Think Thursday: Why We Defend Decisions No Longer Fit

Why can it be so hard to change your mind—even when new information suggests an old decision no longer works?

In this Think Thursday episode, Molly explores cognitive dissonance and choice-supportive bias, and how the brain can begin defending decisions simply because we’ve already made them.

You’ll learn:

• Why we tend to see chosen options more favorably after making a decision
• How memory can subtly reinforce the choices we’ve already made
• Why beliefs about ourselves can become conclusions the brain looks for evidence to support
• The important difference between evaluating a decision and defending it
• Why a decision can have been right for you then without needing to remain right forever

Three questions to consider:

• If I were making this decision for the first time today, what would I choose?
• What evidence am I dismissing because it doesn’t fit the decision I already made?
• Can I allow the old decision to have made sense then without requiring it to make sense now?

Changing your mind doesn’t necessarily mean you were wrong. Sometimes it simply means you know something today that you didn’t know before.

Key takeaway: The goal isn’t always to be right. It’s to stay willing to notice what is true.

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