3 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Nay-Sayer

Are you on the right side of your decisions?

Do you sometimes ignore the facts and fail to look at the big picture?

Is indifference creeping into your life?

I ask those three questions because your answers to those questions say things about you that may not be that flattering.

Regarding being on the right side of your decisions. Did you know that there is a situation called Self-Serving Bias? It is when we believe that our failures are situational and our successes are our responsibility. It is saying to yourself; ‘I won that award due to my hard work rather than the help of others’. Whereas if you failed at something you blame it on something like not enough sleep or poor customer choices.

Can you see how that can impact your life and you become a nay-sayer?

Have you ever ignored the facts and keep pushing on with your plan? While I like stick-to-it-ness, sometimes we ignore the facts that are right in front of us, and frankly we are knocking our heads against a brick wall. What you are living is called Naïve Realism Bias. We believe that what we observe is objective reality, and that other people are uninformed, or irrational. For your information objective reality is anything that exists as it is, independent of any conscious awareness of it (through perception, or thought for example). What kind of an impact will that have on you in the long-term? Let me tell you what I’ve seen. You just go through the motions. This is because deep-down you believe that this project or objective is not ever going to happen. Then you get negative and start to tear yourself down as well as those around you.

Can you see how that can impact your life and you become a nay-sayer?

Regarding the indifference creeping into your life. Most people think that the opposite of love is hate. I don’t agree with that. I believe that the opposite of love is indifference. To me indifference is a lack of interest, or concern. What you are experiencing is Status Quo Bias. This is when you prefer things to stay the same, no matter the situation. Let’s look at this deeper, if you have a lack of interest, how is that going to impact your performance? If you lack concern, do you think that is going to affect people’s opinions of you? In short, you are telling people by your indifference that you are only concerned about yourself.

Can you see how that can impact your life and you become a nay-sayer?

So, what can you do?

1. Get a grip on your thoughts! When did you become the be-all end-all? That meaning you consider yourself to be of the utmost importance; something essential or ultimate, and you make no mistakes. You need to think about what you are thinking, don’t you?
2. Understand that sometimes your objective reality is helping you live the life you want, but this life will only lead you to long-term failure.
3. As you know, the status quo refers to accepting and being comfortable with the current state of your life. If you like the status quo so much, are you making sure you don’t buy a new car or anything that is a new product or service?

You now see how easy it is to become a nay-sayer.

What can you do today that will get you out of this rut?