Assumption triggers help pull your assumptions into your conscious mind. You do this is by associating assumptions with ACT.
Here are the three steps.
1. Find the important assumptions. Below I’ve listed some assumptions that pilots sometimes make, grouped into a few areas. You could treat this as a starting point if you are a pilot, or you could extract a few from these for your own field. You can also add to your list based on assumptions you find you make in your own experiences, or after learning about other’s experiences. Once you have a list, rank them according to likelihood and possible impact. Focus on the high likelihood and high impact ones first.
2. Visualize the assumption and swish it. For each of the assumptions listed, you then use the swish technique to visualize yourself in a scenario where you might be saying or thinking that. Get into the low state and say the assumption, either aloud or in your mind. Then straighten up, smile, take a deep breath and say “but first, I’ll ACT on it!” Then follow through with the ACT steps below.
Repeat this step a few times for each assumption. Also, be careful to only do the visualizations while in a low state, otherwise the assumptions may act as assertions (which you don’t want).
3. Back them up with assertions. Write a few positive assertions for each category. Add them into your review list. This also helps trigger you when you make an assumption that’s inconsistent with your assertions. Add in ACT somewhere in the assumption, for example “The weather is always variable and unpredictable, so I ACT on it.”