Ever wonder why your decisions don't always lead you where you expect? How our biases, unconscious or not, shape our choices? Welcome to a mind-bending exploration into the realm of beliefs, mindsets, and biases. We crack open the knowledge vault to scrutinize the beliefs we hold dear - those that stand firm and those that falter. We delve into the power of positive thinking and how the sting of failure can sometimes be a steppingstone to success. You'll also uncover the art of distinguishing and prioritizing what truly matters in life while celebrating even the tiniest slivers of progress.
But don't get too comfortable yet! We're also taking on the beasts of bias - confirmation, age, implicit, and more. We dissect how these unseen forces sway our decision-making, often leading us astray, and discuss the absolute necessity of engaging with different perspectives. You'll see how our beliefs withstand - or crumble under - the weight of real-world risks and the importance of adapting accordingly. As we wrap up this enlightening episode, don't forget to catch us every Sunday night at 7 pm for more epiphanies and aha moments.
Ever wonder why your decisions don't always lead you where you expect? How our biases, unconscious or not, shape our choices? Welcome to a mind-bending exploration into the realm of beliefs, mindsets, and biases. We crack open the knowledge vault to scrutinize the beliefs we hold dear - those that stand firm and those that falter. We delve into the power of positive thinking and how the sting of failure can sometimes be a steppingstone to success. You'll also uncover the art of distinguishing and prioritizing what truly matters in life while celebrating even the tiniest slivers of progress.
But don't get too comfortable yet! We're also taking on the beasts of bias - confirmation, age, implicit, and more. We dissect how these unseen forces sway our decision-making, often leading us astray, and discuss the absolute necessity of engaging with different perspectives. You'll see how our beliefs withstand - or crumble under - the weight of real-world risks and the importance of adapting accordingly. As we wrap up this enlightening episode, don't forget to catch us every Sunday night at 7 pm for more epiphanies and aha moments.
Hey, welcome to the bartender's perspective. I'm so happy to have you here. Work is done for the day. Pull up a chair, have a seat, I'll pour you a drink and let's get started. Tonight we're going to take an alternative.
Speaker 1:
Look into an expression quoted by C S Lewis from his book A Grief Observed. The quote reads that only a real risk can truly test the reality of belief. But the perspective I want to discuss. It's not so much the reality of the belief but the quality and several factors that affect us in life. In a world filled with diverse opinions, beliefs, how can you discern what's under? Truly valuable and well founded?
Speaker 1:
Beliefs are a fundamental aspect of human nature. I see it in all shapes and sizes every day. They shape our decisions, our actions and perspectives on the world around us. However, not all beliefs are created equal. Some are based on solid evidence and critical thinking, while others may be formed out of a bias, misinformation or a blatant wishful thinking. How can you differentiate between those beliefs, the ones that are worth holding onto, those that might crumble under scrutiny? Let's take a look at this and see what we got.
Speaker 1:
So New York Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra in his famous quote baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical, suggests that a significant portion of success in baseball, and likely in many other sports, comes from the mental aspect of the game. Believing in your ability and having a positive mindset can play a crucial role in your actual performance on the field. So if you don't believe you can succeed at a particular task or goal, you'll never get started. It just wouldn't make any sense. You're much more likely to chase those big goals if you believe a path that works for you exists. What about failure? It sucks. It really is a hard lesson to learn, something that we all will do in our lives.
Speaker 1:
Walt Disney he was remembered for his many successes, like Mickey Mouse, donald Duck and, of course, disneyland or Disney World, but he also saw his share of failures. I mean bankruptcy, mental breakdown, a devastating strike and the earth-shattering loss of control over his creation, oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This is crazy. He was rejected more than 300 times before Mickey Mouse became a success.
Speaker 1:
Overcoming adversity and shifting your perspective on success can make you more resilient, adaptable and creative. As Walt himself puts it, it is good to have a failure while you're young, because it teaches you so much. For one thing, it makes you aware that it's such a thing could happen to anybody. Once you've lived through the worst, you're never quite as vulnerable afterwards. At some point. It's necessary to stop learning, thinking and planning and just take action. Your results determine your next step, see what happens and adjust your aim. And the only way to avoid failure is to never do anything at all.
Speaker 1:
Failure is a part of success. It's a food for thought y'all. So a lot of people growing up their parents would say to them you can do anything if you put your mind to it. And while that may be true, there are some people in this world that often wonder well, if I can do anything, I guess I can do everything. There are a few limits to what you can do. You could hike the Appalachian Trail, be a celebrity, go to outer space, or if you wanna spend eight years in medical school and $100,000 later to become a neurosurgeon, you can do one or two of these, but it's unlikely you can do all of them. So this is a point in your life where you have to start thinking about the most important objectives in it, which ones to prioritize and then which ones to let go. Are you struggling with this particular issue right now, deciding what to keep and what to let go. I've seen it at the bar time and time again, moments pertaining to this when people were struggling with what to prioritize on their life. It's definitely a struggle, so I've helped, been a sounding board for many people to prioritize what it is that you need out of life. Way too many examples for me to give here, not enough time. But anyways, sometimes small improvements are enough.
Speaker 1:
When I wanted to become a bartender, it was something that I had to learn little by little. I mean, we're talking over the span of, well, 20 years. Over the years I had small goals, I practiced, I practiced, I practiced and I asked lots and lots of questions. After all, that came the time that I finally got to start bartending. The small goals then, well, we had a drink menu, so I learned everything that was on the drink menu to start. Then I practiced, practiced, practiced, because through repetition you really become really good at something. And also, I took the time over the years to ask questions, lots and lots of questions, because learning from some of the greats spending more time with people than knowing more about alcohol on you, that's one of the secrets to becoming a bartender, obviously, feedback. I like feedback. It's hard to hear sometimes, but I know in the end it helps me get better and expand your comfort zone.
Speaker 1:
Celebrate your progress Now, when you have a setback, just keep going and, most importantly, be consistent. Fast results require big changes, but those big changes can occur over a long period of time. Trying to change too much too fast often won't work in the long term. Introduce changes slowly. A small change that's maintained and built upon has a larger effect over time.
Speaker 1:
I used to think that I had to be the best at anything. I did anything and everything, and I always put a lot of pressure on myself in the process. My friends have always reminded me over the years and over the years and my website was recently finished and I was having a problem with Rider's Block, or so I thought it turns out. It hit me how real this is coming at being a professional podcaster and I put pressure on myself to start writing only or shattering episodes. Little did I know that not every single thing I write has to be the absolute best. I was putting all this pressure on myself, but this realization it made my life so much easier as far as writing, because in the process of all that, I was pushing away my personality and worrying more about oh, it has to be Stevie King level worthy, but this realization. It made my life so much easier as far as writing. So lawyers, teachers, doctors, whoever else all of them are certainly not gonna be the absolute best in their respective fields.
Speaker 1:
You can achieve a high level of success without being the best at anything. Without the pressure to be the best, you can also enjoy your achievements. Good things often take time. Mark Zuckerberg he wrote the first version of Facebook in 2004. Why? He was a student at Harvard University. It is difficult to say exactly how many hours he spent coding, and it was. He was working on it during his free time. However, it is known that he spent a significant amount of time working on the project, as he was determined to create a social networking platform that will connect people from around the world.
Speaker 1:
Our society is often impatient. Most good things take time to create, and if you want something spectacular in your life, be patient. It's important to work hard, but temper your expectations with regards to the timing of it all. Just sit back and learn to enjoy the process. For many, they already have everything they need to get started. That's a big obstacle, I think, in life getting started, it's the biggest obstacle. Whatever reason, we have 100 excuses why we should put things off, or we always need to acquire or learn one more thing before the time is right to get started on something.
Speaker 1:
I planned and planned and planned the trip out of the country several years ago. I did all my research, I got everything ready. All that was left was to pull the trigger, and it was the hardest thing in the world to do, because it's one of those things when you do it, it makes it really real. One of those instances. Well, in the end, I hit submit and four months later we were on a plane. So you already have what you need to take the first step today, even when you get started with something. If something's not going the way it needs to, you can always go back and make adjustments. You want to learn a little more tomorrow. If you have simple changes and beliefs can make all the difference enjoy your life more and celebrate more success. Consider the impacts your beliefs are having on your life and fine-tune any beliefs that limit your potential for a more fruitful and fulfilling life. So, yeah, something to think about. But what about those beliefs formed out of biases and misinformation and wishful thinking?
Speaker 1:
Stereotyping I hate stereotyping. It's assuming that all members of a certain group possess the same characteristics or traits, based on limited exposure to a few individuals. Common example gender stereotype. It's an overly simplified perception of someone based on their gender or sex. This involves making assumptions that they're not going to be able to do or they're not going to be able to do anything about it. This involves making assumptions about what a man or a woman can and can't or shouldn't do. Gender stereotypes, one of the most insidious types of stereotypes about history. Up until the early 20th century, many women, as a lot of us know, were not allowed to vote or participate in many professions due to living into beliefs or their own life.
Speaker 1:
Men don't do household chores. Men should be the financial providers for their family. Or how about the man automatically getting a check if he's out on the date of the business dinner? I tell you I don't know anymore these days. So unless someone asks for the check, has their form of payment out, you know, suggesting they are ready to pay, I always just put the check in the middle of the table. You know, I don't want to make any. You know assertions like that anymore. So it's 2023. Things have changed. Things are a lot different.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, so, you know, in cryptocurrency or stocks, for a lot of people, if they are convinced that a particular investment is good, they may ignore the warning signs that it might not be. And the first crypto boom of 2018, when Bitcoin went crazy, you know, everybody did what was called FOMO, which in the trading community, is fear of missing out, and was buying into Bitcoin and many of the tokens at the time, you know, because they were thoroughly convinced that it was a good investment. And then, of course, you know, everything crashed and people lost millions of dollars. Yeah, it was awful.
Speaker 1:
You know this is much known as the confirmation bias. You know it can often lead to a lot of bad decision making and some people put so much emphasis at times on getting a job with a particular company and in the process, you know, not consider other opportunities that may be better suited for them. And with the confirmation bias, I mean only seeking out information that supports one's existing beliefs and ignoring or dismissing contrary evidence. Yeah, bad things just tend to happen. So you might have an age bias If you work for someone younger than you. You know, for some they assume that he or she cannot have enough experience to be a good manager, you know. And then the opposite is also true for many. You know. You might have an example of when you assume an older employee is not able to learn new skills and new skills at work. This is what's called an implicit, implicit bias, you know. It's an unconscious bias that affects our actions, our designs, often leading to unintentional discrimination.
Speaker 1:
All right, do you all remember those clicks in your high school? Or the well to do social circles of society today? You know, take a moment to remember the movie grease and movie reference you can remember. You know, danny from the teabirds and Sandy from the pink ladies or the greasers or the soches from Essie Hinton's famous novel the Outsiders. This particular principle is in group favoritism. It's believing that one's own group is superior to others and favoring members of that group while displaying hostility towards outsiders. Yeah, that was. I really love that, but the outsiders.
Speaker 1:
But I'm going to stay on topic, all right, whoever who's been cut off in traffic, raise your hand, my hands up for the record. You know, we get cut off in traffic and we might be inclined to yell profanities at the person and call them more sorts of you know choice phrases and names. You know this person is terrible, you know. I'm not going to say it when a lot of people probably want to say in situations like this, but in a situation, you know, we're extrapolating from one off behavior and assigning them a purse, a personality based upon an isolated incidents. This particular idea is called the fundamental attribution error. Yeah, it's a mental shortcut and involves explaining another person's behavior in terms of their personality rather than attributing their behavior to a situational context. Yeah, I'm totally relate to that.
Speaker 1:
All right, how about a hiring manager? You know people go out and they look for jobs and they talk to hiring managers to get the interview and they show up and the hiring manager, you know he's particularly interested in a candidates experience with a specific software program. They may ask a series of questions about that topic but overlook other important skills of qualities the candidate possesses. This particular Bias is what's known as an anchoring bias. So in cases like this, the hiring manager, you know he relied too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions, even if it's irrelevant, you know, or misleading. Yeah, all right. Another really good one.
Speaker 1:
You know plane crashes. Plane crashes can make people afraid of flying but, however, you know, the likelihood of dying in a car accident is far higher than dying as a passenger on an airplane. I Still remember the the not the Henry Cavill Superman, but one back Superman movie where he saved a bunch of people from a crashing plane and Asked him if they're okay and then the last thing you know, he reminds them that you know, statistically speaking, flying is still the safest way to travel. Oh, this is from the principle, the availability heuristic. It's essentially giving greater weight to information that is easily accessible in memory, even if it's not representative of the overall situation. You know, believe like this can hinder critical thinking, perpetuate stereotypes and Lead to just plain unfair treatment.
Speaker 1:
You know our misunderstandings. It's important to be aware of our biases. You know, and actively work to overcome them. Which ones can you relate to in your life or have you experienced?
Speaker 1:
And after that, I want to point out one more thing of note. You know navigating disagreements and uncertainty. You know, in a world where conflicting beliefs often leave the heated debates, it's essential, you know, to approach those disagreements with an open mind. You know, going back to a podcast topic I did, engaging in a constructive dialogue with those who hold opposing beliefs. That can help us refine our own perspectives and identify blind spots. Embracing uncertainty is also crucial, and acknowledging that some beliefs may need to evolve or change Based on the new information is a sign of intellectual honesty.
Speaker 1:
You know, as we wrap up today's episode and remember that not all beliefs are created equal. The quality of a belief is truly tested when it's subjected to real risks, challenges and scrutiny. Embracing the unknown, engaging with different viewpoints and being willing To adjust our beliefs based on the evidence are all part of this ongoing process. So I hope that after tonight, my listeners, that you will think about more, about the beliefs to hold on to that stand strong and the face of rigorous testing and let go of those that crumble into the weight of scrutiny. Keep questioning, keep challenging, keep questioning, keep challenging and remember that it's through testing that our beliefs find their true quality.
Speaker 1:
In the closing, if you like my podcasts, please feel free to tell at least three people about my podcast If you think they'll get something out of it. This will always help me continue to get my message out there to more people. So, but unless you want another drink, as always. Thank you for stopping in. Here's your check my regular podcast hours or the sunday night at 7 pm so you can come back and see me then. Have a great night.