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All-or-Nothing Thinking: A Cognitive Trap That Makes People Unhappy
Learn to embrace grey thinking
Unlike flexible thinking, which is a helpful way of approaching challenging situations and can help prevent us from becoming overwhelmed, all-or-nothing thinking is more self-limiting and makes people miserable.
All-or-nothing thinking is when we think in black-and-white, success or failure, and win or lose terms.
People who think in black-and-white can’t see shades of grey; they only see either yes or no.
It’s why it’s so difficult to argue with someone who is all-or-nothing thinking. They are either with you, or they are against you.
Even if they are not being logical or rational, the fact that they are not willing to see shades of grey shows that they are stuck in a mindset of all-or-nothing thinking.
It’s a thinking trap that can make life incredibly difficult to enjoy; because you won’t give yourself a break to see things differently.
People who look at things in black-or-white terms are never happy with anything different from the expected outcome.
They are trapped in a cognitive bias or trap that prevents them from thinking about…
