The things you judge fastest in other people are worth a second look. Sometimes they’re things you’re scared to see in you.

A reaction that arrives before thinking usually came from somewhere personal. Fast judgement tends to cluster around traits you have worked to suppress, or ones you suspect are there anyway, so the irritation is partly recognition. That does not make every criticism a confession, since some things are just annoying. The speed is the part worth noticing.

Next time you write somebody off in half a second, ask whether the trait is familiar, and be honest rather than harsh about the answer. If it is familiar, you have found something to work on; if not, you have lost a few seconds. Either way the judgement gets quieter over time.