Make Confirmation Bias Work For You

Opportunity is all around you if you are open to it.

What if I said that you could hack your life or your career with a simple exercise in managing expectations?

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not a big believer in New Thought philosophies or magical thinking. But I do believe that we can train our minds to work better than they do when it comes to finding and seizing opportunities.

You could call it affirmations, but I prefer to look at it as affirmations-in-action. It’s not enough to repeat to oneself, “Money comes to me easily and freely.” More, you have to have that thought in your head and keep your eyes and ears open, and be ready to pounce when an opportunity presents itself.

Teach yourself to be aware of and open to opportunity when it arrives.

The Indian restaurant

A few years ago, I really started getting into Indian food. I was selling books in the dealers’ room at a convention in Boston, and after we closed up for the night, a few other small publishers and I decided to go out for dinner together. Boston has some great good.

Jim, a book dealer local to Boston, recommended an Indian restaurant that wasn’t too far from the convention center. We went. I’d had a curry or two in the past, but something about this particular restaurant really got me fired up about the variety of foods available at Indian restaurants. I went home after that weekend determined to explore Indian cuisine in my area.

I live in a fairly dull suburb in the middle of Rhode Island. We don’t have Indian restaurants. That’s for them city folk. If I wanted to explore my newfound love for Indian food, I was going to have to drive to Providence, wasn’t I?

But then I started seeing them all over the place. In my town. In the next town over. And in the next town over from there. Most of these places had been there for a few years.

Why didn’t I already know this?

Answer. I hadn’t been thinking of them. Up until that weekend in Boston, Indian restaurants weren’t much on my radar, but now that I was thinking about them more, I noticed them more.

I didn’t make them magically appear. They were already there.

I had accidentally trained my mind into being more aware of their existence.

That’s how confirmation bias works. My reward? Some really, really good chicken tikka masala.

Making confirmation bias work for you

I am admittedly being a little overly simplistic in explaining this trick. Confirmation bias has a lot to do with how we perceive evidence based on preferences. For instance, a racist will always notice things that seem to confirm their prejudices. An optimist will always see the best in something.

To be honest, confirmation bias can kind of mess us up a bit and contribute to lazy thinking, but let’s put that aside for now and look at it from the context of seeking opportunities and affirmation-in-action.

For instance, if you can repeatedly tell yourself that opportunities are everywhere, you will be more receptive to them when they appear. It could be opportunities for work, networking, professional or personal growth, finances, and even health.

If you wake up in the morning and tell yourself, “Something is going to come my way that’s going to be a big help,” you may find yourself identifying any number of such things before the end of the day.

Like Indian restaurants.

Of course, that’s only half the trick. The other half is taking action.

Most of the best gigs I’ve had were the result of me saying “yes” quickly:

“We don’t like our current guy. Do I want to take over production management of a medical journal?”

Yes, please.

“I’m retiring. You should apply for the managing editor position.”

Okay.

“I hear this magazine is looking for an art director. You would be a good fit.”

Thanks. Can you give me a reference?

“I’m hiring writers.”

I’m a writer! Hire me.

And so on.

I’ve messed up as well. I’ve missed out on great jobs because I dragged my feet or didn’t feel confident enough to apply. I missed out on a great free job training opportunity because I wasn’t paying attention. I’ve missed out on a bunch of things because I failed to take action.

But one can learn. I try not to repeat my mistakes too often.

I can say that in the summing up of the past twenty years or so, being receptive and responsive have paid off well. There was nothing magic about it.

But a daily declaration (or affirmation, if you prefer) of being open to opportunities has made me more aware of them when they appear.

The flip side

At this point, I feel I should point out an area of caution. This whole confirmation bias can work against you as well — if you let it.

When negative people repeatedly have negative experiences, it’s not because they’re unlucky or that they’ve wholly brought it upon themselves. We don’t victim-blame in this house.

But I will suggest that if you only see the worst outcomes, you tend to get drawn into them. If you’re always angry, you are suddenly aware of little else but the things that make you mad.

That sounds exhausting.

Opportunity is where you find it

There are weeks when I’m better than others at remembering to consciously be open to opportunity. When I’m aware of my own thoughts and how they work, and how they partner with my perceptions, I’m consistently amazed by the results.

This was one of those weeks. I think that’s what inspired me to write about it today.

Maybe, in this act of writing about using confirmation bias as a tool for growth, I’m strengthening my hold on that tool.

It’s worth thinking about. And it’s worth trying yourself.

Let me know how it works out for you.

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