How to Break Free of Your Cognitive Bias

In an era of fake news, feminine & racial uprising, and an inevitability of artificial intelligence, it is becoming more ‘in your face’ your bias or unconscious cognitive bias may be playing a role in many or even all areas of your life.

You may acknowledge cognitive bias exists or you may deny it.

Realizing you have at least one bias or more is one step toward progression out of a biased based mind yet breaking free of all of your conscious and subconscious bias is a huge leap.

You could have up to 25 different cognitive biases.

You could be having 70,000 thoughts per day, based in your education, culture, socialization, and family upbringing let alone other your other cognitive stimulants like media.

Your mind generally breaks down into two categories; subconscious and conscious.

Whatever happens to you before the age of 6 becomes your automatic programming which is your subconscious. Your conscious psychology is refined by education, socialization, etc.

Your daily experience is based likely in both yet is primarily subconscious.

Unless you consciously decide to do heavy lifting exercises in your daily psychology to counter the enormity of presence the subconscious holds, it is likely you will stay there for your whole life.

In order to change the subconscious programming you need to multiply your effort by 5,000.

In class 5 of our positive psychology leadership programs, Upward Spiral and Happiness Makeover programs we dive deep into the subconscious through an exercise called the Weeding your Garden of Happiness.

When you identity the truth of the your weed, you have identified a likely ‘falsehood’ in your deep subconscious which has been there since the beginning of ‘time’.

When you realize most of your thoughts, emotions and behaviors in life are based from an outright lie, there is a cataclysm in your psychology and you may have an eye bulging, gut wrenching, visceral experience when you become aware of the truth!

Which is, a lie has been dictating your whole life.

In other words, this exercise is a path to awakening from an unconscious to conscious state of awareness.

It can aid in breaking you free from your existing unconscious cognitive bias.

Imagine this...

You are a fish in an aquarium

And all you see is the same rock, seaweed and wall every day for your entire life

This is your psychology - (We get used to whatever is happening inside of our head)

Someone comes over to your aquarium with a sledge hammer and breaks the glass

Now you are flopping on the ground gasping for air 

Your entire reality is broken

Your flapping around unable to breathe and unsure what's going on

All of a sudden you realize you are something other than a fish

You are a human being

You have legs

You can get up and walk away from the entire mess

In fact, beyond just walking away from the mess, you can create a whole other aquarium

You can create multiple aquariums

And even visit them whenever you want.

This is the key to Breaking Free of your Cognitive Bias

Realize the water you are swimming in, your rocks and seaweed are different than someone else’s which then allows you to recognize your bias.

This is the case with the breaking free of the walls of the aquarium; therefore, your can break free of your cognitive bias.

What do you do once you break free from your cognitive bias?

You become open, curious, compassionate, and realize you only know one small slice within the kaleidoscope of consciousness of all of those around you.

For more about our leadership and positive psychology courses visit www.happinessforhumankind.com