The Bias Checklist: Spotting Assumptions Before They Sink You

​Biases are assumptions. Assumptions are delusions. And delusions kill discernment. If you want to see clearly, start by checking yourself against these common cognitive traps:

1. Confirmation Bias: Are you only looking for evidence that supports what you want to believe?
2. Optimism Bias: Are you overestimating your chances of success while ignoring the risks?
3. Survivorship Bias: Are you idolizing success stories without considering all the failures you don’t see?
4. Dunning-Kruger Effect: Are you overestimating your expertise in an area you barely understand?
5. Halo Effect: Are you letting one good quality (like a flashy campaign) make you think the whole idea is solid?
6. Anchoring Bias: Are you stuck on the first piece of information you heard about this idea?
7. False Consensus Effect: Are you assuming others share your beliefs or preferences?
8. Illusion of Control: Are you overestimating how much influence you have over external factors?
9. Outcome Bias: Are you judging decisions based on results instead of the soundness of the process?
10. Recency Bias: Are you focusing too much on what worked last week, ignoring bigger trends?

If you don’t recognize these biases, they’re probably running the show. And that means your decisions are based on stories—not reality.

Note, there's way more biases than these, but these are the ones that I think are most relevant to entrepreneurs and artists in regards to decision making.