But what if you’re wrong?
Some assumptions I’ve made in the past decade:
getting a bachelors degree was a great investment of time & money.
not getting an advanced degree (and not taking on more debt) was a smart move.
living at home (as opposed to moving far away) was a wise choice.
spending 5 hours a week reading and thinking and writing is the best way to learn.
seeking the advice of other people in similar circumstances is a better path to success than initiating my own projects and learning from them on my own.
saving my money (at the expense things like travel and learning and hobbies) is a good idea.
doubling down on learning scarce skills is the path to a stable career, and thus financial prosperity.
Thing is, I have no way of knowing if any of these assumptions are right. I also have no idea how to test if any of these assumptions are wrong. I assume they aren’t wrong because I made them. But I don’t know they're right based on facts.
A smarter version of me might have decided long ago to test these hypotheses before I made them. To decide then what I needed to see to disprove these assumptions, and to test the fallibility of my beliefs.
Because sure, it’s pretty easy to walk around finding evidence that you’re right.
But testing your assumptions, seeing your limits—having the humility and the willingness to change your mind—that’s an uncomfortable luxury, indeed.