Bad decisions never look like bad decisions at the moment.So, a better strategy and faster way to stock up that "things to avoid" bin is learning from others' mistakes.It amps up our effort to avoid making dumb decisions.

Learn from others' mistakes

Trying too hard to make the perfect choice causes analysis paralysis. When we overanalyze every decision to avoid any kind of regret, it paralyzes us into indecision... that's how people end up wasting their lives. "What if... that means... but then... also... Oh, I've circled back.. but..."Becoming aware of yourself overthinking anything is the first step to stop doing it.

Don't overthink

When you make small decisions early, before they become big — it’s easy. When you put off decisions, they become big — and painful.It's like 'a stitch in time' kind of situation... deal with it when the things is small, before it becomes unmanageable.

Make small decisions & decide often

No matter what, we are making decisions all the time.... sometimes conscious, but more subconscious.Not making a decision... "I'll put it off to another time" is also a decision.So, to have more control over the outcome, we need to make more conscious decisions... earlier.

Earlier decisions = Better decisions

<img width="665" height="435" src="https://i0.wp.com/dariusforoux.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/decisions.png?resize=665%2C435&amp;ssl=1" alt="decisions"><div> 4 min read</div>Do you ever look back on your decisions and think, “Why I on earth did I do that?”We all make bad decisions.<UL><LI>Buying an SUV that sucks up all your cash</LI><LI>Starting a relationship without being in love</LI><LI>Saying yes to a job that you’re not passionate about</LI><LI>Creating products that no one needs</LI></UL>Shit happens (the above examples are all about me). But the funny thing is that bad decisions never seem like bad decisions at the moment.I’ve been reading about the decision-making process of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, two of the most successful investors of all time.In <a rel="noopener" data-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553384619/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=0553384619&amp;linkId=ed917ba1194e6d16c9c27f1667bba13e" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553384619/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=0553384619&amp;linkId=ed917ba1194e6d16c9c27f1667bba13e" data-amzn-asin="0553384619" dir="ltr">Alice Schroeder’s biography of Warren Buffett</a>, I read that Buffet and Munger have a learning strategy that’s based on what you should avoid&nbsp;doing. They identify mistakes and do their best to avoid those mistakes. But as Charlie Munger says:<BLOCKQUOTE>“Smart people do dumb things.”</BLOCKQUOTE>You can never avoid making a mistake. However, you can do your best to&nbsp;avoid making dumb decisions.Plus, by learning from other people’s mistakes, you can make their mistakes your own. <a href="https://dariusforoux.com/thinking-errors/" rel="noopener" data-href="https://dariusforoux.com/thinking-errors/" dir="ltr">You’ll learn faster that way.</a><h2>Don’t Overthink.</h2>Smart people are way too preoccupied with doing the right things. They want to have a perfect life, career, house, business, car, holiday, etc.When you put too much pressure on yourself to make the right decisions, <a href="https://dariusforoux.com/stop-spending-time-in-your-head/" rel="noopener" dir="ltr">you get analysis paralysis.</a>I recently spoke to a friend who wanted to make a career move. I asked him to walk me through his thinking process:<BLOCKQUOTE>“I like the company I work for, but my job isn’t engaging anymore. I’ve been doing this work for four years. And sure, I’ve been promoted twice, but it’s still the same work. So I’ve been looking at other companies. But what if I go somewhere else and that doesn’t work out? I’ll have to move on quick. And that won’t look good on my resume.”</BLOCKQUOTE>I remained silent.<BLOCKQUOTE>“Just hearing myself talk leads me to another thing: Overthinking it.”</BLOCKQUOTE>We both laughed our asses off. I can do the same with overthinking. And I bet you’ve been there too.When you overanalyze every single decision, you become paralyzed. Result? Nothing. Now, that’s a bad outcome!That’s how people end up wasting their lives.The only way you can stop overthinking is by making yourself aware of your thinking process. When I asked my friend about his thinking, he became aware of how irrational his process was.You can’t control the future. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/THINK-STRAIGHT-Change-Your-Thoughts-ebook/dp/B077NJWFR3%5C" rel="noopener" data-href="https://www.amazon.com/THINK-STRAIGHT-Change-Your-Thoughts-ebook/dp/B077NJWFR3\" dir="ltr">So stop thinking about it.</a><h2>Do This Instead: Make Small Decisions. Decide&nbsp;Often.</h2><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578644283/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=1578644283&amp;linkId=a6164485f7afebe24ea3e98ff6c1c651" rel="noopener" data-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578644283/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=1578644283&amp;linkId=a6164485f7afebe24ea3e98ff6c1c651" data-amzn-asin="1578644283" dir="ltr">I recently read Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin</a>. It’s about the way Charlie Munger thinks. One of his decision-making strategies is to avoid mistakes. But that can be interpreted in different ways.You can fear decisions altogether because you might make mistakes. What happens is that you don’t make decisions at all. As Munger says:<BLOCKQUOTE>“The difference between a good business and a bad business is that good businesses throw up one easy decision after another. The bad businesses throw up painful decisions time after time.”</BLOCKQUOTE>You can interpret that Munger quote in different ways. I interpret it as follows:When you make small decisions early, before they become big — it’s easy. When you put off decisions, they become big — and painful.For example, I’m not happy with the email provider I use to send out my newsletter. Their support is slow, there’s no good integration with my online courses platform, and readers have complained about not getting my newsletter.This is something that’s on my radar for more than 1.5 years. At the time my list was less than half of the size it’s today. I also had only one online course. Now, I have three.The hassle of moving to another provider gets bigger every day. Had I moved early, it was easy. By now, it’s a painful process.In life, it’s exactly the same. The longer you stay in a bad relationship, the harder it gets to leave. It’s also true for your job.<h2>Earlier Decisions Lead To Better Decisions</h2>The earlier and more you decide, the more chance that you make better&nbsp;decisions.I often say that there are no right or wrong decisions — only decisions. That’s not entirely accurate. Of course, there’s a difference in the quality of our choices. That’s the topic of another article.But here’s the thing: NOT making a decision is also a decision. If that’s a conscious move, that’s okay. You think about something, and you decide that doing nothing is the best option.However, I’m referring to not making a decision as in “I’ll put it off until another time.”No matter what, you’re making decisions all the time. Instead of making fewer conscious decisions, we need to make them earlier.Because all you need are a few good choices in your lifetime anyway. What will be your best? You only find out after, you guessed it, you’ve made&nbsp;a decision.<h1>Want to improve your life and career?</h1>I'm continually researching ways we can effectively optimize our lives and careers. Join my insiders list to get my latest and most exclusive tips. I’ll also send you my Growth Kit, a bundle of 6 useful resources.<div data-element="fields" data-stacked="false"><button data-element="submit">JOIN NOW</button></div>🔒 I value your privacy. 1-click unsubscribe.

We all make bad decisions. But the funny thing is that bad choices never seem like bad decisions in the moment. I’ve been reading about the decision-making process of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, two of the most successful investors of all time. Here's a simple strategy that helps you to make better decisions.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Do you ever look back on your decisions and think, “Why I on earth did I do that?”

<ul><li>Buying an SUV that sucks up all your cash </li><li>Starting a relationship without being in love </li><li>Saying yes to a job that you’re not passionate about </li><li>Creating products that no one needs </li> </ul>

Shit happens (the above examples are all about me). But the funny thing is that bad decisions never seem like bad decisions atthe moment.

I’ve been reading about the decision-making process of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, two of the most successful investors of all time.

In <a data-amzn-asin="0553384619" data-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553384619/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=0553384619&amp;linkId=ed917ba1194e6d16c9c27f1667bba13e" dir="ltr" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553384619/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=0553384619&amp;linkId=ed917ba1194e6d16c9c27f1667bba13e" rel="noopener">Alice Schroeder’s biography of Warren Buffett </a>, I read that Buffet and Munger have a learning strategy that’s based on what you should avoid  doing. They identify mistakes and do their best to avoid those mistakes. But as Charlie Munger says:

“Smart people do dumb things.”

You can never avoid making a mistake. However, you can do your best to avoid making dumb decisions.

Plus, by learning from other people’s mistakes, you can make their mistakes your own. <a data-href="https://dariusforoux.com/thinking-errors/" dir="ltr" href="https://dariusforoux.com/thinking-errors/" rel="noopener">You’ll learn faster that way. </a>

Smart people are way too preoccupied with doing the right things. They want to have a perfect life, career, house, business, car, holiday, etc.

When you put too much pressure on yourself to make the right decisions, <a dir="ltr" href="https://dariusforoux.com/stop-spending-time-in-your-head/" rel="noopener">you get analysis paralysis. </a>

I recently spoke to a friend who wanted to make a career move. I asked him to walk me through his thinking process:

“I like the company I work for, but my job isn’t engaging anymore. I’ve been doing this work for four years. And sure, I’ve been promoted twice, but it’s still the same work. So I’ve been looking at other companies. But what if I go somewhere else and that doesn’t work out? I’ll have to move on quick. And that won’t look good on my resume.”

“Just hearing myself talk leads me to another thing: Overthinking it.”

We both laughed our asses off. I can do the same with overthinking. And I bet you’ve been there too.

When you overanalyze every single decision, you become paralyzed. Result? Nothing. Now, that’s a bad outcome!

That’s how people end up wasting their lives.

The only way you can stop overthinking is by making yourself aware of your thinking process. When I asked my friend about his thinking, he became aware of how irrational his process was.

You can’t control the future. <a data-href="https://www.amazon.com/THINK-STRAIGHT-Change-Your-Thoughts-ebook/dp/B077NJWFR3\" dir="ltr" href="https://www.amazon.com/THINK-STRAIGHT-Change-Your-Thoughts-ebook/dp/B077NJWFR3%5C" rel="noopener">So stop thinking about it. </a>

Do This Instead: Make Small Decisions. Decide Often.

<a data-amzn-asin="1578644283" data-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578644283/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=1578644283&amp;linkId=a6164485f7afebe24ea3e98ff6c1c651" dir="ltr" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578644283/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dariusforoux-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=1578644283&amp;linkId=a6164485f7afebe24ea3e98ff6c1c651" rel="noopener">I recently read Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin </a>. It’s about the way Charlie Munger thinks. One of his decision-making strategies is to avoid mistakes. But that can be interpreted in different ways.

You can fear decisions altogether because you might make mistakes. What happens is that you don’t make decisions at all. As Munger says:

“The difference between a good business and a bad business is that good businesses throw up one easy decision after another. The bad businesses throw up painful decisions time after time.”

You can interpret that Munger quote in different ways. I interpret it as follows:

When you make small decisions early, before they become big — it’s easy. When you put off decisions, they become big — and painful.

For example, I’m not happy with the email provider I use to send out my newsletter. Their support is slow, there’s no good integration with my online courses platform, and readers have complained about not getting my newsletter.

This is something that’s on my radar for more than 1.5 years. At the time my list was less than half of the size it’s today. I also had only one online course. Now, I have three.

The hassle of moving to another provider gets bigger every day. Had I moved early, it was easy. By now, it’s a painful process.

In life, it’s exactly the same. The longer you stay in a bad relationship, the harder it gets to leave. It’s also true for your job.

Earlier Decisions Lead To Better Decisions

The earlier and more you decide, the more chance that you make better  decisions.

I often say that there are no right or wrong decisions — only decisions . That’s not entirely accurate. Of course, there’s a difference in the quality of our choices. That’s the topic of another article.

But here’s the thing: NOT making a decision is also a decision. If that’s a conscious move, that’s okay. You think about something, and you decide that doing nothing is the best option.

However, I’m referring to not making a decision as in “I’ll put it off until another time.”

No matter what, you’re making decisions all the time. Instead of making fewer conscious decisions, we need to make them earlier .

Because all you need are a few good choices in your lifetime anyway. What will be your best? You only find out after, you guessed it, you’ve made  a decision.

I'm continually researching ways we can effectively optimize our lives and careers. Join my insiders list to get my latest and most exclusive tips. I’ll also send you my Growth Kit , a bundle of 6 useful resources.

🔒 I value your privacy. 1-click unsubscribe.

Want To Make Better Decisions? Do This - Darius Foroux

Learn from others' mistakes

Don't overthink

Make small decisions & decide often

Earlier decisions = Better decisions

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