Humans have a bad habit of making assumptions. Assumptions are, by definition, the act of accepting a truth without definitive proof. A habit of making assumptions is a bad one because it can lead to unexpected consequences, oftentimes bad ones.
In my five year study of the daily habits of the rich and poor, this one data point nearly slipped through the cracks because it turned out that rich people and poor people share, to some degree, this common bad habit. Fifty-six percent of the rich and 72% of the poor in my study engaged in the habit of making assumptions.
But when I drilled deeper, I made an important discovery. Out of the 233 rich people in my study, 177 were self-made millionaires – they came from the middle-class or from poverty. In this smaller group of millionaires, the self-made’s, 57% did not have this bad habit. Why? Most of the self-made’s in my study were entrepreneurs, or individuals who were pursuing some dream or big goal in life. As a result of their past experiences in making false assumptions and suffering the financial and emotional consequences of this bad habit, they stopped engaging in this habit. They figured out, early on in their pursuit of their dreams and goals, that making false assumptions leads to costly mistakes that could lead to failure. So they stopped doing it.
You make false assumptions when you do not ask enough of the right questions. So, seeking feedback from others, prior to making any important decision, is a firewall against making a false assumption. Seeking feedback, therefore, is the cure for false assumptions.
About Thomas C. Corley
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