There are some things that you’re confident about, but you keep a bit of an edge and often doublecheck yourself on them. However, there are other things you know for sure, and you have a ton of confidence in them. You might be right, but those can also become blind spots.
Mark Twain once said:
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
When we know something “for sure”, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re right. It could ultimately just be an opinion masquerading as a fact, and opinions can often sway.
There are a lot of things that I think I know for sure, but I try to dig in from time to time to make sure that’s still true.
What changed?
I saw a comment today that asked the question “What were you 100% sure about five years ago that you’ve since changed your mind about?“. This doesn’t necessarily mean you were wrong, but perhaps just that things have changed (technology has morphed, a political figure has shifted, etc).
Thinking about what “100%” items from your recent past that have faded away might help give you more perspective on just how solid your 100% items are today.
