Harish Pothepalli

10 Biases that distort our Decision-Making:   Affinity Bias - We prefer people who are similar to us. In thinking, looks, and behavior. Reactive Devaluation - Automatically devaluing opinions from opposing sites or people you dislike.  Illusion of Asymmetric Insight - We tend to believe our knowledge surpasses the knowledge of our peers. False Consensus Effect - We overestimate the degree to which others agree with us. The Ostrich Effect - The tendency to avoid negative (financial) information by pretending not to see it.  Illusion of Validity - Our tendency to overestimate our ability to accurately interpret and predict outcomes.  We draw conclusions to make a story coherent and then ignore possible alternatives completely.  Hyperbolic Discounting - We are wired to prefer instant gratification.  Even when offered significantly more in the future.  Post-Purchase Rationalization - After a buying decision, we immediately erase all doubt...

Habits are mental shortcuts A habit is a routine or behavior that is carried out repeatedly and most of the time automatically. When you are faced with a problem repeatedly, your brain starts to automate the process of solving it. Your habits are sets of automatic solutions that solve the problems you come across regularly. Focus on systems, not on goals Goals are good for establishing a direction, but systems are best for making progress. Goals are about the results you hope to reach. Systems are about the mechanisms that lead to those results. The layers of behavior change  • Changing your outcomes. This means changing your results: losing weight, publishing a book, etc.  • Changing your process. This means changing your habits and systems: for example, developing a meditation practice.  • Changing your identity. This means changing your beliefs: the way you see yourself and the ones around you. True behavior change is identity change You could choose and start a habit ...

 • Retirement is the worst-case-scenario insurance.  • Alternating between periods of rest and activity is essential.  • Focus on being productive instead of busy.  • The timing is never right. Waiting for ‘someday’ means that you will take your dreams to the grave.  •  Ask for forgiveness, not permission.  • Emphasize strengths. Don’t fix weaknesses.  • When things are done to excess, they often take on the characteristics of their opposites.  • Money alone is not the solution. We use not having enough money as a scapegoat for not working out what we want out of life.  • Relative income is more important than absolute income.