| COGNITIVE DISTORTION DETECTOR - |
| Always Being Right |
| What it is: Always Being Right is when your brain becomes a fortress, and every conversation turns into a battle you must win. You don't just have opinions, you have facts, and anyone who disagrees simply doesn't understand reality. |
| You'd rather be right than be happy, right than be close to people, right than actually learn something new. Your identity becomes so wrapped up in being correct that admitting a mistake feels like losing yourself. |
| What it sounds like: "You don't know what you're talking about." "I know that technique won't help me." "Actually, what happened was..." "I've tried that before, and it doesn't work." "You're wrong about me." "I don't need to hear this - I already know." |
| Why it's a trap: This distortion turns every interaction into a competition where connection becomes impossible. When you're busy defending your position, you can't actually hear what others are offering. You miss out on new perspectives, helpful advice, and genuine intimacy because your walls are always up. |
| It also keeps you stuck. If you already "know" something won't work, you'll never genuinely try it. If you can't be wrong about your limitations, you'll never discover your actual capabilities. You end up protecting your ego while your growth suffers, and relationships become exhausting power struggles instead of supportive exchanges. |
| The irony? Being wrong sometimes is actually a sign of intelligence and courage, not weakness. |
| Try this instead: Practice curiosity over certainty. When you feel that familiar urge to correct or defend, pause and ask: "What if there's something here I haven't considered?" Try responding with "That's interesting" or "Tell me more" instead of "Actually..." |
| Remember that being wrong about small things doesn't make you fundamentally flawed. It makes you human. And sometimes, the people who love you might see things about you that you can't see yourself - and that can be a gift, not an attack. |
| Today's Thought Tweak |
| Original thought: "You don't know what you're talking about. I know that technique won't help me." |
| Upgrade: "I haven't had success with similar approaches before, but maybe there's something different about this one. Help me understand how it might work." |
| The shift moves you from defending your limitations to exploring your possibilities - where real change actually happens. |