𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆.

"𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐎𝐅

 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆."

I suppose it's tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail, if the only tool you have is a hammer.

Ever had a conversation with someone and they assume to know your motives, skills and competencies? Really annoying right? 

𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make. Making assumptions simply means 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕, and you can see at once how this can lead to terrible trouble.

If others tells us something we make assumptions, and if they don't tell us something we make assumptions to fulfill our need to know and to replace the need to communicate. Even if we hear something and we don't understand we make assumptions about what it means and then believe the assumptions. We make all sorts of assumptions because we don't have the courage to ask questions.  

We are all susceptible to unconscious assumptions about the world around us. Rather than assume, why not simply 𝐀𝐒𝐊?

 

Yes, Ask! Instead of basing your decisions on what you think you know and not just asking, respond from your values instead of your emotions. 

Adding to the above, build shared understanding by putting yourself in the other person’s shoes, trusting and focusing on the shared facts while minimizing criticism.

𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆.

𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒! 

𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.