Your future self in decision-making situations

People who have high self-control aren’t missing out on enjoyment. Not being able to resist temptation and enjoying life are not the same things.

They tend to eat in a healthily way, exercise more, sleep better, drink less alcohol, smoke fewer cigarettes, achieve higher grades at university, have more peaceful relationships, and are more financially secure.

Research showed that self-control is ultimately limited by our biology. We can’t exercise effortful self-control indefinitely – the brain has to do regular maintenance to remain functional.

Decisions are a cost-benefit analysis of risking something small for the opportunity to gain something big.

• Good decisions can be: Exercising, meditating for 10 minutes daily, finding the courage and striking up a conversation with someone, applying for jobs that you may or may not get.
• Bad decisions can be: lying or pretending to someone, driving unsafely, sending angry text messages, or staying up late drinking before an important meeting or exam in the morning.

Trade-offs are not something as simple as flipping a coin. Our values guide us towards what we want in life, and it is not the same for all. Example: Buying a house has a trade-off of mortgage for the next ten or more years. This is subjective and depends on what we value in life.

Indecisive people suffer because they don’t know their inner values and what they care about.

Take care of yourself in the long run with these compounding activities:

1. Learning how to make something of value to others.
2. Learning a skill that makes you stand out of the crowd.
3. Reading books about distinct topics that are relevant to your career and personal growth.
4. Setting up a broad-based fund that invests some money from your income, to build your wealth.

Reading makes our brain exercise, and all successful people share this habit.

Reading reduces stress and increases your emotional intelligence. The slice of life your brain is exposed to, whether you read for self-improvement or pleasure, will make you more focused at work.

The more enjoyable a task, the less we procrastinate on it. 

Boring tasks are more likely to lead to procrastination than difficult ones, that's why we keep postponing all the busywork (work that keeps us busy but has little value in itself.)

Difficulty maintaining focus in the face of immediate and more appealing distractions.

If we work in an environment where we're bombarded with distractions and we are not capable of resisting them, we're more likely to procrastinate.

They are mental shortcuts we use, which generally help us make quick decisions, but don’t always work out for the best. 

Our brains were never wired to be truly rational because there is way too much information in the world for us to process. We evolved instead to make decisions quickly.

For most people, self-discipline is hard labor. It’s something to despise. But if you approach self-discipline with that attitude, it’s pretty hard to develop it.

Self-discipline is not hard at all. The lack of self-discipline is hard. 

When you are not disciplined, you know only one part of the equation: immediate gratification (our desire to experience pleasure or fulfillment without delay).

But delayed gratification (resistance to the temptation of an immediate reward in preference for a later reward) is so much better in the long turn. 

• Optimism Bias is when we are sure about the success of a certain project or venture and do not take into account the scenarios of failure.
• Temporal Discounting is a cognitive error where we make decisions taking into account the present condition, and not bothering about any future consequences.

Just one ‘Pre-Mortem’ meeting at the beginning of the project can uncover many blind spots, recalibrating the mindset of all the team members.

Anticipating the future also fosters honest and open communication, and quells any fear.

If you're overthinking an idea you can actually do something about, the best thing you can do is take action now.

This doesn't mean you have to suddenly run off to make something, it just means you start taking a step forward. We tend to overthink because we fear failure, but if we just start working, that dissipates quickly

• Relabel the ideas you're overthinking ("self-doubt," "anxiety," etc)
  
• Reframe your experience and identify your thinking errors
  
• Refocus your attention on the part that matters
  
• Revalue your brain's messages with the new information
  

The main reason is that indulgence is much easier than the alternative. 

Self-control requires work. It's easier to focus on work that provides temporary satisfaction.

• The simplest way to get better at anything is to practice. As a weekly exercise, pick something you do in excess and stop for a week. After you've practiced for several weeks, try for longer.
•  Find Adequate Distractions as a method of self-control.
• Take Care of Yourself so that you do not deplete your reserves.
• Make it harder to make the wrong choice. 
• Introduce Fear. It's easier to adjust your diet or kick a habit if you truly believe it's going to kill you or cause immediate harm.

In anything we do, there’s always ~20% of activities that will deliver 80% of our desired results.

It’s easy to be wrapped up in ‘busy’ work without ever getting anything done. Pareto’s Law is a useful mental model to be more effective, rather than just be efficient.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. So try placing artificial time limitations.

If we’re given three hours to complete a task that normally would take an hour, we’ll find a way to fill those three hours. However, when we’re down to the final thirty minutes, we’re suddenly feeling the pressure to get things done.