I can’t remember where I read this but I believe it to be true. We never actually experience reality, we only perceive what we think is reality. They saying “perception is reality” doesn’t really hold up. Perception is not reality.
Perceiving as close to reality as possible and then making decisions based on that perception is probably a good path forward.
The problem is, how do we know what we are perceiving is close to reality?
The best way, I think, is to cross reference your thoughts with credible people who probably hold different views than you do. It’s so easy today to only seek information that supports your point of view (confirmation bias).