How to Stop Assuming (6 steps to challenging assumptions)

Not to sound too presumptuous, but I’m supposing you’re here to learn how to stop assuming so much.

(insert ironic humor laughter)

But that’s perfect and you’re in luck, because I’ve got some sweet tips and inspiration that’ll help.

But let’s skip the chit chat – let’s get it.

Why Do People Make Assumptions? (human stuff 101)

Is assuming innate? Is there a survival component?

Why do people make assumptions?

To better challenge our assumptions, it helps to know why we make them in the first place.

You can probably come up with a few ideas yourself, but here are some reasons I’ve found for why we make so many damn assumptions:

It’s a leftover psychological phenomenon that improved our chances for survival
To speed up decision-making and use less brain power (saving us valuable energy)
It’s simply a form of pattern recognition from our brains
Past experiences can influence how, when and who we make assumptions about
Your beliefs and personality traits can influence your proclivities for assuming
To avoid pain or disappointment (e.g., assuming a business will fail, so never trying)

Is Assuming All That Bad?

I think we can mostly agree that making too many assumptions is risky business.

But I suppose that’s just an assumption in itself…

And I suppose that that is just another assumption about my first assumption about making too many assumptions…

Hm…

via GIPHY

My point? Assuming something isn’t all bad – sometimes it’s even unavoidable.

I don’t think we need to feel bad about it either – I mean, we’re “only” human.

As long as we’re not hurting anyone, staying receptive to new evidence and always trying our best to improve, we should sleep well at night.

In fact, we can use our assumptions as hints for greater self awareness and personal growth.

So the key here is to stay aware, explore why you’re making assumptions and audit things every once in a while.

And that’s where we’ll move to next – the steps to effectively challenge our assumptions.

How to Stop Assuming (6 steps to challenging assumptions)

If you’re keen to stop assuming, you’ve come to the right place.

These tips below are fairly straightforward – but they work.

With a little intention (and a few spouts of effort), you’ll be assuming less in no time.

1. Get Clear About the Assumptions You Do Make

The first step in fixing an assumption is realizing that there’s an assumption to fix in the first place.

This can require a little self reflection, self awareness and some brutal honesty – but it’s sort of essential.

So – without judgements or idealism – what do you genuinely make assumptions about? Don’t feel bad or guilty about them either. Just take note.

Sometimes our assumptions are obvious – but other times they fly under the radar.

So it’s important to just be patient here (and circle back to this thought exercise often).

I like to meditate for clarity (or use up all the hot water with a lengthy shower).

But of course, you do whatever works for you.

2. Audit Your Evidence

Once you know what your assumptions are, you can explore their why.

What evidence do you have for assuming the things you assume?

Is that evidence even valid? Why is it convincing for you?

The beliefs we hold often represent our core identity, personality and life mantras. So deep diving into the evidence for those assumptions can be a bit awkward at first.

But it’s crucial if you want to stop assuming.

Becoming aware of your assumptions is the first step. Becoming aware of the evidence for those assumptions is the next step.

So now let’s move to the third step: challenging that evidence.

3. Seek Out Evidence to the Contrary

Let’s say we’ve identified some of our core assumptions.

And we also pinpointed the evidence or sources for those assumptions.

So, what do now?

via GIPHY

One of the best ways to stop assuming so much is to seek out evidence to the contrary.

To challenge our assumptions, we need to find new evidence that’s at least equal to (but ideally greater than) the magnitude to our old evidence.

But looking for evidence to the contrary can be tricky business – since we tend to fall prey to things like confirmation bias.

But it’s a modern skill worth learning.

Example of Using New Evidence to Challenge Assumptions:

“Oversaturated Blogging”

Let’s say I assume it’s too late to start a successful blog.

The market and the niches I love are just too saturated for me to stand out and grow a business.

These are assumptions based on the fact that blogging is quite competitive – yes, it can be difficult to stand out in a crowded market.

But this assumption (as with so many others) only tells part of the story.

So I need new, different evidence to challenge my conclusions.

Here’s how: I would look for convincing data.

For example, research shows around 15% of the 8.5 billion daily searches into Google are new search queries.

This means there aren’t any (or a small amount of) blog posts targeting those new keywords.

It’s an opportunity.

I would then use the economics of supply and demand:

There are 8.5 billion searches into Google everyday
There are over 1 billion websites worldwide, but…
…82% of those website are inactive (i.e., not ranking or competing)

So there is much higher demand (search volume) than there is supply (quality websites to answer the billions of daily search queries).

I would finally challenge my saturated-blog assumptions with long-tail keyword research.

These are longer keywords people type into Google that tend to be more specific and lower in competition.

For example, “how to start a travel blog” is a difficult keyword to rank for.

It has a Keyword Difficulty (KD) score of 48 (difficult), according to the keyword research tool, Ahrefs.

So if I write a blog post on this topic, I probably won’t rank (unless I have a bigger established website, with a lot of domain authority).

But the keyword “how to start a travel blog without traveling” has good search volume and a KD score of 0 (easy).

This means if I write this post, there’s a very high chance I can reach the top of the first page of Google – even as a brand new blog.

Suddenly, my assumptions about blogging being oversaturated have changed.

4. Try Inversion Thinking

Inversion thinking is the secret of the pros.

Stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius and billionaire investors like Charlie Munger all talk about it.

But what is it?

Inversion thinking is an approach to problem solving, whereby you think of problems or goals in reverse.

For example, instead of trying to find solutions to a problem, think of ways to make it worse.

It’s similar to working backwards. And we can borrow this strategy to better challenge our assumptions.

You can start assuming less by asking one simple question: how can I assume more?

The magic of this thought exercise is it takes focus and pressure away from the stress of problem solving and finding solutions.

It forces you to look at things with a different mindset and perspective.

For better or worse, it’s usually easier to think of more problems and how to make things worse…

But leveraging reverse thinking can result in fresh insights and novel solutions.

By understanding what we should avoid better (i.e., the things that can make a problem worse), we uncover new ways to improve upon something.

5. Build A Question-Everything Habit

Not to sound too conspiratorial, but question everything.

(within reason)

Healthy critical thinking is good – but rather than skepticism, I like to approach my questioning with a focus on genuine curiosity.

Like we did when we were kids – you know, responding to everything with: “Why? Why? How come? Why?...(but why?)”.

Sometimes finding the best solution is all about asking the right question(s).

So if you’re trying to stop assuming things so much, get into the habit of asking more questions.

Sooner or later, with practice and intention, your subconscious dogmas and assumptions will end with more question marks than periods.

6. Stack Skills + Learn More

The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

And the more you realize you don’t know, the less you assume.

So a great way to stop assuming so much, is to learn more and start stacking your skills.

There are numerous benefits to this – well beyond our assumption tasks at hand.

But diving deeper into topics always makes you realize how much more there is to learn about that particular topic.

There’s this thing called the Dunning-Kruger effect, whereby the lesser expertise or knowledge a person has about a topic, the more confidence they have.