When you say that "your intuition told you to do X" but you haven't really done any risk-benefit analysis, it means you haven't really thought through the decision, you just want to do something and you use intuition as an excuse.Intuition is most helpful when it is pointing in a different direction from your previous analysis.

When Intuition Is Not Helpful

This practice involves writing down the best and worst-case scenarios for different options. They are good for investing-related decisions but can be applied to many other instances: If you can cap the downside, and there is an asymmetrical upside, then you know at least your maximum losses.These are more helpful and more actionable than pro-con lists (which can be just long lists of different things to compare and contrast).

Using Risk-Benefit Lists

When you're considering a decision, scan your head-> chest-> gut and look for a YES signal in all three areas; that is the only situation in which you should say yes.To identify what a YES feels like, it's helpful to first look for NO signals: meaning, for any contractions in your head, chest, and gut.This practice is helpful when you did all the objective analysis and they all say you should do something, but that conclusion feels off.

A Whole Body Yes

You don't need to make the perfect decision all the time, and if you want to preserve your decision-making energy for the things that actually matter, then try to make decisions that are not critical (e. g. deciding what toilet paper to buy or which Airbnb to rent) as quickly as possible.If they are reversible (easily undone - like being able to get a refund for something or being able to buy another cheap item) even if they seem like big decisions, making these decisions quickly is a habit worth cultivating. It will save you energy so you can focus on decisions where the stakes are higher.

Making Reversible Or Fixable Decisions Fast

How to prioritize what matters, and how good decisions are made.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

communication

Communication

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

timemanagement

Time Management

Making Better Decisions

Tim Ferriss on decision-making heuristics and mental models. Sign up for Tim's free weekly newsletter "5-Bullet Friday' here: https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Filmed at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum in Austin, TX. SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW LINK TO ALL SHOW TRANSCRIPTS: https://tim.blog/2018/09/20/all-transcripts-from-the-tim-ferriss-show/ About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

Tim Ferriss on decision-making heuristics and mental models. Sign up for Tim's free weekly newsletter "5-Bullet Friday' here: https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/

Filmed at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum in Austin, TX. 

SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW
LINK TO ALL SHOW TRANSCRIPTS: https://tim.blog/2018/09/20/all-transcripts-from-the-tim-ferriss-show/
 
About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.

Connect with Tim Ferriss:
Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ 
Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/
Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/
Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/
Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. The Observer and other media have called Tim “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads. It has now exceeded 800 million downloads. 

Listen to The Tim Ferriss Show podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast
Sign up for Tim's "5-Bullet Friday" free email newsletter with 1.5M+ subscribers: https://tim.blog/friday 
