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Boy, did I need to see this now!

Here’s how it starts: Sometimes it feels like the whole world is against you.

We – humans – tend to feel that when something goes wrong, the fault must lie in some deep conspiracy against us.

Co-workers deliberately messing up to make you look bad so you don’t get the promotion.

Your neighbor deciding to cut his grass early on a Saturday because he wanted to wake you up!

Your candidate isn’t being vindicated because the “deep state” is moving levers behind the scenes. This one is especially prevalent these days.

So, now is the time to take a deep breath and think about Hanlon’s Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect.”

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect.“

Slow down.
Think.
Take time to consider alternative reasoning.
Remember our tendency for confirmation bias.
Fight the urge to blame others and choose our first impulse response.

Hanlon’s Razor allows us to give others the benefit of the doubt.

It slows down the incipient paranoia brewing within all of us that’s always worse during election years.

It helps us move towards empathy and away from judgment.

Never assume malicious intent.

If you can practice that skill and embed it into your daily interactions, your life is going to be more calm, your relationships with in-laws and co-workers are going to be better and more stable, and the change will be noticeable.

Want to dig deeper into Hanlon’s Razor? Click HERE.