Thoughts on thinking

And some personal stuff.

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Quick update on the court drama with my previous landlord – it went well. The judge will send out her decision to us within 30 days. I was prepared. My landlord wasn’t. It’s all going to be OK!

A PSA -  I volunteer to clean about 5 miles of HWY 1 once per month. I want you to be extra careful and not throw anything out of your car. EVER. Now the grass is really tall. There are snakes in there, probably. You don’t want me to get bit by a snake while picking up your soda can, do ya? Also, that tall grass will be dry soon and a fire hazard. Basically, keep your trash to yourself!

Finally, in the name of science and to better understand humans, I donate my time and body to the National Institute of Health for their Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. I am going there in June for another four days of extensive testing of everything. I am a data set to them. They poke around. Take blood. Stick me in an MRI, make me dress in sensors and walk around, and test my strength, memory, nerves, hearing, and proprioception. Collect my pee. I sleep in a hospital bed and get woken up at 5 am to get hooked up to their computers. They ask me a million questions about my life, diet, and exercise. Do stress tests of all sorts. They even test new technology on us volunteers, such as a system for early detection of Parkinson’s disease. I am a lab rat for four days. I don’t get paid. I pay my own travel expenses, too. I do get a $10 coupon for the hospital cafeteria daily 😊 And I get that warm, fuzzy feeling of contributing to something greater than myself. I geek out on the science, too.

Except, this time I got a sticker shock. Airfare was 3x more than what I paid before and now I also have to pay for a Lulu sitter while I am gone. And yes, I won’t be working for five days, which for us self-employed types is kind of a lot. Just the travel and Lulu expenses add up to about $2000 this time around.

I bought the ticket. I booked the doggy sitter. I am ready to go. BUT, if you want to help me out, I’ll take it!!!! I’ll be updating you from the hospital. I will probably post a few videos and definitely write about everything I learned while I was there. So you will get a whole lot of health information right from the source!

Thank you for considering it!

Donate here – any amount you wish!

Today’s topic addresses thinking and decision-making in response to a reader who asked these three questions:

1)How to make better decisions

2)How to improve our thinking

3)How to think clearly

I combined these three questions because if you improve your thinking, you will think clearly and make better decisions. See how that works? I have some answers for you but you and homework, too. So, be ready.

Be aware of possible biases. We all have them. They are like this body part we all have. And they all stink… Something like 80% of people are racist, even those who swear they are not. We favor tall, beautiful people thinking they are more trustworthy and competent. I wrote about common cognitive biases HERE (Part 1), and HERE (Part 2).

It’s better to assume that you have some biases at play and to think of ways to minimize them when necessary than to think you are more clever than 7 billion people. So read those two pieces above and take good notes!

Don’t trust your gut. Big data has disproven the gut’s accuracy. What we think we want is not what makes us happy. So, be careful there. I wrote about this recently. Check out Should You Listen To Your Gut to see how you fail in your decision-making.

In addition, we have “fast” and “slow” thinking abilities. Too much of what we do is snap judgments that “seem right” to us. But often, we make the wrong choices. If you have 15 minutes, watch this video about “fast” and “slow” thinking. It will blow your mind!

I learned about “fast” and “slow” thinking about seven years ago, and now when it comes to important decisions, I pull out a spreadsheet. Or at least I look up data and statistics. Hahaha. The world will never be the same for me. It may happen to you, too!

I also wrote about How To Make Better Decisions HERE. I said,

What are the ingredients of a decision?

Some part belief.
Add values.
Mix in habits.
Season with information or misinformation.
In a pan of circumstances.
Bake on low heat until it rises to the level of action.

Enjoy the consequences!

Embrace your humanness. Humans make mistakes. Beating yourself up will often sneakily cloud your judgment and influence how you make decisions. Work on self-understanding, self-care, and self-forgiveness.

I want Life Intelligence to be the kind of resource that, over time, changes how people think. I strive to provide perspective and reliable information. So… keep reading. You will be better educated and a better thinker, if I may say so!

Donate here – any amount you wish!

If you need help to figure yourself out? I can help!
My services: www.valentinapetrovaconsulting.com

Yours truly,

V.