In this short motivational monologue, the speaker introduces the concept of a "bias for good"—the habit of giving others the benefit of the doubt rather than assuming negative intent. He explains that adopting this mindset protects the speaker’s own well‑being, because negativity only harms us when we choose to engage with it. By contrast, a "bias for cynicism" leads to a perpetual expectation that others are hostile, which ultimately leaves the individual feeling worse despite occasional validation. The speaker invites listeners to reflect on personal relationships where they may have defaulted to negativity and to consider how shifting to a bias for good could feel more liberating. The piece ends with a light‑hearted comment about his hair, underscoring the informal, conversational tone.
Chapters
Hey everyone, here is your Moment of Yes for Monday, July 14th. Up in Northern Michigan, not hating that. So I was watching a video the other day and it was a gentleman talking about he tries to live by having a bias for good. Meaning whenever someone does something, whether it's on the road or just something in life that we could, you could perceive as, well, that was rude or that was That guy cut me off. What an idiot. Or what a jerk. Or someone said something to me. And he's like, I just kind of have a bias of good where— or a bias of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. And I love that because he's like, you know, because hey, who knows what's going on in their life? Who knows what happened just before that? Who knows what they're processing? And so how they show up and behave, we can create a whole story about it. But you know what, I'm just kind of a bias for good. Which really, at the end of the day, it's, it's how we respond to them. It's really not about them. It's, it's about how we take care of ourselves. If I go through life with a bias of good, even when I run into people who actually maybe aren't good or don't have good intentions, that negatively— that doesn't really have a negative impact on me unless, right, I choose to keep engaging with that person. And so having a bias for good really just allows us to kind of go through life. And when the negative stuff happens, we can adjust and choose not to keep participating. We don't have to respond negatively. We don't have to get sucked in contagiously to someone else's negativity. When we have a bias for cynicism, when we have a bias for negativity, all that means is that we just kind of go through life. Assuming that everyone's out to get us, assuming that everyone's intent was bad. And all we end up doing is— even so, the few cases where we do run into people, that is their intent. Yeah, maybe we feel vindicated, justified, um, for feeling a certain way, but it doesn't really make us feel any better. And then we go through life assuming that everyone else, the majority of which who are pretty good people, we just assume the worst and see the worst. How would you rather live? With a bias for good or a bias for negativity? Can you think of someone maybe in your life where maybe you've tended to have a bias of negativity for that person or that situation? And how might it feel to kind of shift that and give them the benefit of the doubt? That's your moment of yes for today. Have an awesome day, everyone. Look at that hair, right? That is on fire.
