Beyond Introspection and Validation - By Kaartikeya Srivastava.

When I was right or correct about something and not accepting that I couldn't be right was the wrong thing to do, and when I was wrong and accepting that I was right about being wrong, it was the right thing to do.

And yes! You don’t need to be high to comprehend the above statement. Think for yourself, take your time, or read the remainder of the article to understand what I mean.

Over the past few months, I’ve started exploring a new genre of books related to wealth, psychology, logic, and biases. Why? Honestly, because I was too free not to. These books have been pushing me to change my perspective on life by cultivating the fundamental habit of questioning everything.

It’s not just about questioning the external world or my parents’ obsession with me taking a bath daily. I’ve started questioning myself internally too. Lately, I’ve been analysing every decision, thought, and judgment I make. These books are teaching me that the perspectives we hold about ourselves are often flawed, built on beliefs that lack evidence or don’t truly exist. Such beliefs shape our values, principles, and notions, often without any factual foundation.

 I now consciously consider how most people think and act and try to break free from that mold by thinking outside the usual patterns. 

At this stage of my career, I believed that to be successful, one must discover their passion and work towards it. Success, I thought, requires aligning one’s work with intrinsic talents, thereby reducing time wasted on trial and error. Driven by this idea, I too wanted to find my passion.

As a result, I started introspecting deeply and sought guidance from various sources. I reached out to people from diverse backgrounds on online platforms and spoke to close friends, hoping they could help me identify my strengths. However, their advice, though helpful, often left me more confused, as everyone’s success story is unique and didn’t resonate with my own aspirations.

Eventually, being unable to relate to any specific person or their success story, I turned inward for answers. I looked back at my school and college days, analysing my abilities and natural talents. I poured my thoughts into a journal, and for a while, it felt fulfilling.  I believed I had found my path and even felt proud to share this “revelation” with others.

But something changed. When I revisited my journal to write more about my passion, I found the content oddly disconnected from who I truly am. It didn’t feel authentic. It felt pretentious, as though I was seeking validation from society. That’s when I realised that my self-introspection might have been clouded by preconceived notions and cognitive biases.

During this period of my search and transition, I read some books and explored topics such as psychology, logic, economics, and the dynamics of our minds.
While reading about bias and logical fallacies, such as the introspection illusion, and the mistaken belief that we understand the true reasons behind our choices and decisions, I understood why my journal didn’t reflect reality. I had been misled by relying solely on personal beliefs, which were often based on flawed experiences.

One particular bias, called survivorship bias, actually made a lot of sense to me. It’s the logical error of focusing only on successful examples while ignoring the larger pool of failures. For instance, I had been inspired by stories of individuals achieving extraordinary feats in their careers and started envisioning myself in a similar role. However, reading about survivorship bias made me realise that the selection rate for such achievements is often less than 1%. I was focusing on the few who succeeded, ignoring the vast majority who worked just as hard but didn’t make it. This made me realise that, while I admired the lifestyle and accomplishments associated with that path, I wasn’t ready to commit to the immense effort required to reach it. 

What we believe to be true or false, right or wrong, correct or incorrect, might not align with reality. Sometimes, it’s simply that we want something to be true, and our minds convince us it is. We often find evidence to support our arguments, even if we’re wrong by a significant margin. Therefore, it’s essential to ask "why" or "how" questions, even if only to ourselves, and seek proper reasoning behind any conclusion. This is important because not everything we believe to be correct is actually correct. The actual outcome might differ entirely from our beliefs because the world doesn't always align with our expectations or desires.

Raising questions about anything we find easily true or flawless before accepting it as a fact and incorporating it into our identity is necessary in an era of fake news and shallow, baseless thinking. Asking the right questions at the right time could save someone’s career, relationship, or even their life. Blindly believing what we’re told, whether from an external source or our own thoughts, is like digging our own grave.

Achieving success in the field we are passionate about doesn't require undue worry, as passion often finds us rather than the other way around. What truly matters is taking the first step and committing to deliberate practice, embracing challenges and setbacks with a positive mindset. Success takes time, as Malcolm Gladwell aptly noted, it requires approximately 10,000 hours of focused effort to achieve true mastery, and these years are an essential investment in honing our skills to attain mastery in our respective domains.

Therefore, I truly believe that the greatest ability any individual can possess is the ability to question the very basics, trust the process, and be willing to give what it takes to be great. Mind you, I said, “I believe.” So, what do you think? Is my reasoning and belief sound?