Do you know how your brain is sabotaging your success? You may be surprised. According to this article, there are five cognitive biases that can block your success. These are sunk cost fallacy, confirmation bias, self-serving bias, winner’s curse, and survivorship bias.

The first bias is the sunk cost fallacy. This is the belief that you’ve invested so much time and money into a project that you can’t give up on it. The sunk cost fallacy can lead to bad decision-making and prevent you from moving on to better opportunities. The second bias is loss aversion. This is the fear of losing something you already have. Loss aversion can lead to hesitation and indecision, which can prevent you from taking action.

The third bias is confirmation bias. This is the tendency to favour information that confirms our beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them. Confirmation bias can lead to poor decision-making and prevent you from considering all possible options. The fourth bias is overconfidence. This is the belief that you’re better than you really are. Overconfidence can lead to unrealistic expectations and poor decision-making.

The fifth bias is sunk cost fallacy 2.0 (or escalation of commitment). This is the tendency to keep investing in a project or idea even when it’s no longer viable. Escalation of commitment can lead to wasted resources and bad decision-making. Each of these biases can be a roadblock to our success. However, by recognising them and taking steps to overcome them, you can move closer to achieving your goals.

So what can you do about these cognitive biases? Managers, business owners and supervisors should be aware of these biases because they can lead to bad decisions that harm the business. The best way to deal with them is to become aware of them and acknowledge that they exist. Once you’re aware of your own biases, you can start making an effort to counteract them. For example, you can try to take a step back and look at situations from different perspectives, or you can ask others for their opinions before making decisions. You can also make a point of gathering data from multiple sources before coming to any conclusions. And finally, you can practice mindfulness, which will help us stay aware of your thoughts and feelings as they happen and keep them from impacting your judgment.

Find out more in the original article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2021/09/27/5-cognitive-biases-blocking-your-success/?sh=5f6227282402

This article summary was created by Eleanor Shakiba

Eleanor is a leadership trainer, success coach and people skills expert. She helps managers and business owners build thriving teams and organisations, using tools from Positive Psychology. She's trained more than 60,000 people during her career as a corporate trainer and professional development consultant. Her mission is inspiring talented people to become leaders who make a difference.