How to Use & Benefit From This Book
Aim to increase your awareness
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We are all hardwired with many psychological biases; the prominence of each varies from person to person. Knowing ourselves includes developing an awareness of the cognitive and emotional biases that are always at work below the surface in our subconscious.
Learn to recognize your biases
While it’s not easy, when we can recognize our biases, we are better positioned to steer our minds to manage our thoughts and emotions in ways that will protect us, our teams, and our organizations. Then, we can adopt strategies to use our cognitive and emotional inclinations to work for instead of against us.
Practice intervention strategies
I’ll launch you into this Mind Knots journey with a simple intervention question to ask yourself every day.
Why every day?
Because mind knots are at play every day.
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They’re not just tempting you in times of big decisions. They can steer you at any moment before you know what is happening.
The consequence of a momentary mental kink can be significant.
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So, as you read Mind Knots, and then every day after, ask yourself, and answer honestly—
“Who am I practicing becoming?”
While the question is future-focused, its true answer is revealed in actual responses in present situations.
How can this question help defend us against our mind’s missteps?
Asking ourselves the question every day can serve as an intervention and thinking tool that can steer how we approach and respond to situations - because it prompts us to pause and think ahead of our response, ideally thwarting an unmanaged reaction influenced by a mind knot.
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Adapted from Mind Knots