Rewire the brain to create the opportunity for healthy decision making

February 20, 2019 11:20 AM

The good news about most decisions is, they don’t have to be made perfectly.

Nor do they have to be made exhaustively.

Here’s why.

First of all, every truly important decision has a risk element. There’s no avoiding that. Think about it. How many of the decisions you make each day have absolutely correct answers? May as well just pull the trigger. Trust that the right decision is the one you make. And as long as you’re not threatened by the consequences of that decision, you’ll have plenty of time to change course if needed.

The other thing is, few of your decisions benefit from such complete analysis. It’s helpful to weigh the options and do your research and check in with your intuition along the way. But don’t trap yourself in indecision limbo for too long. Shorten the execution cycle. You already know what your decision is anyway. Hell, you probably knew five minutes into the process. But that was a week ago. It’s time to get going.

Goldberg’s outstanding book about cracking the writing craft suggests a similar approach to aspiring novelists. In order to alleviate your thin layer of anxiety, she says, leave no space for indecision. Set everything in advance when it comes to writing time. That way, all you have to do is show up, open your notebook and push the pen.

Obama had a similar approach to his presidency. He famously only wore gray or blue suits, in an attempt to pare down decisions. He didn’t want to waste time making decisions about what he was wearing. He was too busy being the leader of the free world.

Your challenge, then, is to create a routine that allows you to preserve your decision making budget for the things that matter.

Or, in the best case scenario, train yourself to eliminate decisions from needing to be made in the first place.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you more concerned with making the right decisions or making decisions right?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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