How to Assume the Best in People

“Consistently assuming the worst in others only trains the narrative of our mind to keep assuming the worst in others.”

Air Date

September 5, 2022

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A few years ago, we were returning home from a long road trip when we hit an unexpected delay at a rest stop. Another family blocked our way and it felt like forever before we could get back on the road. When we finally did, I (Carly) turned to Neal to share our annoyance but, to my surprise, his response was totally different from mine! If we’re honest, we all have a tendency to assume the worst in other people, especially when something they’re doing is an inconvenience to us or makes us feel unseen or unheard. In this episode, we are taking a deeper look at what it looks like to think highly of others and assume the best.

Key Takeaways

“Part of the work of joy is assuming the best in people.”
“The narrative of our mind becomes the stance of our life.”
Believing the worst in people comes from our brains trying to identify threats and keep us safe. But when we don’t keep it in check, we always jump to the worst-case scenarios.
In order to start living from a place of joy, we’ve got to train our brains to think differently about others.
Assuming the worst looks like being suspicious of the other person’s intent and then grows into a full-blown spin down the path of bad intentions.
We can break the pattern by asking these three questions: What’s the story I’m telling myself about others? What’s the story I’m telling about myself? And what’s the story I am telling myself about the world?
It’s hard to assume the best in people when we expect the best of people. We are all human and we all mess up. In order to live with joy, it’s important to extend grace to others.