As soon as you wake up in the morning, you are hit with opinions.
All kinds of news and thoughts and opinions come pouring into your mind whether
it be from family, television, the radio, or work.
You are hit with advertisements and other social media… all of
which are competing for your attention. For those that are just going through
the motions, this is a lot of noise. They are told to think this or to prefer
that.
They end up going for what is the shiniest, just because it is the
shiniest. They don’t know a thing about any of their choices, they are just
doing what they are told. That is where critical and independent thinking come
in.
You need to train your mind to think for itself, it isn’t something
that is just going to happen. Unfortunately, by default we are going to go with
what is easiest in life, and that tends to be whatever everyone else is doing,
regardless of what it is they are doing.
You need to learn how to break that cycle. In order to do that, you
need to learn to sift through the information you are receiving, and pick out
what is important.
There are going to be so many opinions and different suggestions
that are thrown in your face in a day, you won’t have time to process it all.
This means that you need to learn the art of sifting through the information
that is given you, and pick out the important stuff.
Pay attention to the details that matter in your day, and forget
about the rest. If it doesn’t affect you or what you are doing, that is your
first clue that it needs to be placed low on your priority list.
But how can you know what information you should pay attention to,
and what you should discard?
It is a tricky thing to get the hang of, but with practice, you are
going to get it. Here is a list of the top 3 ways you can get through all of the
information that is tossed your way in a day, and find what is actually relevant
to you and your life.
Keep in mind, however, that if a person is making a point of saying
something, they are probably benefiting from it in some way. Some information
can become very convincing simply because of the passion of the person that is
presenting the information.
These steps are going to help you pick through all kinds of
information you are met with in a day, and find what is relevant to your
situation, regardless of how convincing the voice is of the speaker.
Step 1. Consider the motive of the speaker.
As we have already pointed out, when an individual is making a
point to say something, odds are they are going to be benefiting from it in some
way. They may be trying to sell you an item, or they may want something from
you.
With this in mind, take everything you read and hear with a grain
of salt. There is probably some truth to what the person is saying, but that
truth has likely been tampered with. There may be aspects about it that are left
out, there may be things that are embellished.
It is unusual for people in this situation to make an outright lie,
but it certainly isn’t unheard of. You don’t want to be distrustful of everyone
that you meet, but you do want to be aware the world isn’t all just there to
give you information and opinions, odds are there is a secondary motive of some
kind that is asking for something from you in return.
Step 2. Consider the source of the information.
A lot of people just pull ideas out of their minds and spout them
off as truth. This is something that people have done for hundreds of years… it
is human nature. Information such as this has become more readily available to
the world thanks to inventions such as the internet.
You have to remember that just because someone says something, that
doesn’t make it true. The same rule goes for whether or not you see something
that is online. Just because you read it, that doesn’t make it true.
If you hear or read something, and it just seems ‘off’ in some way,
go with your gut feeling on that. Unless you see that there are credible sources
or proof behind the information, then question it.
Never just blindly believe anything. If something is legitimate,
then there is going to be genuine and credible resources to back it up.
Step 3. Watch out for the things that are obvious.
A common trick that speakers use to gain your confidence in them is
to say something that is obvious. You can hear this done in conversation,
debates, or read it in persuasive articles online.
What happens is this: a person wants you to agree with their point
of view, and they are trying to make their point of view, your point of view. To
do this subtly, they are going to say things that you obviously do agree with,
then slip in the thing that they are trying to convince you of.
By doing this, you are going to agree with what they are saying
because you know what they used to lead up to it is true, and therefore, their
final opinion must be true as well.
Let me show you what I mean. You will hear a speaker say something
like, “We know that you work hard, that you are trying to get ahead, and you
value your money. That is why our product is the best thing for you to invest
in.”
You know that you do work
hard, and you do try to get ahead, and you
do value your money. By now, your brain has
softened to the speaker, and it is agreeing with what the speaker has to say.
So, when the speaker wraps up their speech or article with a pitch for their
item, your brain automatically thinks that the product is what you
need.
You need to watch out for this. When you see that there are obvious
statements being made, put up your guard, and watch for the real reason they are
speaking. It isn’t going to be hard to find, and you are going to see right
through their trick.
Now, you will need to make a conscious effort to make these things
a habit of life, but with practice, you are going to see them become a habit for
you. You don’t want to be a person that is suspicious of everyone that is on the
street, which is a temptation for some, but you do want to be smart.
If you follow these 3 steps whenever you are in conversation with
someone, or whenever you are browsing the internet, you are going to find that
you will make a lot more of your own decisions, and you will feel less like
being told what to think and feel.
As we have said before, there is nothing at all wrong with sharing
an opinion with another person, or even a group of people, but we don’t want you
to just go with the flow, or just believe something because that is what
everyone else is doing.
You deserve to be a free thinker, and with the help
of these steps, it isn’t long before you are going to be one.
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