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A Practical Manual for Making Better Decisions
Forget the past
Remember the lessons you've learned from the past, but don't let your past experiences affect what you choose in the present.
You can't change the past, so instead, look to the present and future.
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"Good" Decisions
- Logical decisions tend to trump emotional ones, since emotions can sometimes make us biased or see things in an inaccurate light.
- Thought-out decisions tend to trump impulsive ones, because you've spent more time on the problem.
- Flexible decisions tend to trump concrete ones. Some eventual degree of flexibility usually offers more adaptable options.
Step away from the problem
Distancing yourself from a problem can help you face it in a more objective way.
Instead of remaining in your own frame of mind, consider yourself as an outside observer, such as a friend giving advice or a fly on the wall. Removing yourself in this way helps you filter out some of your cognitive biases and lean you toward a more rational decision.
Give yourself some time
Accuracy and reliability in decision making tends to increase if you first give yourself some time to decompress and collect yourself.
This may also help you remove yourself from the problem, knocking out two of these strategies at a time.
Know that there is no right answer
Remind yourself that there's almost never an objectively correct answer.
All you can do is make the decision that's the best for you at the time, and it's probably going to work out okay either way.
Forget the past
Remember the lessons you've learned from the past, but don't let your past experiences affect what you choose in the present.
You can't change the past, so instead, look to the present and future.
Commit
Pick an option early and fully commit to it.
Overanalyzing a problem isn't going to help anything. It's just going to bring up new complications, force you to second-guess yourself, and possibly double back on a decision you've already made.
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Acknowledge biases
Think critically about your own mentality and what factors could contribute to a subjective decision: How much and how well do you know the other people involved with the decision? What past...
Pro and Con Lists
Take each option in your decision and make two lists for each; on one side, you'll have all the benefits of an option and on the other, you'll have all the downsides.
Try to give your list a sense of scale. This can help you think through all the positives and negatives of all your options, and help you visualize the generally best candidate.
The outsider's perspective
Imagine your friend telling you the problem using only the most important information, and think about what you might say in return.
Imaging your own advice if you were counseling a friend on making the decision can help you understand what an outsider's perspective might be.
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Do some math
You make one decision, wait, make a second decision, and then make a compromise between the two.
Averaging the two judgments tends to outperform trying to identify the better of the tw...
Pair a good decision with a bad one
If you only allow yourself your vice while you’re simultaneously being virtuous, you’ll spend more time doing things that are good for you and less time doing the “bad” things.
The researchers call this “pre-bundling” and say it allows people to couple instantly gratifying activities (such as watching trashy TV) with a behavior that’s beneficial in the long term but requires willpower (like working out).
Take things one at a time
Next time you’re faced with a problem with many possible answers, pinpoint your end goals and then come up with a solution for each.
This is likely to lead to the generation of a diverse set of options covering multiple categories of solutions.
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Our emotions are short-term biased
Our emotions are obsessed with the present moment because it’s difficult to look past our immediate fears and anxieties. And this prevents good decision-making.
The sweet spot in de...
“Risky” behavior you should consider
- Propose “moonshot” ideas, knowing that 90% of them will get shot down, but that if one of them gets accepted, it will be a huge boost to your career.
- Be excessively bold in your dating life, stating exactly who and what you want.
- Buy difficult books expecting that most of them won’t be useful to you, but also that, occasionally, one will completely change your life.
- Say yes to every invitation knowing that most of the events/people will be boring, but that occasionally you’ll meet someone really interesting.
Optimizing life for fewer regrets
Most of us are afraid of messing thing up. But we rarely ask, “Would I regret that failure?” If the answer is “no,” then that is absolutely a risk you should pursue.
Sometimes, the right decision becomes crystal clear when put into these terms.
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