Neuroscience Reveals 1 Mental Health Secret That Will Make You Smarter and More Resilient

Ever come to the crossroads of making an important decision and wondered if you’re making the right one? When you’re looking to make better decisions, it can really help to take a moment and ask yourself, “In what ways could I be wrong?”

I have come to that crossroads once or twice in the past and considered a different perspective by avoiding the common pitfalls of overconfidence, personal biases, or getting stuck on one idea that only I think is brilliant. Worse, ruminating about why a failed decision happened and fixating on that bad decision to the point where I’m afraid of acting with confidence.

Next time you’re placed in a high-stakes situation and are not 100 percent sure what to do, try this little visualization exercise. Picture yourself in a courtroom drama, where you play both sides—prosecutor and defense attorney. You present your case from both sides to clarify a more rational course of action. Maybe you can step into the role of an objective jury member–observing and weighing in the pros and cons of each argument you’re presenting to yourself. Now that you’ve stepped back, reassessed, and eliminated your bias and negativity, and maybe even reimagined the possibilities, what decision will you take?

According to research published in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, “self-distancing” is a promising mental health tool that can benefit everyone, from high-stress professionals to people dealing with daily challenges. Instead of analyzing negative experiences from a first-person viewpoint, self-distancing encourages you to view things as a fly on the wall, assessing situations rationally and with less emotional weight. In the study, participants who regularly practiced self-distancing experienced less rumination—the cycle of overthinking negative events that can fuel stress and even depression. By sidestepping this negative spiral, these individuals reported a boost in emotional resilience, finding it easier to reframe and navigate stressful situations without getting bogged down in negativity.

Per the research, most people spend too much time having a “self-immersed perspective.” Let’s say you’re replaying a painful memory from your own eyes, where you ask, “Why did I feel this way?” In this case, you’re deeply inside your own experience, reliving it, which keeps you focused on the raw emotions and specific details of what happened. This way of thinking often keeps people focused on their distress and less on understanding or learning from it.

A self-distanced perspective allows you to think more broadly, create psychological distance, see the bigger picture, and put the experience in a more manageable context. By mentally stepping back from the situation, people may be able to provide more constructive feedback and improve their interpersonal interactions.

The study’s authors also argue that self-distancing helps people reduce distress because it leads to a healthier form of reflection, allowing them to make sense of the experience rather than just reliving it. This broader view can lead to adaptive or positive self-reflection, while staying in the self-immersed mode may keep people feeling stuck in their emotions.

The beauty of self-distancing is its accessibility. Leaders and entrepreneurs, often facing big decisions and setbacks, can apply this approach daily. It requires no elaborate intervention—just a mental shift that can be incorporated into everyday moments, helping leaders manage stress and foster a resilient mindset. This method offers a straightforward addition to your mental toolkit, supporting focus and perspective, and getting you back on track.