How to Be Rational
Accept the challenge to develop your rational thinking., Confront your cognitive biases., Develop a system or approach to improve your rational thinking.After accepting the challenge to develop your thinking and researching and confronting your...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Accept the challenge to develop your rational thinking.
Becoming more rational begins with changing the way you process through events and the way that you think.
Instead of looking at this change as work, try viewing it as a challenge or an opportunity to grow.Begin to be more rational by trying the following.
Make a commitment out loud to yourself to grow.
Try saying, “I will accept this challenge to change, to learn, and to grow by developing my ability to think rationally.” Determine if you are operating from your “rational mind” or your “emotional mind.” In rational mind your thinking is focused and more logical, utilizing past experience, facts, and research to help you plan and make decisions.In emotional mind your thinking is reactive, sometimes illogical, and uses emotions to plan and make decisions. -
Step 2: Confront your cognitive biases.
A key to thinking rationally is to be honest about cognitive biases you may have.As a rational thinker, you will be called upon to make your own opinions and have the rationale to back them up.
Make an effort now to confront any tendencies you may have to think in ways that detract from your good judgment or rational thinking ability.
If you find yourself jumping to conclusions or making assumptions, you may have stumbled upon a bias you can work on.
Consider the cognitive biases that are possible for you to have such as availability heuristic, bandwagon effect, or confirmation bias.
Think objectively about what biases you may exhibit or experience.
Confront that bias and change it by consciously taking a step back and re-evaluating those assumptions. , Continue to develop and begin to enact a plan to achieve what you want.
The key to working on this plan is to be consistent in your practice, whatever that may be.
Try the following methods.Keep an “intellectual” journal.
Keep a journal separate from others you may have, and in it, describe situations that have occurred.
Record your analysis by evaluating the situation, what happened in detail including what you thought and how you reacted.
Write about what you learned about yourself, what could have gone differently, and how rational you reacted.
If you encounter a complex problem and are feeling overwhelmed, pause and break the elements of the problem down.Think through each element, figuring out and writing down your purpose in addressing that element, the question you are trying to answer, and what information you need to approach the problem rationally.
When you notice you are feeling a strong or negative emotion, again pause and analyze.
Ask yourself what the thought is that is leading to the emotional reaction and how that might be flawed.
Ask yourself what you are basing your thought on that is leading to the emotional reaction.
Evaluate that information for reliability. , Developing a more rational way of thinking takes time, energy, and effort.
In order to establish good rational thinking habits make sure that you are taking the time to consistently practice.While it may take significant time in the beginning, as you continue to make the practice more dominant in your life, it should take less and less time.At the start, you should be practicing your rational thinking skills multiple times a day.
As you progress further, your rational thinking will become easier and more natural, taking less conscious effort and time. -
Step 3: Develop a system or approach to improve your rational thinking.After accepting the challenge to develop your thinking and researching and confronting your biases
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Step 4: you have already taken the first few steps in a plan to become a more rational thinker.
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Step 5: Practice your rational thinking habits.
Detailed Guide
Becoming more rational begins with changing the way you process through events and the way that you think.
Instead of looking at this change as work, try viewing it as a challenge or an opportunity to grow.Begin to be more rational by trying the following.
Make a commitment out loud to yourself to grow.
Try saying, “I will accept this challenge to change, to learn, and to grow by developing my ability to think rationally.” Determine if you are operating from your “rational mind” or your “emotional mind.” In rational mind your thinking is focused and more logical, utilizing past experience, facts, and research to help you plan and make decisions.In emotional mind your thinking is reactive, sometimes illogical, and uses emotions to plan and make decisions.
A key to thinking rationally is to be honest about cognitive biases you may have.As a rational thinker, you will be called upon to make your own opinions and have the rationale to back them up.
Make an effort now to confront any tendencies you may have to think in ways that detract from your good judgment or rational thinking ability.
If you find yourself jumping to conclusions or making assumptions, you may have stumbled upon a bias you can work on.
Consider the cognitive biases that are possible for you to have such as availability heuristic, bandwagon effect, or confirmation bias.
Think objectively about what biases you may exhibit or experience.
Confront that bias and change it by consciously taking a step back and re-evaluating those assumptions. , Continue to develop and begin to enact a plan to achieve what you want.
The key to working on this plan is to be consistent in your practice, whatever that may be.
Try the following methods.Keep an “intellectual” journal.
Keep a journal separate from others you may have, and in it, describe situations that have occurred.
Record your analysis by evaluating the situation, what happened in detail including what you thought and how you reacted.
Write about what you learned about yourself, what could have gone differently, and how rational you reacted.
If you encounter a complex problem and are feeling overwhelmed, pause and break the elements of the problem down.Think through each element, figuring out and writing down your purpose in addressing that element, the question you are trying to answer, and what information you need to approach the problem rationally.
When you notice you are feeling a strong or negative emotion, again pause and analyze.
Ask yourself what the thought is that is leading to the emotional reaction and how that might be flawed.
Ask yourself what you are basing your thought on that is leading to the emotional reaction.
Evaluate that information for reliability. , Developing a more rational way of thinking takes time, energy, and effort.
In order to establish good rational thinking habits make sure that you are taking the time to consistently practice.While it may take significant time in the beginning, as you continue to make the practice more dominant in your life, it should take less and less time.At the start, you should be practicing your rational thinking skills multiple times a day.
As you progress further, your rational thinking will become easier and more natural, taking less conscious effort and time.
About the Author
Deborah Clark
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in crafts and beyond.
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