouraging.

We all choose to allow others to fill our minds with thoughts and ideas which lead to our basic, individual philosophy, which then leads to plans and actions.

We choose to tune in or tune out, to something or someone, at every second of the day. You’re listening to, or tuned into, your friends, radio, spouse, news outlet, social media feeds, your own mind and thoughts, children, parents, journalists, entertainers and tv.

Hence, we are all being brainwashed by others if we don’t stop and think about what we are letting our minds consume. Just as with food, our consumption habits will catch up with us and it will be obvious to others and eventually ourselves.

We tend to adopt the message and philosophy of the content creator, or we move on to something that appeals to us more in that moment. We will return to the content, and the content creator, that we enjoy, agree with, or that makes us feel comfortable, thereby reinforcing their message and adopting it within ourselves.

Of course if we don’t like certain content or the creator, or if we stop, think and recognise that it is not good for us, we can choose to simply ignore it. That’s right: it’s a choice.

Is all of your mental consumption making you a better, happier person, or should you consider switching out some content creators?

Think About It

Mind Power – Take Back Control

Posted on January 11, 2020

Many people tend to live on autopilot. It’s simple and easy. Consistent and comfortable. But it’s not ideal when you want to change something in your life.

You need to stop and think. Yes, think. You’ve got to switch off the autopilot and switch on the manual control.

You will have to puzzle over the item. See it from different perspectives, not just your usual one. And, it’s hard work if you are not in the habit of doing this. But it does get easier the more you do it and train your brain.

Relax. Try to see how things could be different if your thoughts shifted a little.

You’re in control.

Enjoy that feeling.