there is one simple technique that can vastly improve the probability (sometimes double or even triple) that we will follow through on simple tasks.15 All it takes is this: ask yourself a single question, “When and where will I do X?” When you answer this question, you are essentially forming what Peter Gollwitzer calls “an implementation

making the choice that matches your interests and values at the highest level of reflection, regardless of external influence and norms, is the true mark of self-determination.

associated with them, then we can welcome new evidence as an opportunity to get closer to seeing the world the way it actually is.

“That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.”

that it’s our beliefs about the facts, rather than the facts themselves, that produce anxiety.

As a general rule, the more power one has, the more one has the incentive to maintain an appearance of authority and command and therefore resist influence.

“automatic irrational thoughts.”

The hardest part of considering the opposite, as mentioned at the start of this chapter, is knowing when to do it. That’s because when we have a model of the world (and we all do), we don’t relate to it as our model of the world; we relate it to as reality. It’s like wearing a pair of contact lenses that change the way we see everything. At some

Anytime you feel yourself getting passionate in response to information, it’s possible you’re being led astray by the confirmation bias. That is the time to intentionally consider the opposite. Wait until the emotion dies down if you have to.