The Anchor Awareness Practice

The real value of understanding anchoring is not just better negotiating — it is becoming a better thinker. Every day, anchors shape your judgments, and most are invisible, which is what makes them powerful.

Try these questions as a daily practice:

• Seeing a price: "What is making me think this is reasonable? What number did I meet first?"
• Hearing a numerical claim: "Is this meant to anchor me? What would I estimate if I had never heard it?"
• Judging a quantity: "Am I adjusting from an anchor, and have I adjusted enough?"