Today you and I, my dear friends, will dive into interesting facts about the study of the amazing effects of the psyche that force us to do completely counterintuitive things.
We have already partially touched on this very interesting topic in an article entitled "". And today we will continue to dive into these interesting “wilds” - we will learn about three more common effects of our psyche or, in other words, psychological misconceptions.

Psychological Trap #1: The Confirmation Bias Effect

The famous psychologist Burres Frederick Skinner, who observed this effect 50 years ago, came to the conclusion: a person is subconsciously drawn to people not who are charming, beautiful, objective, logical, but to those who simply agree with him. Therefore, we associate with people whose tastes and judgments are similar to ours; We visit online forums where people who share our political views gather; we experience a surge of sympathy for a stranger who, for some reason, suddenly says: “I guess I’ll support you.”

Roughly speaking, if you are sure that the majority of people in your city prefer the color green, you will constantly notice those who dress in green, those who drive green cars (by the way, about cars: buy a new Hyundai Santa Fe on a website for car enthusiasts auto.ria.com) and so on; you will show them to your friends; discuss the benefits and beauty of green; and completely ignore the “gray mass” - those passers-by who prefer grey, blue, red or any other color.

This is a deliberately losing strategy, because it prevents us from seeing the world objectively. But we step on the same rake over and over again. For a simple reason: such behavior helps us reduce stress levels - after all, it is always more pleasant to think that you are among “your own” than in a world full of “strangers”. And everyone makes the difficult choice between spiritual comfort and objectivity themselves.

Psychological Trap #2: The Comparison Trap Effect

Almost everyone has found themselves in similar situations - of course, because the “comparison trap” is actively used in sales (article on the topic: " "). This effect is based on the human tendency to compare numbers relative to each other (to get our bearings), while missing their absolute magnitude. This is somewhat similar to . A classic example is a product on sale: we see two prices on the tag (before the discount and after) and evaluate the difference between them, and not the prices themselves or, what is even more interesting, our need for this product. So a thing costing, say, 50 dollars “before the discount” and 20 dollars “after” will seem much more attractive to us than the neighbor lying next to it with a price tag of 18 bucks without any discounts.

Restaurants actively use this same technique: they include exorbitantly expensive dishes and drinks on the menu, so that the price of others seems quite reasonable. After a series of cakes, for example, “for 40”, a treat “for only 15!” seems like a good buy. And few people will remember that in the bakery next door you can buy the same cake for “7.”

This interesting effect in social psychology is called the "Barbra Streisand effect" - after the celebrity who forced psychologists to take a closer look at how taboo encourages the spread of information. Eleven years ago, the actress accidentally discovered that a photograph of her estate was included in 12 thousand photographs of the California coast taken and posted on the Internet by photographer Kenneth Adelman as part of a study of coastal erosion. Barbra filed a lawsuit against the Adelmans, demanding that the photo be removed: “I don’t want everyone to be able to look at my private property!” And then the incredible happened...

If before filing the lawsuit, only six people looked at the photo of Streisand’s house (among them two of the actress’s lawyers), then a month later the image was downloaded by 420 thousand Internet users. Associated Press journalists reported on the funny phenomenon - and this, in turn, led to the fact that the photo of Barbara's estate was scattered across newspapers and magazines around the world.

Alexander Nikolaevich Medvedev 40 main psychological traps and ways to avoid them

What is a “psychological trap”

IN In ancient times, the Chinese, when crossing through the jungle where tigers lived, put a mask with a human face on the back of their heads. They knew that tigers have a habit of sneaking up on their prey unnoticed and ambushing it.

Mistaking the mask on the back of his head for a human face, the tiger thinks that the person is looking at him and understands that it will not be possible to sneak up unnoticed. If the tiger is not hungry or irritated, as a rule, in this case it does not attack.

Thus, the tiger, making erroneous conclusions based on some information it receives, falls into a psychological trap set for it by man. A psychological trap is a situation in which a person (or another living being), for one reason or another, does not have the ability to adequately perceive and evaluate incoming information, and acts in an erroneous manner, in particular, to his own detriment.

IN psychological traps fall into people who make incorrect conclusions based on insufficient or incorrectly interpreted information, due to excessive emotional involvement in the situation or because for some other reason.

There are many types of psychological traps that people deliberately set for other people. These include Chinese stratagems, various methods of manipulation, fraud and deception. Having fallen into a trap set by others, a person, as a rule, sooner or later realizes his mistake.

We will call psychological traps set by other people or by special circumstances external psychological traps. Life experience, intelligence and the ability to calmly collect and analyze information help us avoid external traps. Becoming a victim of external psychological traps is undoubtedly unpleasant and offensive, but it is incomparably worse and more dangerous to fall into internal psychological traps, that is, into traps that a person, without realizing it, sets for himself.

When a person gets caught in the web of his own wrong conclusions or misconceptions, he usually doesn’t notice it. Having made one erroneous action, he is forced to reinforce it with a series of new erroneous actions and conclusions. The further a person follows the path of wrong actions and false conclusions, the more difficult it is for him to turn away from this path.

Admitting one small mistake, as a rule, is not difficult, but admitting that your entire life strategy, your way of thinking and acting, is wrong is extremely difficult.

Paradoxically, people on a subconscious level would rather be unhappy than wrong - this is how they maintain their self-esteem. It is falling into their own psychological traps that leads people to neuroses and depression, makes them make the same mistakes over and over again, and feels suffering and lost.

The consequence of falling into internal psychological traps are all kinds of psychosomatic diseases, such as vegetative-vascular dystonia, headaches, insomnia, functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, etc. Errors in thinking and behavior characteristic of people who find themselves victims of internal psychological traps become the basis for the development of character flaws - personality traits that hinder spiritual growth and development, interfere

establish warm relationships with other people, achieve set goals, and, as a result, do not allow a person to feel satisfied with life and self-actualized.

Some psychological traps begin to act as psychological defense mechanisms, then transforming into neurotic modes of behavior that deprive a person of the correct orientation and force him to act inappropriately, ineffectively and to the detriment of himself.

In this book we will list the main internal psychological traps and the steps that should be taken to avoid falling into them or to get out of them.

The Trap of a Positive Past

This is one of the most common traps that mostly people over 30 fall into.

Instead of living for today, a person remembers the past with nostalgic melancholy, dreaming of returning to the “golden days of childhood,” first love, friends, the lost sense of lightness and carefreeness of life, etc.

As a result, he gets the feeling that “the best is already behind us,” that he will never be so happy again, and other thoughts of this kind.

Living in the past, a person not only wastes his emotional energy on nostalgic experiences, but also programs himself that “he will never feel so good again.” It is quite natural that under such conditions he has neither the strength nor the desire to look for positive experiences in real life, in the events occurring at the moment.

The countermeasure may not be selectively positive memories of the past, but more complete memories in which the good is adjacent to the bad, the pleasant to the unpleasant. This will help you understand that childhood or youth, like life at the present moment, in addition to pleasant experiences, was also filled with problems and conflicts.

Having remembered unpleasant episodes from the past, you should rethink your life strategy and understand that the problem is not that the present is worse than the past, but that a person immersed in nostalgic memories does not make active attempts to make his present better, to find more joys in it and opportunities.

Trap of a negative past

Falling into this trap, a person, instead of living in the present, becomes fixated on unpleasant memories of the past. Wasting his emotional energy on memories of past experiences, he, by analogy with the past, believes that what will happen next will not be better, and perhaps even worse. Instead of discovering positive aspects in the present, he, confirming his view of the world,

Looks for the bad first. Thus, he not only suffers in the present, but also programs himself for future troubles.

A countermeasure is to periodically perform exercises to recall pleasant episodes from the past in as much detail as possible. It is necessary to look for as many pleasant and positive moments as possible in the present. Learn to enjoy the little things - a sunny day, the taste of food, music, etc. Track the moments of your habitual return to painful memories of the past. As soon as this happens, immediately switch your attention to your daily activities, to some pleasant thoughts or memories. Try to look optimistically into the future, imagine all sorts of joyful events that await you.

Another option to get rid of the habit of dwelling on negative memories (like any other bad habit) is to punish yourself as soon as you

You will begin to remember past troubles. Choose your punishment yourself - it could be 20 squats, or multiplying two- or three-digit numbers in your head, or cleaning the apartment, etc. It is advisable to choose an activity as a punishment that can completely capture your attention, so that you are forced to disconnect from memories . Periodic negative reinforcement will lead to the fact that gradually the habit of remembering past torments will come to naught.

After the punishment, when you are distracted and stop thinking about the bad, do something pleasant for yourself as a reward - praise yourself, treat yourself to something tasty, or watch a comedy to get a charge of positive emotions.

The Trap of Negative Forecasting

This trap, which many people fall into, is set for us by none other than our own instinct of self-preservation.

Thanks to civilization, man has gotten rid of almost all the dangers that threaten him in nature: he is not threatened by predators, hunger, thirst or cold, even diseases, with rare exceptions, are curable.

IN As a result, the instinct of self-preservation, which remains practically out of work, but has not disappeared anywhere, switches from dangers that really threaten a person to imaginary dangers, and a person begins to imagine all sorts of troubles that have not yet happened, but may well happen. The media also contribute to the strengthening of negative fantasies - from the news, which constantly talks about the horrors of our lives, to soap operas, whose characters suffer from the misfortunes that befall them with obsessive regularity.

Empathizing with on-screen characters, some people become identified with them and begin to imagine that something similar could happen to them.

Experiencing imaginary future troubles, tragedies and disasters not only takes up a huge amount of energy, but also does not allow a person to focus on events occurring at the moment and effectively resolve current problems.

IN In most cases, negative forecasts do not come true, but despite this, the damage has already been done. Often the fear of what might happen, especially if it haunts a person for a long time, does more harm than the unpleasant event itself.

The countermeasure in this case is to control your thoughts. As soon as you notice that you are immersed in fantasies about a negative future, shift your attention to the present. Look for the good sides in life, try to think about positive things. It is impossible to predict the future, and worrying about what you don’t know is simply pointless. Convince yourself that if any trouble happens, you will find a way to overcome it, and once you have overcome it, you will forget about it.

Trap of a rainbow future

(trap of unfulfilled expectations)

This trap, which young people often fall into, can also be called the trap of unfulfilled expectations. The trap of a rosy future lies in overly optimistic expectations about the future and overestimation of one’s own capabilities. In particular, most teenage girls imagine their future husband as handsome, attentive and wealthy, without thinking about what the real percentage of handsome, attentive and wealthy men is to the total male population, and how great the competition is in this regard. As a person gains life experience and adequately perceives reality, he has ideas about his own capabilities and

perspectives change, becoming more objective, while a person trapped in a rosy future, not noticing the obvious, continues to hover in the clouds until painful disappointment brings him down to earth. Disappointment in this case turns out to be much more severe and painful than it would be for a person who assesses reality more soberly. At the same time, the pain is caused not so much by the circumstances themselves that led to the collapse of hopes, but by the destruction of the carefully cherished and nurtured “picture of a rosy future.” As a result, not too tragic life events can be perceived as a catastrophe, as “the end of everything,” although in reality this is not the end of life, not the future, but the end of an unrealistic dream about the future, which, you see, is a completely different matter.

The countermeasure in this case is the awareness that our life at any moment can change in one direction or another in the most unpredictable way. Instead of clinging to dubious fantasies about the future, increase your opportunities in the present, try to see and take advantage of the chances that life gives you, learn to be flexible and ready for change, and then, perhaps, over time, you will achieve even more than you wanted at the beginning, avoiding the pain and disappointments that arise from the collapse of unfulfilled expectations.

The trap of replacing reality with dreams

People who, for one reason or another, are not satisfied with the world around them, their position in this world, or themselves, often run away from reality, going into the world of fantasy.

They imagine different situations in which they perform at their best. They can imagine themselves as beautiful, successful, strong, aristocratic, intellectual, conquerors of hearts, possessing unlimited power, etc. Someone indulges in fantasies in silence, deep down ashamed of them. There are also pathological liars who are so close to their dreams that they tell fables about themselves to everyone they meet, and they themselves begin to believe that it is true.

In small doses, dreams of this kind are useful, however, replacing reality with imagination prevents one from effectively interacting with the outside world and people around him, does not allow a person to be in harmony with himself and receive a sufficient amount of positive emotions from the outside world. People who waste their energy on fantasies miss out on many opportunities to improve their situation in the real world and make their lives richer and more fulfilling.

The countermeasure is to gradually reduce the time devoted to fantasies, as well as the search for new, more satisfying ways of communicating with the outside world, activities that bring positive emotions and increase the sense of self-esteem.

Techniques for interacting with the world that can be used in this case are described in our books “Formula of Happiness”, “Psychotechniques of Happiness” and “The Game Called Life”.

The Trap of Exaggeration

(turning a fly into an elephant)

The human ability to suffer over the most seemingly insignificant things is truly amazing. Someone believes that all the misfortunes of his life are connected with the shape of his nose (short or too tall, acne on the face, several extra pounds, etc.) Someone worries because of the assumption that someone

thinks badly of him; someone is sure that his life has gone to pieces because of unhappy love or a mistake he once made in the past.

Having one, or even several “personal tragedies” is in a certain sense very convenient: in this case, the blame for your own failures can always be blamed on something (or someone) else. “If it weren’t for this damned nose, I would have become a famous actress long ago,” “if I had received my higher education on time, I wouldn’t have languished in this position,” etc. People who are inclined to “turn a molehill into an elephant,” and, in addition, , blaming other people or circumstances for their problems, at the same time fall into the trap of shifting responsibility, which will be discussed below.

The sufferer is in an advantageous position: those around him should sympathize with him, and he has every moral right not to take any action to correct the situation, since he is busy: he suffers.

The habit of suffering for unimportant reasons, although it brings some psychological benefits, in the long term turns against you: being carried away by negative experiences, you lose the ability to act adequately and purposefully change your life for the better.

As a countermeasure, you can use a technique, the meaning of which is briefly formulated in the song from the cartoon “The Adventures of Captain Vrungel”:

Whatever you name the yacht, that’s how it will sail.

Call the situation a tragedy or a catastrophe - and it will become a tragedy or a catastrophe. Call it normal circumstances and the problem ceases to be a problem, or at least loses some of its severity.

Focus not on an exaggerated emotional attitude towards the problem, but on finding ways to solve it. This will not only save your mental energy, but will also make your actions more effective.

The External Control Trap

Some people have a constant feeling that everything that happens to them is determined by external forces of one kind or another. People who believe that their lives are controlled from the outside by chance, fate, karma, circumstances or some external forces are called externalists.

To a certain extent, we all depend on chance or on external circumstances, and this must be taken into account. People with

exaggerated, overdeveloped sense of external control. Confident that nothing or almost nothing depends on them, they tend to passively accept everything that happens to them and do not take the initiative in trying to achieve their dreams or change their lives in the desired direction. They place the blame for their failures not on themselves, but on the fact that they do not have enough abilities, strength or will from birth, on bad luck, on “bad karma”, “the evil eye”, “the machinations of enemies”, etc.

The countermeasure is to realize that your destiny depends on you to a much greater extent than you realize. Think about what you would like to achieve, try to develop different strategies to achieve what you want. Start with the smallest and easiest things. The successes achieved will gradually strengthen your self-confidence.

The Internal Control Trap

The opposite of externals are internals, that is, people who are confident that they control their lives from the inside through their own efforts and actions. Internals, as a rule, turn out to be much more successful in life than externals. They consider failure to be an accident and, not despairing of the obstacles encountered along the way, they look for a more effective approach to accomplishing the tasks they have taken on.

People with an overdeveloped idea of ​​internal control fall into the trap of internal control, confident that they can completely control their circumstances. Their self-confidence sometimes grows to such a level that it begins to threaten their own existence. In particular, many young people who are confident in their ability to drive a car or motorcycle overestimate their abilities.

Performing risky and dangerous maneuvers, they die or remain crippled for life.

Some internals feel within themselves a special “magical” power with which they believe they can control events or other people. They may believe that “God supports them” or that “fate is on their side,” etc. The consequences of actions based on such confidence can be very destructive not only for their health, but also for their psyche. Having suffered a serious fiasco, internals may lose self-confidence and “break down.”

The countermeasure is the realization that there is a huge number of events that do not depend on us, on our will and good wishes. Having realized this fact, we should come to terms with the limitations imposed on us and, soberly assessing our capabilities, act effectively within their framework, without trying to change what cannot be changed or influence what cannot be influenced.

The trap of self-obstacles

Some people don't believe they can achieve success because they consider themselves weak, sick, lacking self-confidence, or traumatized by past experiences. Such people sometimes, without realizing it, create obstacles for themselves that prevent them from achieving what they want. The hidden purpose of such behavior is the subconscious protection of self-image, self-esteem. A person who is afraid of failure primarily because of the painful feeling of humiliation that he experiences after being defeated prefers to attribute failure to certain external factors, but not to himself. He creates obstacles for himself so that he can later blame a possible failure on them and thus remain with his self-esteem. If a person who has fallen into the trap of obstacles to himself, despite the difficulties he himself creates, by some miracle manages to achieve success, this success will strengthen his self-esteem, especially since he achieved it “in spite of the obstacles.”

An example would be a student who, instead of studying for an exam, spends the night before it at a party. In this case, the student has the opportunity to attribute failure in the exam to insufficient preparation, and not at all to a lack of ability.

Another example: a man approaches a girl he likes in an aggressive or insulting manner. In this case, he can attribute her negative reaction to the fact that “she imagines a lot about herself” or “does not understand what a real man is,” instead of doubting his masculine attractiveness. The countermeasure in this case is to monitor situations in which you, through your own behavior, make it difficult for yourself to achieve your goal. Try to accept yourself as you are, without trying to embellish your own image. Perfect

there are no people, and you, as you are, are essentially no better or worse than others. Consider failure not as a personal tragedy, not as a painful blow to pride, but as an experience from which you need to draw useful conclusions. Don't let pride or ego get you down.

The trap of illusory relationship

People often make the mistake of perceiving random events as confirming their beliefs. People most easily find connections not only where they expect to find them, but also where they want to find them.

The desire to establish a pattern in certain random events is associated with the need for the existence of a certain orderliness in what surrounds us. By attributing a reason to what is happening, we make events seem more predictable and controllable.

Many people see special “signs” in random events that indicate to them how they should act, directing their destiny in certain ways. Lovers often see signs indicating that their meeting was destined by fate itself, and they were created for each other.

There may also be a negative relationship. A person who is afraid of getting cancer or dying may perceive the illness or death of a friend as a sign that he, too, will soon share his fate.

Such voluntary self-deception in some cases can lead to very unpleasant consequences.

The counter-trick is to be more critical of inferences about a questionable relationship, especially if for some reason you want to identify the relationship or are afraid that it might exist.

The trap of “emptiness of life”

A significant number of people suffer from a feeling of chronic dissatisfaction with themselves and their existence, from a feeling of meaninglessness and emptiness of life. The feeling of meaninglessness and emptiness of life can arise for a number of reasons, ranging from improper upbringing or psychological trauma received in childhood, and ending with a developed sense of duty, forcing a person to suppress his own deep needs and aspirations in order to complete a certain task or to comply with certain social norms.

The countermeasure in this case is the search and awareness of one’s own life meaning, which in many cases is far from a simple psychological task. Dissolving in everyday worries, behind which the main thing slips away, a person loses himself, loses touch with his inner self and, in the end, ceases to understand what is really important to him and what is not.

A feeling of the meaninglessness of life can also arise from a chronic lack of positive emotions, feelings of love and satisfaction from communicating with people and the world around us.

You can learn about what you need to do in order to experience a significantly greater number of positive emotions and increase your level of satisfaction with life from our books “Formula of Happiness”, “Psychotechniques of Happiness” and “The Game Called Life”.

The trap of “living for others”

People who fall into this trap displace their inner emptiness by caring for another person. This could be a lover or spouse, relatives or children. Sometimes under

The appearance of love and care hides the need to control another person, to impose your will on him and thus keep him with you.

A person who “lives as someone else” becomes psychologically dependent on this person, to the point of trying to “sit on his neck,” doing this in an open or veiled form.

In rare cases, a connection of this kind can function quite successfully, but, as a rule, sooner or later, the person with whom the void is being filled, tired of excessive pressure or for some other reason, tries to change the situation. In particular, this happens when older children try to get rid of parental care or leave the family.

Having lost psychological support, a person who is trapped in “life for others” finds himself “at home.” He doesn’t know how to fill his life in the future. The consequence of this can be a severe psychological crisis, including a suicide attempt. There may be accusations of ingratitude such as: “I gave you all my youth (life, health)”, attempts at manipulation by creating a feeling of guilt in the departed, etc.

The countermeasure is to recognize one's need to fill the emptiness of one's life by caring for another person, developing the ability to rely on oneself, and gradually moving from psychological dependence to mature love, when a person is loved for who he is and his freedom and decisions are respected which he accepts.

The trap of mindless thinking

People tend to have constant conversations with themselves, replay certain events in their heads, debate with some imaginary (or real-life) opponents, prove something to themselves, reproach themselves for something, etc.

IN A person falls into the trap of meaningless thoughts when unproductive obsessive thoughts, both negative and positive, capture a significant share of his attention, preventing him from fully perceiving signals emanating from the outside world and effectively interacting with people around him. The countermeasure is to monitor meaningless thoughts and switch to more effective and useful activities.

Having noticed that you have again begun to mentally “chew” a topic that has already been thought about more than once, try to switch from internal dialogue to the perception of the external world: focus on the sounds that you hear, on the objects or landscape that you see, on the sensation that your body experiences or your skin. You can focus on a conversation with someone, delving into the meaning of the phrases spoken by the interlocutor, catching the shades of his voice and mood, etc. Try to

opportunities to relax and choose objects to shift your attention to, the perception of which gives you pleasure.

IN If unproductive thoughts turn out to be too intrusive and you cannot get rid of them by simply switching your attention to external objects, you can assign yourself a certain “punishment”: when obsessive thoughts arise, perform physical exercises (for example, push-ups or squats to the limit of your capabilities) . You can do mental exercises that require maximum concentration, for example, multiplying three-digit numbers in your head and do this until you realize that you have gotten rid of meaningless thoughts.

The tendency to engage in meaningless, unproductive rumination is a habit, and like any habit, it can be broken through negative reinforcement (punishment). Such punishment, in particular, can be physical

or intellectual exercises, if you have the willpower to do them when meaningless thoughts arise.

The “labeling” trap

Learning something new, as we accumulate life experience, we create certain schematic ideas about objects and phenomena and subsequently act on the basis of these ideas. So, we know about fire, that it burns, and that food can be cooked on it. Different people have different ideas about fire, how it can be used, and what can be extracted from it. Someone may be afraid of the flame, while another person, on the contrary, will enjoy contemplating a burning fire.

“Labelling” is the creation of something that is not subject to further specification.

And reconsidering the simplified view of to someone or about something. Imagine that, after seeing a person for the first time and talking to him a little, you decide that this person is stupid, ordinary or uninteresting, and subsequently, when you think about him or communicate with him, you act as if this is the case. Limiting ourselves to “representation-

label,” you lose the opportunity to discover other previously unnoticed traits in a person

And make your communication more complete and mutually beneficial.

“Religion is the opium of the people”, “all women are fools”, “all men are brutes”, “happiness

- in work”, “youth are irresponsible and devoid of moral values”, “all evil comes from the Jews (communists, imperialists)”, etc. - typical ideas-labels that prevent us from adequately assessing the situation and, accordingly, acting wisely and effective.

As an example, consider the story of one of our friends (let's call her Alla). Alla claims that no matter how good, smart and sexy a man is, after three days of communication he ceases to be interesting to her both as an interlocutor and as a sexual partner. Alla has a tendency to “label” – creating for

a short period of some fixed idea about the partner. Having formed a certain image for herself, she calms down and feels satisfied: she “recognized” this person and cannot discover anything new for herself. It is quite natural that interest in a man is completely lost.

Needless to say, getting to know someone in three days is an impossible task; often several years are not enough for this. Instead of enjoying communication, from gradual emotional rapprochement and recognition of her partner, Alla hastily creates some simple and sketchy image of a man, and, due to the loss of interest in him, makes a prediction that their relationship will not lead to anything special. It is not surprising that Alla, despite a large number of casual relationships, remained lonely. Now, in old age, she suffers from loneliness and regrets that she never got married, but, nevertheless, she is not going to reconsider her views.

A countermeasure is to monitor your own “label ideas” and try to look at the situation from a different perspective, expand your ideas with new information, or try to understand the point of view of people who have a different opinion from you on the same issue.

The trap of being loyal to your own ideals

The trap of being faithful to one’s own ideals is partly similar to the trap of “labeling,” but in this case, certain “simplified ideas” that cannot be revised are embedded in the structure of the human personality.

There is nothing wrong with having certain ideals, the problem arises only when the ideals, created over a certain period of time and subsequently lost their meaning, do not allow us to act effectively or flexibly adapt to changes occurring in the world around us.

On the life path of every person there are psychological obstacles, traps, traps. Each person has his own way of overcoming psychological obstacles, traps and traps when realizing meanings, life plans and strategies..
It is very difficult and painful to admit that your life strategy, your way of thinking and acting is wrong.
Lifestrategies, act as a complex dynamic formation, which reflects the relationship between the claims of the subject and the degree of their implementation...
N.I. Kozlov. E. Prokofiev believe that “Life strategy is a way to realize a life position. We are all moving somewhere in life, but everyone has their own path and their own strategy.
There are many strategies in life, and the strategy of Survival and Protection, for example, is different from the strategy of Achievement and Prosperity. However, the most important life strategies are determined by the main choice: the choice to live and move on one’s own energy – or on the energy of someone else, some energy external to oneself. Move yourself through life independently, live with your own energy - or attach yourself to someone or something that will carry you and move you through life."
Psychological obstacles, traps and pitfalls depend entirely on the strength of motivation to perform the desired action, the significance of the obstacle and the number of targeted actions (attempts).
Psychological interference- this is fear, anger, sadness, mental suffering, loneliness, as well as joy, delight or any strong mental arousal.
Psychological interference plays a certain negative role in achieving life meanings and strategy plans. They depend on direct and indirect negative factors affecting the human condition.
Direct negative factors cause damage to the body regardless of his reaction, since they are already harmful in themselves.
Indirect negative factors cause damage only because they provoked an exaggerated defensive reaction in the body.
***
Sometimes a person, without realizing it, sets psychological traps and traps for himself and suffers from this and feels lost.
Psychological obstacles, traps, and traps involve cognitive events, cognitive processes, and cognitive structures.
E. Thomas Douth in his book “Cognitive Psychotherapy” writes:
"Cognitive events are conscious, easily accessible thoughts, self-affirmations and images. Cognitive events include, for example, such momentary thoughts of clients as: “What a fool I am for making such a stupid mistake!” or “I will never cope with this task!” Similarly, a cognitive (imaginative) event is self-image when a person imagines himself deeply anxious, sweating, and forgetting words while speaking in public. Cognitive events are relatively easy to identify, easy to access with assistance, and are considered surface cognitions. Standard questions help to get to cognitive events: “What are you thinking about right now?” or: “What were you thinking when X happened?”, or: “Describe how you see yourself at the moment of the speech.”
Cognitive processes best described as ways of thinking.
Examples of dysfunctional cognitive processes include, for example, the cognitive errors identified by Beck and his colleagues (Beck et al., 1979), such as overgeneralizing, dramatizing and dichotomous (“black and white”) thinking. Similarly, the irrational beliefs identified by Ellis and Dryden (1997) are examples of errors in cognitive processes. Such beliefs include “fear-mongering” (where a simple inconvenience is considered terrible), “inevitability” (when something is believed to happen or not happen, when this event is merely preferable), and conclusions about one’s own worthlessness drawn from ordinary mistakes . Other common examples include downplaying good events and exaggerating bad ones. We can say that dysfunctional cognitive processes involve selective attention to negative information and screening out positive information. Cognitive errors can also be made in the direction of a positive attitude, although they are less characteristic of psychological suffering. In this case, individuals may interpret events in an overly positive way, leading to a Pollyanna attitude, which can also be problematic. (Polyanna syndrome is the ability to find positive in any, even very bad event. Pollyanna, the heroine of the book by American writer Elinor Porter. Pollyanna syndrome is like wearing rose-colored glasses - it helps, but in moderate doses, without fanaticism).
We usually don't have direct access to our own cognitive processes, although we tend to be much better at identifying others' mistakes. However, with the help of an experienced psychotherapist, we can learn to recognize the errors of our own thinking. This is one of the aspects of cognitive psychotherapy.
J. S. Beck (1995) compiled the following list of major cognitive distortions.
1. All or nothing thinking": understanding situations is not in
in general, but from an “either-or” point of view.
2. Dramatization : predicting the future in completely negative
tones.
3. Discredit positive moments: positive experiences
are not taken into account.
4. Emotional reasoning: to consider something to be true because you “feel” it to be true, without considering evidence to the contrary.
5. Labeling: attaching a general and permanent label to oneself and other people.
6. Exaggeration/understatement: exaggeration of negative and
downplaying positive events.
7. Mental filter: greater attention not to positive, but to negative information.
8. Mind Reading: unfounded belief in knowledge of other people's thoughts.
9. Overgeneralization: Drawing broad negative conclusions based on a limited amount of data.
10.Personalization: Unjustifiably seeing oneself as the cause of other people's behavior.
11. Using imperative statements: a fixed and unreasonable understanding of proper behavior for oneself and others, which is reflected in many “should” and “should” statements.
12. Tunnel vision: The ability to see only the negative aspects of a situation.
Cognitive structures were called cognitive schemas and
represent a hidden system of rules and assumptions, depending on the experience of the individual. They define the predisposition to think, interpret and react in a certain way and are outside of conscious awareness. Cognitive structures can be highly adaptive, allowing people to process information rapidly (Beck and Emery, 1985). However, the result of such processing may be ingrained inappropriate structures. Due to the fact that they are established at an early age and are an element of tacit knowledge (Dowd and Courchaine, 1996), it is difficult for an individual to evaluate or accept them if these structures are discussed by others. Usually people experience schemes of the type “this is how the world works, period!” Attempts to help them see things differently are usually met with fierce resistance. They can be functional or dysfunctional and are the main cognitive constructs of what is commonly called personality type.
Dysfunctional schemas are strongly associated with personality disorders. Someone, for example, may have a schema of personal incompetence that causes their actions to be constantly interpreted as “not good enough.” Another may have a pattern of distrust whereby all interpersonal initiatives of others are rejected as suspicious. The third may carry a dependency pattern within himself that makes him feel unable to function alone and without outside help. The fourth may have a defective pattern and constantly feel unloved.
Once established, these patterns act like a stencil that allows consistent data to pass through and filters out dissimilar data, thereby maintaining its immutability. When we consider the early origins and strength of these long-term patterns, it is surprising that people change at all!
Young(Young, 1994) developed a general classification early inadequate schemes (RNS), identifying four of their types.
RNS are stable and enduring cognitive themes that develop in childhood, after which they do not undergo significant changes, but only develop. On their basis, our view of ourselves, the world and our place in the world is formed. These themes are not driven by beliefs and feed on themselves. They are activated by external events, are associated with high-level affect, and are the result of early dysfunctional experiences due to caregivers and peers.
Young identified the following RNNs, identifying five leading themes (January 1994).
Disunion and Rejection
Abandonment/impermanence: The belief that others will not be able to continue to provide ongoing support and protection in the future.
Mistrust/damage: The expectation that others will hurt or deceive.
Emotional deprivation: the belief that it is impossible to receive emotional support from others in the future, which in turn is divided into deprivation of care, deprivation of empathy and deprivation of protection.
Defectiveness/shame: the belief that one is defective, unfit, or imperfect in important respects. Flaws can be internal or external.
Social isolation/alienation: The belief of being separate from the rest of the world or being different from other people.

Damaged autonomy and perceptions
Dependency/incompetence: belief in one's inability to competently cope with one's responsibilities without outside help.
Vulnerability in the face of danger: exaggerated fear of a catastrophe that could strike at any second and which cannot be averted.
Confusion/Undeveloped Self: excessive emotional dependence on a significant environment to the detriment of gaining full individuality.
Fiasco: Beliefs of past and future inadequacy or initial inadequacy compared to other people.

Corrupt restrictions
Right/dominance: conviction of one’s right to have what one wants, when one wants, no matter how it affects others.
“I want what I want, when I want it!”
Lack of self-control/self-discipline a: difficulties with self-control or refusal to resort to it, poor tolerance of frustration. The individual avoids discomfort too much.
Focus on others
Subordination : Excessive transfer of control over one's own behavior and feelings in order to avoid punishment, anger, or rejection from others.
Sacrifice : Excessive focus on meeting the needs of others at one's own expense.
Seeking approval : Excessive emphasis on receiving praise and recognition from others at the expense of one’s own ideas.
May imply a revaluation of status, monetary income, and achievements.

Hypervigilance and restraint
Vulnerability/negativity: an exaggerated expectation that things could go wrong at any second; excessive fear of making mistakes leading to this. “This is sure to end badly!”
Excessive control: Excessive inhibition of spontaneity to avoid making mistakes, alienating others, or losing control.
Strict standards: the belief in the need to always strive to meet very high learned standards, usually to avoid criticism.
Repressiveness: The belief that you should show anger and punish anyone (including yourself) who does not meet your (high) demands and standards.
Young argues that people typically have two or three such schemas and developed the Schema Questionnaire to assess the latter (Young, 1994). Obviously, in moderation, many of these schemes will make an individual's life easier. They can become inadequate only in case of excess. Individuals who have a powerful RNS in one area or another find it very difficult to understand why it might be inadequate. For them it is obvious: “ It's so because it has to be so!»
These are the main cognitive phenomena that cognitive psychotherapy works with. In many cases, hypnosis can greatly assist the clinician in helping clients overcome cognitive errors and distortions at all three levels of cognition and replace them with more adaptive cognitions. The following chapters describe the use of hypnosis to modify dysfunctional cognitions in many psychological disorders" (E. Thomas Douth. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2003, pp. 63-67).

On the website http://www.syntone.ru/library/books/content/2809.... And Medvedev described “40 main psychological traps and ways to avoid them.”

The Trap of a Positive Past
People over 30 years old have a desire to return to the “golden days of childhood”, first love, friends, a lost sense of lightness, carefree life, etc.
The feeling that “everything is already behind” leads to a waste of emotional energy and to programming oneself to the fact that one will never again have such magnificent opportunities and joys, either in the present or in the future.
A countermeasure can be more complete memories, in which the good was side by side with the bad, the pleasant with the unpleasant, a combination of joy with resolved problems and conflicts.

Trap of a negative past
If a person becomes fixated on unpleasant memories and experiences of the past in the present, then he thereby programs himself for future troubles.
A counter-technique is to perform translation exercises to maximize the more detailed recollection of pleasant episodes from the past, and in the present engage in active, purposeful activity. The main thing is to restructure yourself into adaptive, positive self-affirmations. A system of punishment can be developed as soon as negative memories of past troubles arise. You can choose your own punishments - it could be 20 squats, or multiplying two or three-digit numbers in your head, or cleaning the apartment, etc.

The Trap of Negative Forecasting
The instinct of self-preservation sets us a trap of negative forecasting and imaginary dangers. In this case, a person begins to imagine all sorts of troubles that have not yet happened, but may well happen. In most cases, negative forecasts are not justified, but despite this they cause harm that does not allow current problems to be effectively resolved. If negative predictions haunt a person for a long time, then this does more harm than the unpleasant events themselves. Growing uncertainty in a person's life develops into hypervigilance, anxiety, and depletes the individual's adaptive resources. At the same time, control over a dangerous situation is lost, the person feels fear and incompetence.
Counter move. A person can be helped by the conviction that it is impossible to predict the future, and worrying about what you don’t know is simply nonsense. The main thing is to believe that in any situation you can find a way to overcome problems and unpleasant experiences.

The trap of a rosy future (the trap of unfulfilled expectations)
Young people have overly optimistic expectations about the future and overestimate their own capabilities. Disappointment turns out to be much more severe and painful than it would be for a person who soberly assesses reality.
Counter move. Increase your capabilities in the present. Learn to be flexible and ready for change.

The first trap is perseverance - this is a continuation of work on something that has already lost its value. Once upon a time, the business really meant something to us - otherwise we would not have taken it up at all. But its significance and meaning evaporated when we even got to the end. And we continue and continue _ either because we did not notice this change, or simply by inertia. The pointlessness of this kind of activity does not reach us. All these activities become mental traps because they continue without any connection with our needs or interests. As a rule, it does not give us any pleasure to bring them to a “victorious” end. Perseverance without joy is not always the same as the perseverance trap. It is useful to distinguish between “perseverance” and “persistence.” We can persist in pursuing a goal, regardless of the obstacles in our way. But we persist if we continue to drag ourselves in a direction where, as we ourselves know, only a dead end awaits us. Mental inertia will continue to move in a given psychological direction until it is overcome by other psychological forces. And as a result, we make the decision to quit a little later than we should. When a situation of indefinite duration loses its value, we risk finding ourselves in the position of perpetually persistent. And the passage of time alone will not rescue us from this trap. We sometimes move on such a hopeless course simply because it does not occur to us to reconsider our goals. It is especially easy to slip into a perpetual version of negative persistence. Here our persistence asserts the right not to do something that could be worthwhile and useful. Not doing something is a program that has no end. Moreover, such habits persist. As long as we persist in our negativism, nothing in our experience will tell us that it is worth doing.
Negative persistence is the mental structure underlying many phobias. Having once experienced unpleasant feelings, we always try to avoid such stress. But our first bad experience may have been the result of a unique set of circumstances. But since we now avoid all such situations, we have no way of finding out whether this is true or not. And of course, the problem is further complicated by the fact that our anticipation of a panic attack acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. But this is another trap.
If we abstain from something, how do we know that the value of that something has changed for us? The only answer is to not cross things out for the rest of your life. From time to time it helps to take a look at what we have cut out of our lives because it was unpalatable, painful or difficult. Our tastes, courage, abilities, luck can change, and the world itself changes. Sometimes trying to come out of your shell in a relationship with another person can result in unexpected and joyful results.
Amplification
Amplification is a trap we find ourselves in when we put more effort into achieving a goal than is necessary.
[Amplification – lat. amplification - means “strengthening”, “exaggeration” and even “exaggeration”]. To solve each of the problems that life poses to us, a certain amount of work is required. If we do too little, we fail to achieve our goal. If we do too much, we waste our resources.
Let's compare persistence with amplification. When we amplify, the goal for which we are working remains valuable, but our work does not move us towards it. When we persist, our work can be as effective as we want in moving toward a goal, but we have no reason to strive for it at all. We persist when we continue a game that has already become painfully boring for us. We amplify when we think for a long time about a move in a game that is still important to us. And by the way, earning more money than we are able to spend is also an amplification that has mercilessly destroyed more than one life.
A clear sign of amplification is means exceeding those necessary to achieve the goal. There are challenges and problems that create endless opportunities for amplification. No matter how much we do to achieve a goal, we can always do a little more. But there is a law of diminishing returns.
More work will cost us time and effort that we could spend on something else. The question is not whether you can get more benefits by working harder, but whether you can get more benefits by putting the same energy into something else. This is the criterion for the moment when it is necessary to put an end to it. Applying this criterion is sometimes easy, sometimes not so easy. At one extreme are situations in which the costs of additional work outweigh the potential benefits.
As we monitor the different forms of amplification in our daily lives, it is sometimes helpful to stop what we are doing and ask ourselves whether this work is really necessary to achieve our goals.
Fixation
The Dictionary of Foreign Words says that fixation [fr. fixation – fixing something in a certain position].
When fixated, our progress towards the goal is blocked. We cannot continue what we have started until we receive permission and inspiration. Instead of turning to other things, we are left in limbo until we can continue working on this project. Simply put, we are waiting. The time we have does not feel like free time. It seems to us that we are already busy. Like clockwork soldiers who, having stumbled upon a wall, continue to march in place, we continue to do what no longer requires our attention. We are intensely watching the hands of the clock, literally measuring the time minute by minute until the moment when we can run around and fuss again. Fixation can be considered a special case of amplification. When we amplify, the work done brings such little effect that it is not worth spending even the slightest effort on it, but we do this work. With fixation, on the contrary, at some point we simply have nothing to do. But we are still doing business. To solve a seemingly insoluble problem, that is, to be busy in a situation where there is absolutely nothing to do, we come up with absolutely useless things that, although related to the goal, do not bring us one iota closer to it.
Fixation is a pure waste of time. Fixation occurs whenever the continuation of a case depends on circumstances that we ourselves cannot influence in any way. We find something to do when we no longer need anything - we repeat what we have already done. We check everything a second and third time just to kill time.
If the supply of repetitions, desires, sighs and complaints begins to dry up, we have the opportunity to become acquainted with the most refined form of fixation - a state of tense anticipation. Having exhausted all the possibilities to stay on task when there is nothing to do, we still do not allow ourselves to tear ourselves away from the painful situation. Now we sit, mindless, numb, in a state of mental paralysis. But that doesn't mean we don't think. Our mind, in a state of intense anticipation, is empty of content, but at the same time it works at full speed. We feel the tension inherent in mental effort. We are busy. True, if we are asked to explain what exactly, we are unlikely to be able to say anything.
When there is nothing useful we can do to further our goal, the best thing to do is forget about it and do something else, even if that goal is incredibly important and the alternative is nothing more than a trifle. Any meaningful activity is better than just killing time. Periods of forced waiting often become an excellent opportunity to indulge in the small joys of life, for which, given our busy lives, we never have enough time. When we fixate, we throw away the wonderful gift of moments of freedom. There is always one option left: do nothing at all. This at least saves us energy until we get back to work. Fixation is meaningless even when decisions cannot be postponed. If we have to decide right now, it is better to decide at random than to just sit and stare into space.
The most unpleasant type of fixation is anxiety. Worrying means thinking intensely and unproductively about potential disasters over which we have no control. Worry brings nothing but a feeling of powerlessness and self-pity. Unlike most other traps, fixation-anxiety is recognized immediately - when someone else becomes its victim. But when we ourselves are worried, this activity does not seem so meaningless and stupid to us. Without realizing it, we give ourselves over to the superstitious feeling that our problem will become even more acute if we do not constantly keep it in the field of our consciousness. Every potential trouble seems to us like an insidious enemy, who is just waiting for us to turn our backs on him in order to carry out his vile blow. We spend days, or even weeks, in a state of extended fixation.
The shadow of the next stage of our lives has already fallen on us, and we are paralyzed. Our fixation on Monday is what makes it harder for us to enjoy Sunday than Friday night. The expected event can only happen in the vaguest future. We don't allow ourselves to be completely immersed in the present because the present doesn't seem to count. And while we tirelessly indulge in anxiety all day long. And while we are waiting for the present to begin, our whole life can pass by like a dream. Trapped in an empty fixation, we look impatiently into the future, expecting something we cannot even name. We don't know what we'll become when we grow up - and that's why we never grow up. The only thing. What we are sure of is that we have not become who we really are.
But there is no need to wait to become who we really are. We are already what we are, and this is already our life. There is a striking irony hidden in the extended fixation. When we finally become the person we've wanted to be for so long, we are often overwhelmed with nostalgia for the good old days.
Reversion
Sometimes it becomes obvious that our plans have clearly failed. The consequences of failure can be frightening, but there is nothing you can do about it. We've exhausted all our moves and time is running out. But if at this stage we continue to worry about the same problem, we find ourselves in the trap of reversion [lat. reversion return, return].
Reversion is the temporary opposite of fixation. In fixation, we work furiously to hasten the arrival of a frozen future. In reversion, we strive to change the irreversible past. There is, however, a significant difference. When the future, which moves at its own pace, does arrive, the fixation ends. We got what we wanted, although the power of our desires turned out to be completely unnecessary in this process. But reversion never ends on its own.
We can return to old grievances and disappointments until the end of our days, but this will not change the past one iota. Our desire to change the past is not just unnecessary - it is impracticable. Fixation can often be changed by the passage of time. But you have to get rid of the reversion yourself. Every reversion is potentially eternal. We invent a ghostly universe of conventionally past events, filled with all sorts of “would have beens” and “should haves,” in which we can furiously work on solving a no longer existing problem for as long as our heart desires.
Reversion is a “I should have” disease. Of course, not all thoughts in the past are classified as reversible. We can analyze the past so that we don't make the same mistakes in the future. We can just have fun with fantasies about how things could have been. All these cases are easily distinguishable from true reversion. When we find ourselves in the trap of reversion, our thoughts are still tuned to achieving a goal that has already been missed. We behave as if the obstacles to achieving it are still in front of us, and not long ago - as if the past and future will change places if only we press harder and longer. Of course, we don’t consciously believe in this. Our irrational faith is unconscious.
And in reversion, in fixation, we often give vent to our displeasure. When reversing, we mutter and wail displeasedly; when fixing, we grumble and complain. Such complaints are completely useless. But not every complaint is in vain. It is worth distinguishing between complaints and lamentations. Complaints are a more general term for dissatisfaction with the way things are going. Lamentations are regrets about something that cannot be changed. A complaint, if it is not a lamentation, may be meaningful for achieving a goal. That's why there are complaint departments. But no one would think of creating lamentation departments where people could mourn their past, which they cannot change.
Guilt- this is the trap of reversion, that is, a return to our moral failure. Shame is a very similar reversion, when we repent for something, something, someone. Wines and flocks help no more than any other form of reversion. What is done is done. Perhaps we need to be more careful to avoid similar mistakes in the future, or perhaps we need to reconsider our moral principles or our self-image. But again and again returning your thoughts to what has already been done and why it should not have been done is a waste of time.
Guilt and shame- the most painful varieties reversions, just like anxiety is the most painful form fixation.
Guilt is something we do to ourselves. Unpleasant feelings associated with guilt are created and consciously maintained by our own thoughts about guilt. Guilt is a product of our own thinking (in the case of severe depression). In cases of severe depression, it is not uncommon for people to feel guilty, unable to say what the lights did wrong. They only know that they are guilty and unworthy of leniency. Such empty guilt is a mirror reflection into the past of an empty fixation aimed at the future. Guilt is first of all an idea, followed by certain feelings.
In general, guilt is either ineffective or causes us to lose more than we gain. Either way, it's a trap.
If we assign something desired, but not realized, the status of an object of aspiration, while ignoring the infinite number of other desirable, but not realized things, then we experience an arbitrary act of disappointment. Since disappointments, firstly, are painful and, secondly, are determined arbitrarily, then why don’t we, by the same act of will, consider them simply non-existent. What difference does it make how we ended up where we ended up? We are here, and this is reality.
If we do not stop thinking in terms of the subjunctive mood (possible, conditional - “could have been”, “should have been”), then sooner or later we will be consumed by endless regrets. Our mountain of incorrigible failures will not become a millimeter lower. It can be stated with mathematical precision that the possibilities of reversion will only grow over the years. And by the time we grow old, it turns out that we are completely consumed by persistent thoughts about how “it could have been” and “I should have,” “if only I.”
Advance
In all of the pitfalls discussed above, people make the same mistake: working too hard. By persisting, we work towards achieving a goal that has lost its meaning. In amplification, we work harder than necessary to achieve the goal. In a state of fixation, we spend energy on our goal when there is simply nothing to do for this. In reversion, we achieve something that is already beyond our reach. But working too hard is only one of the four cardinal mistakes. In any business we can do too much or too little, and we can start the business itself too late or too early.
Preemption is a trap we fall into by starting too early. Of course, if you start too late, there may not be enough time to complete the work. But you also have to pay for starting too early. When we get ahead of events, we often “rework”, “pre-process” and work in vain.
We overwork when the same result can be achieved more easily a little later. It is not a trap to take action immediately if delaying the start jeopardizes the outcome. But so much of what we do day after day can just as easily be done later. The optimal moment for action comes when the same result can be achieved with minimal investment of time, effort and resources. If such costs are the same over a given period, then any point in that period will be appropriate. Although it often happens that some moments are better suited for taking certain actions than others. Overall, the job gets easier as time goes on. By delaying starting work, we often gain new information that saves effort. Before we start investing in our chosen approach, there may be a more efficient way to do the same job. We may get some new tool to speed up the process. And most importantly: as the ramified possibilities gradually merge into a single reality, the number of unforeseen issues that must be taken into account is steadily reduced. The work gets easier on its own over time.
If some work can be delayed without jeopardizing its timely completion, it should be delayed. In such a situation, we do not lose anything, but we gain the advantage of organizing our actions in accordance with new and more reliable information.
Processing while getting ahead is closely related to the phenomenon of amplification (when we put more effort than necessary into doing the work). The difference lies only in the time limits of certain events.
If at times it happens that we are required to change the course of our actions - even if we are already busy with something completely useful or pleasant, then we fall into the trap of resistance. There are undeniable similarities between the pitfalls of resistance and persistence. In both cases, we continue to do something that we would rather not do. When we persist, we do not understand that we need to stop, but when we resist, we understand that we need to stop for the sake of something more important and more urgent.
The mental inertia of being immersed in the previous task does not allow us to choose the optimal time to switch. As a result, we are too slow to change course. Resistance is a disease of “just a little more.”
There are three sets of circumstances in which we must abandon the past and turn to the future. We need to do this:
a) if delaying the transition to a new one is fraught with a worsening of our situation;
b) if delay may cause us to miss a potential opportunity to improve our situation;
c) if switching to new tasks and problems is inevitable in any case, that is, when we are faced with emergency situations, unexpected opportunities and sudden interference.

Tightening
Often our mind simply refuses to get straight to the point. In short, we look for some minor activity that can delay the inevitable start of work on our task. This is the mental trap of procrastination. Like all traps, it will force us to waste a lot of time and energy.
In form, procrastination is a variation on the theme of resistance. The urgency of events in opposition is imposed from the outside, and we do not want to change our plan of action without resistance. But when we procrastinate, the call to action comes from ourselves, and we procrastinate and procrastinate by not performing this action.
Another difference between resisting and procrastinating is this. that when we procrastinate, we are already busy with something and do not want to quit our task halfway. And while we are procrastinating, we are not doing anything special. Therefore, when we ourselves realized the need to do the intended task, delaying it simply means killing time.
Without a doubt. The most common reason for procrastination is the usual aversion to new work, to new knowledge.
Procrastination is resistance to getting involved in new work even when we as if not busy with anything.

Separation
We fall into the trap of separation when we try to do two things at the same time. We cannot do two things at the same time. requiring our participation consciousness. A closer look at the situation reveals that:

• 1) Either our consciousness makes constant jumps from one thing to another;
• 2) Either one activity goes into an unconscious automatic mode of functioning.

Acceleration
Acceleration is the trap we fall into when we do something faster than necessary.
Acceleration is the mirror image of tightening. It does not follow that these two traps are incompatible. Sometimes we drag at the beginning - and then speed up towards the end.
It is necessary to distinguish between acceleration and simply quick actions, which we will call here in a hurry. We are in a hurry - we are not trapped in acceleration - when an emergency action forces us to do something quickly in the face of danger.
There are both benefits and disadvantages to acting quickly.
The benefits are: What:

• 1) We get rid of unpleasant work faster.
• 2) We achieve the goal we are striving for faster.
• 3) We can start working on the next task earlier.

• 1) We are more likely to make mistakes.
• 2) The work itself becomes more unpleasant due to the annoying feeling of being in a hurry.

We constantly fall into the traps of our own psyche. Experts believe that psychological models that play cruel jokes on us were developed in the process of evolution.

Their purpose was to allow ancient man to quickly absorb information about the world around him and increase his chances of survival in a world full of dangers.

We have given here only some of the psychological effects to which almost all of us are susceptible.

Player error

Biased assessment of inaction

This psychological feature forces us to judge a certain harmful act, which entailed serious consequences, more strictly than an equally harmful inaction.

Impact of the result

When we fall into this type of psychological trap, we tend to judge a decision by its outcome rather than by its complexity or relevance in the context of time.

Rhyme Perception Effect

Depreciation of ideas

If a proposal was put forward by our opponent, we will consider it unsuccessful, or at least less successful than it actually is.

Resistance

Probably everyone has experienced the influence of this psychological effect, especially in adolescence - the desire to do everything in defiance, perceiving requests and advice (of one person or a group of people) as a restriction of personal freedom.

The effect of hostility

It is under the influence of this effect that we regard all the bad or failed deeds of people who are unpleasant to us as manifestations of the true qualities of their character, and everything good that these people do is perceived by us as a forced step or a simple accident.

The illusion of control

Because of this illusion, it seems to a person that he can control random events that are, in fact, beyond his control.

Hindsight effect

Falling under the influence of this effect, we begin to believe that the events of our past could have been predicted in advance.

False Consent Effect

The degree of agreement of others with our point of view is actually lower than we think.

Sameness of others as a delusion

A person is inclined to believe that his social circle consists of more versatile and different people, compared to the social circle of others.

False objectivity

We perceive reality as a single image, believing that our vision of reality is objective, and we consider those who agree with us to be reasonable. Those who disagree, from our point of view, are either ignorant or insufficiently informed.

Spotlight

We exaggerate the importance of our own actions in the eyes of other people.

Zeigarnik effect

This effect is that a person remembers interrupted actions better than completed ones.

Projection

We tend to deceive ourselves that others experience the same emotions and feelings that we do.

The effect of a familiar road

A person usually slightly exaggerates the time it takes him to travel a road that is unfamiliar to him. And vice versa: if the path is known to us, it seems to us that we will overcome it in a shorter time than we actually need.

Zero risk preference

Given the choice of reducing a small risk to zero or significantly reducing a large one, most of us will choose the former.

Blind spot

It seems to us that we fall into psychological traps less often than those around us.