1 00:00:06,970 --> 00:00:12,570 I'm Russell and this is the Science of Self, brought to you by Newton Media Group and Peter Hollins. 2 00:00:12,730 --> 00:00:16,800 Stick around to learn how to improve your life from the inside out. 3 00:00:17,570 --> 00:00:23,070 Today is May 25, 2023, and here are today's quick hits. 4 00:00:23,650 --> 00:00:31,560 Today is not Star Wars Day, but today is the day that Star Wars premiered way back in 1977. 5 00:00:31,930 --> 00:00:40,234 It's also a day to do some tap dancing, wrap up your throat and keep it nice and warm because today is both Towel Day and Thyroid Day. 6 00:00:40,352 --> 00:00:46,438 It's a day to celebrate and commemorate African liberation as Global Africa Day hits. 7 00:00:46,614 --> 00:00:53,002 For me, today is Geek Pride Day, so you can celebrate that with a bath bomb. 8 00:00:53,146 --> 00:00:58,974 If your name is Cody or Enzo or George, today is also your day. 9 00:00:59,092 --> 00:01:03,814 Our lunch menu from today's holidays and celebrations is again limited. 10 00:01:03,882 --> 00:01:12,366 It's Brown Bagged Day, so you have to bring your own, but you can accompany that with either a wine or more specifically, a Chardonnay. 11 00:01:12,478 --> 00:01:14,500 Both those are celebrated today. 12 00:01:15,510 --> 00:01:22,214 And now onto the content from Peter Holland's book the Art of Strategic Decision Making. 13 00:01:22,412 --> 00:01:36,022 Peter Hollins presents us with several techniques that will slow down our decisions and give us a chance to think through things carefully before we get carried away with the preferred outcome and forget to consider other aspects. 14 00:01:36,166 --> 00:01:46,430 He's going to provide us with templates that we can use to make sure all of our bases are covered and that we're making the best move for ourselves in light of all the relevant factors. 15 00:01:46,930 --> 00:01:50,634 First up on the list is the 1010 Rule. 16 00:01:50,762 --> 00:01:52,240 Thanks for listening today. 17 00:01:56,710 --> 00:02:01,966 The first part to incorporate into your mental checklist is the 1010 Rule. 18 00:02:02,158 --> 00:02:07,540 The Ten 1010 Rule is very straightforward and asks you to travel through time. 19 00:02:07,990 --> 00:02:17,400 When you're at a fork in the road, ask yourself how you feel about the choice you make ten minutes from now, ten days from now, and ten months from now. 20 00:02:18,010 --> 00:02:23,578 Depending on the scope and context of the decision, you can make it longer or shorter terms. 21 00:02:23,664 --> 00:02:37,790 In nature, shorter periods of time correspond to decisions with smaller steaks and more immediate consequences, while longer periods of time correspond with larger steaks and more delayed consequences. 22 00:02:38,130 --> 00:02:44,560 If you want to debate eating a slice of pizza, you might do ten minutes, 10 hours and ten days. 23 00:02:44,930 --> 00:02:51,250 You'd find that eating a pizza or hamburger in the moment really doesn't affect your life very much in any timeline. 24 00:02:51,670 --> 00:02:58,998 If you want to decide what city to move to, you can use ten weeks, ten months, and then ten years in the future. 25 00:02:59,164 --> 00:03:09,718 You can see how your decisions can greatly impact your life if you view it through the lens of the future, travel through time and explore the consequences. 26 00:03:09,814 --> 00:03:19,100 In each scenario, the 1010 Rule begs you to ask your future self about the decisions and approaches you make today. 27 00:03:19,790 --> 00:03:23,758 Make sure you're happy with the outcomes of each timeline you think about. 28 00:03:23,924 --> 00:03:27,550 If you aren't, is it actually a wise decision? 29 00:03:28,210 --> 00:03:35,090 Likewise, if you aren't happy with all of the outcomes, then are you willing to take on that informed risk? 30 00:03:36,150 --> 00:03:48,258 The rule lays out consequences and after effects in a very real and tangible manner and forces you to step back from your immediate emotion or impulse about a course of action or decision. 31 00:03:48,354 --> 00:03:55,240 It creates a mindset in which you articulate your short and long term goals before moving toward them. 32 00:03:55,770 --> 00:03:59,820 How do they play out and what ripple effects will they have? 33 00:04:00,830 --> 00:04:13,360 The 1010 rule impacts your range of choices because things that may seem important or easy to do now might not lead to either the small or big goals you want for the future. 34 00:04:13,890 --> 00:04:17,182 They might actually lead nowhere and just waste your time. 35 00:04:17,236 --> 00:04:30,850 If you think through the appropriate 1010 time periods, you might find that they're detrimental in a longer time period and you are seduced into taking a short term profit for a long term loss. 36 00:04:31,510 --> 00:04:37,410 When you apply the 1010 rule, you train your mind to look at long term implications. 37 00:04:38,150 --> 00:04:45,826 It is just as important for you to train your mind to look at your options and see whether they will advance you toward achieving your bigger goals. 38 00:04:45,938 --> 00:04:54,380 At the very least, you'll get a feel for the overall impact of the choice in front of you and whether it furthers your ultimate success or not. 39 00:04:55,070 --> 00:05:07,200 It can impact the things you eat, the clothes you buy, the jobs you apply for, the people you spend time with, and obviously, the business opportunities you wish to take advantage of. 40 00:05:07,730 --> 00:05:12,586 Many decisions take time to mature into their full consequences. 41 00:05:12,778 --> 00:05:20,466 Doing our language lesson today will not likely have any benefits for us tomorrow or in ten days time. 42 00:05:20,568 --> 00:05:25,540 But if we keep it up, the benefits in ten years will be well worth it. 43 00:05:25,990 --> 00:05:33,990 If we only consider an hour or a day or a week in advance, we'll never give these actions their full weight and significance. 44 00:05:35,050 --> 00:05:40,570 This exercise highlights what is truly important and what is not so consequential to you. 45 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:46,140 Remove impulses and temptation from your life and let discipline propel you forward. 46 00:05:46,830 --> 00:05:51,130 The 1010 rule also teaches you to analyze delayed gratification. 47 00:05:51,710 --> 00:06:01,710 You might feel great about a decision in ten minutes, but you might feel terrible about it in ten days, or you might feel terrible about a decision in the next ten minutes. 48 00:06:01,860 --> 00:06:09,730 Maybe you have to break up with someone or push through a grueling workout, but you will certainly appreciate the outcome ten years later. 49 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:15,560 I e by releasing yourself to be in a better relationship and having a healthier body. 50 00:06:16,490 --> 00:06:28,780 This rule allows you to remember that sometimes outcomes of decisions play out over long periods, and a good decision may look different depending on when you look at it. 51 00:06:30,190 --> 00:06:41,820 Worldview the second part of your mental checklist is literally a checklist of questions to ask yourself to make sure that you are actually making a wise choice for yourself. 52 00:06:42,270 --> 00:06:50,958 These questions make sure your decisions are aligned with your worldview, and they help you eliminate options right off the bat when you see that they don't fit in. 53 00:06:51,124 --> 00:07:02,020 Again, these might not be entirely new concepts to you, but it's actually going through the motions that will set you apart from others and make your decisions as optimal as can be. 54 00:07:02,630 --> 00:07:09,110 To make your decisions, ask yourself these questions what are the main problems you're trying to solve? 55 00:07:09,450 --> 00:07:13,480 Can you solve them in any other way, either individually or together? 56 00:07:14,170 --> 00:07:18,314 Do you have all the information necessary to make the best decision possible? 57 00:07:18,512 --> 00:07:22,380 If not, what information would you have in a perfect world? 58 00:07:23,390 --> 00:07:28,060 Are any of the most important factors subject to change anytime soon? 59 00:07:28,670 --> 00:07:32,990 What realistic factors could instantly make you regret your decision? 60 00:07:33,970 --> 00:07:36,362 What's the opportunity cause for this decision? 61 00:07:36,506 --> 00:07:40,880 In other words, what would you miss out on to take this current opportunity? 62 00:07:42,050 --> 00:07:47,460 Does this get you closer to your overall pertinent goals, or does it take you further away from them? 63 00:07:48,150 --> 00:07:54,500 Are you making this decision out of a sense of duty and obligation or out of your actual free will? 64 00:07:55,670 --> 00:08:03,766 When you get a sense of the answers to these questions, it becomes hard to lie to yourself or fool others into believing you. 65 00:08:03,948 --> 00:08:07,094 You run out of space to do something that isn't good for you. 66 00:08:07,132 --> 00:08:19,530 When you articulate your motivations and reasoning, when you can pass all of these questions, it becomes clear that you're making the decision yourself because you want to and with a clear purpose. 67 00:08:20,430 --> 00:08:26,400 Going through this part of the checklist is like going through a mini polygraph the lie detector test. 68 00:08:26,770 --> 00:08:32,826 It cuts through the chatter and makes clear what you want, even if it wasn't clear to you beforehand. 69 00:08:32,938 --> 00:08:39,506 For example, maybe you're trying to make a big change and want to move to rural Spain and start life over again. 70 00:08:39,688 --> 00:08:44,810 You move through the questions what are the main problems you're trying to solve? 71 00:08:44,990 --> 00:08:49,160 Can you solve them in any other way, either individually or together? 72 00:08:50,090 --> 00:08:54,518 Asking honestly and putting your red Sigmund Freud hat on? 73 00:08:54,604 --> 00:09:04,700 You realize that you're craving excitement and more meaning in life and hope that a move will bring this about, but you actually haven't considered less drastic ways to get the same result. 74 00:09:05,950 --> 00:09:09,814 Do you have all the information necessary to make the best decision possible? 75 00:09:09,952 --> 00:09:13,360 If not, what information would you have in a perfect world? 76 00:09:13,970 --> 00:09:17,854 Well, your friend moved to rural Spain and seems happy. 77 00:09:18,052 --> 00:09:21,200 Granted, that might not be quite enough information. 78 00:09:22,390 --> 00:09:26,100 Are any of the most important factors subject to change anytime soon? 79 00:09:26,550 --> 00:09:31,010 What realistic factors could instantly make you regret your decision? 80 00:09:32,150 --> 00:09:36,462 Asking yourself this you realize that two things give you pause. 81 00:09:36,606 --> 00:09:48,506 Your boss may be on the brink of giving you a promotion, and your brother may have a baby within the next year who you wouldn't be able to visit if you moved so far away, and so on. 82 00:09:48,688 --> 00:09:53,878 Now, these questions aren't designed to just deflate poorly thought out plans. 83 00:09:54,054 --> 00:09:58,634 Despite discouraging answers, you may actually decide to move to Spain after all. 84 00:09:58,752 --> 00:10:07,630 But the questions and the perspective they force you to take encourage you to think more realistically about the move and take beneficial action. 85 00:10:09,650 --> 00:10:18,690 Boundaries the third part of the mental checklist for optimal decisions is to set subjective boundaries for your decisions. 86 00:10:19,190 --> 00:10:27,320 A boundary can be thought of a decision you make once, so you don't have to constantly negotiate the same decisions over and over again. 87 00:10:27,770 --> 00:10:32,466 Having a boundary is not just an act of asserting your personal limitations and values. 88 00:10:32,578 --> 00:10:37,000 It's also a way to save time and conserve mental energy. 89 00:10:37,770 --> 00:10:41,158 You don't have to really think about a good boundary. 90 00:10:41,254 --> 00:10:44,010 It makes decisions for you automatically. 91 00:10:44,350 --> 00:11:01,182 It's important to set these beforehand because when you're in the heat of the moment, it's very difficult to think clearly and objectively when you set them beforehand, as you can do while reading this chapter, you can control your impulses and emotional reactions better. 92 00:11:01,316 --> 00:11:06,180 You can think of boundaries as rules and hard guidelines for you to abide by. 93 00:11:06,550 --> 00:11:13,250 They help you limit your choices and can even allow you to come to a decision through a process of elimination. 94 00:11:13,670 --> 00:11:17,922 For example, if you go on a shopping trip, you might decide on a spending limit. 95 00:11:18,066 --> 00:11:25,160 You can't buy a jacket for over $100, or you can't spend over $200 total for the day. 96 00:11:25,850 --> 00:11:31,238 This is a specific metric that you can't exceed under any circumstances. 97 00:11:31,414 --> 00:11:37,660 It allows you to quickly eliminate options because you're simply limited to things under a certain amount. 98 00:11:38,030 --> 00:11:42,190 It narrows your scope based on predetermined requirements. 99 00:11:42,930 --> 00:11:55,090 Specific limits can help reduce your options because you can also set a limit on the number of options you even consider, or a time limit on how long you will have until you pull the trigger. 100 00:11:56,310 --> 00:12:05,518 Another boundary is to name deal breakers or options that you will never consider based on a trait or characteristic. 101 00:12:05,694 --> 00:12:11,974 For example, if a car has a safety rating below a certain number, it's out of the question for you. 102 00:12:12,172 --> 00:12:17,510 Another example is to not visit cities that drop below a certain temperature. 103 00:12:18,110 --> 00:12:25,660 Deal breakers help you focus on what you prioritize and immediately avoid things you don't to save time. 104 00:12:26,190 --> 00:12:32,750 A final type of boundary to help streamline your decision making is to apply criteria for your decisions. 105 00:12:33,250 --> 00:12:36,414 I will only do it if it is X. 106 00:12:36,612 --> 00:12:43,490 Again, these are decided on beforehand so you aren't influenced by a lack of willpower or emotion. 107 00:12:44,470 --> 00:12:47,934 You can think of these as the opposite of deal breakers. 108 00:12:48,062 --> 00:12:53,598 If an option possesses this trait or characteristic, it is automatically your choice. 109 00:12:53,774 --> 00:12:59,240 For example, you might only choose the best camera on the market below $200. 110 00:12:59,610 --> 00:13:05,800 It would be your one trait to look for, and it would rule out every camera except two or three. 111 00:13:06,170 --> 00:13:14,826 At the very least, this excludes all of the bad options and leaves you a small subset that you would probably be happy with at this point. 112 00:13:14,928 --> 00:13:19,610 You might even be able to pick randomly after applying one of these boundaries. 113 00:13:20,270 --> 00:13:30,414 Another example is to only spend time pursuing a sales lead if it will be worth over $5,000, so you aren't wasting your time on something that would not amount to much. 114 00:13:30,612 --> 00:13:38,260 You could also only watch movies in theaters that have a certain ranking and ignore all others that fall below it. 115 00:13:38,950 --> 00:13:47,110 Finally, you could decide to not spend over $15 per restaurant meal, which would severely limit your choices. 116 00:13:48,090 --> 00:13:57,750 Not only does this make your life easier by preemptively making sure your decisions fit into your life, but it also serves to limit decision fatigue. 117 00:13:58,330 --> 00:14:06,570 Recall that the ability to make decisions is not infinite and has a limited capacity due to the consumption of glucose in your brain. 118 00:14:07,710 --> 00:14:19,230 When you can apply these filters to many aspects of your life, especially trivial everyday decisions, you are able to save your mental resources for what really matters. 119 00:14:21,010 --> 00:14:28,894 Beyond pros and cons, the first method is to write a simple pros and cons list with a twist. 120 00:14:29,022 --> 00:14:38,946 This is actually a method American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin described in a letter dispensing advice on how to make intelligent decisions. 121 00:14:39,138 --> 00:14:49,190 The typical pros and cons list works by listing what you would gain from a choice in one column and what you would lose from the decision in another column. 122 00:14:49,350 --> 00:14:53,210 Here's what a list might look like if you're contemplating eating pizza. 123 00:14:53,630 --> 00:14:56,022 Pros it's tasty. 124 00:14:56,166 --> 00:14:57,862 You satisfy cravings. 125 00:14:57,926 --> 00:14:59,350 You love cheese. 126 00:14:59,510 --> 00:15:01,342 It's in a nice part of the city. 127 00:15:01,476 --> 00:15:02,654 It's your cheat day. 128 00:15:02,772 --> 00:15:05,920 You'll feel happier after you can save money. 129 00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:09,706 Cons you are still trying to lose weight. 130 00:15:09,818 --> 00:15:10,830 You don't need it. 131 00:15:10,900 --> 00:15:12,826 You'll binge on soda too. 132 00:15:12,948 --> 00:15:15,010 You'll feel gassy afterward. 133 00:15:15,750 --> 00:15:20,660 It's short and effective and helps you organize all the thoughts running through your head. 134 00:15:21,030 --> 00:15:27,958 You can categorize factors as simply positive or negative and see which side appears to have more than the other. 135 00:15:28,124 --> 00:15:33,410 It allows you to virtually see your arguments instead of debating them mentally. 136 00:15:33,570 --> 00:15:37,640 It gives you a way to analyze your choices based on what appears to be important. 137 00:15:38,330 --> 00:15:47,100 It also introduces the idea that you're making a decision about changing the status quo or not, which accurately reflects what you are actually deciding about. 138 00:15:47,630 --> 00:15:50,060 Make sure you're asking the right question. 139 00:15:51,170 --> 00:15:56,906 Pros and cons lists highlight the importance of understanding what issues you face in making decisions. 140 00:15:57,018 --> 00:16:04,894 However, basic pros and cons lists break down in the face of more complex decisions than eating pizza or not. 141 00:16:05,012 --> 00:16:08,370 What if you're trying to analyze whether you should move to a new city or not? 142 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:15,880 What if you're trying to make a decision at work that has the potential to bring in 2 million in revenue or not? 143 00:16:16,410 --> 00:16:34,058 A simple pros and cons list breaks down in these situations because every factor appears to be the same and only counts for one in other words, let's suppose you have a pro of making 2 million and a con of an increased commute by ten minutes. 144 00:16:34,224 --> 00:16:45,534 They obviously aren't equal in significance or magnitude, but in a simple pros and cons list they would be because they take up the same amount of space, one line on a sheet of paper. 145 00:16:45,732 --> 00:16:47,520 There's got to be a better way. 146 00:16:47,890 --> 00:16:54,350 How can we improve your old fashioned pros and cons lists to be more effective and informative? 147 00:16:54,770 --> 00:16:57,394 We can do it by quantifying them. 148 00:16:57,592 --> 00:16:59,026 It can work in a few ways. 149 00:16:59,128 --> 00:17:04,414 You'll still have a column each for positive and negatives that would occur if you engage in an action. 150 00:17:04,542 --> 00:17:12,006 But you'll be assigning values on a scale of zero to ten to each argument that represents how important it is to you. 151 00:17:12,188 --> 00:17:22,220 For the previous example of revenue versus commute time, you would assign the revenue a value of ten, where the commute time might have a value of 1.5. 152 00:17:22,670 --> 00:17:26,300 The higher the score, the more important it is to you. 153 00:17:27,150 --> 00:17:29,558 There are a couple of ways to look at the results. 154 00:17:29,654 --> 00:17:35,486 The first one is to simply decide in favor of whichever side's values add up to be higher. 155 00:17:35,668 --> 00:17:37,022 This is black and white. 156 00:17:37,156 --> 00:17:48,034 For example, if your pros add up to be 74 and your cons add up to be 75, you would choose in favor of the con and not partake in the act. 157 00:17:48,232 --> 00:17:54,786 This is a straightforward and direct approach, but many people will have difficulty with it if the results are close. 158 00:17:54,968 --> 00:18:04,150 Indeed, if you're choosing between moving to a new city versus staying put, perhaps you should have overwhelming reasons and evidence to do so. 159 00:18:04,220 --> 00:18:08,966 Otherwise, there are not enough compelling reasons in this case. 160 00:18:09,068 --> 00:18:17,740 The second way to look at the results is to only act if the value of the pros list comes to be twice the value of the cons side. 161 00:18:18,190 --> 00:18:31,950 For example, if your pros add up to 90 but your cons add up to 70, you probably shouldn't act because there isn't strong enough reason to break your inertia and uproot yourself from the status quo. 162 00:18:32,610 --> 00:18:42,420 It's not worth it to expend the effort into learning new tasks and changing your lifestyle for a marginal gain of 20 value points, so to speak. 163 00:18:43,030 --> 00:18:49,378 This is an approach that favors the status quo because it realizes that motion is not always progress. 164 00:18:49,554 --> 00:18:52,230 Sometimes it's just wasted effort. 165 00:18:53,450 --> 00:18:59,746 The second method is what I personally prefer because I, like many people, am lazy. 166 00:18:59,938 --> 00:19:07,818 I don't want to do something that will require extra effort and work if it doesn't result in a significant gain for me. 167 00:19:07,984 --> 00:19:13,726 If there isn't a clear, powerful reason for me to do something, why do it in this way? 168 00:19:13,828 --> 00:19:16,800 I try to make decisions as binary as possible. 169 00:19:17,810 --> 00:19:22,294 Is there a powerful reason that significantly overrides the negatives? 170 00:19:22,442 --> 00:19:24,590 If so, let it fly. 171 00:19:24,750 --> 00:19:30,610 If not, don't waste your effort unless you're seeking change for change's sake. 172 00:19:31,350 --> 00:19:39,218 There are multiple standards of interpreting the results that your quantified, pros and cons list produces, whichever is greater. 173 00:19:39,314 --> 00:19:53,980 If the pros side is twice as large as the cons or any other arbitrary number differential that appeals to you, what matters is you are simultaneously finding your priorities as you assign values to everything. 174 00:19:55,070 --> 00:19:59,100 There are also multiple ways to quantify the lists themselves. 175 00:19:59,630 --> 00:20:02,586 Instead of how important something might be to you. 176 00:20:02,688 --> 00:20:18,020 You can assign values based on the following how much money it saves how much time it saves how close it gets you to a certain goal how happy it makes you how annoyed it makes you how much your significant other will care about it. 177 00:20:19,030 --> 00:20:26,034 This allows you to adapt your pros and cons list to the specifics of your situation, which is good practice. 178 00:20:26,082 --> 00:20:38,680 In general, if you use generalized or abstract pros and cons arguments that are irrelevant to your situation or worldview, you'll get an answer that doesn't accurately reflect your situation. 179 00:20:39,370 --> 00:20:46,700 For example, suppose you're trying to decide whether to buy a new car or stick with the same car you've had for the last five years. 180 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:53,390 Let's list the pros and cons quantified with how important the factor is to my happiness. 181 00:20:54,450 --> 00:20:57,520 Pros feel better about self. 182 00:20:57,890 --> 00:21:00,990 Six, impress women more easily. 183 00:21:01,330 --> 00:21:04,382 Eight, better mileage on commute. 184 00:21:04,526 --> 00:21:06,958 Three, more comfortable leather. 185 00:21:07,054 --> 00:21:09,394 Eight, better sound system. 186 00:21:09,512 --> 00:21:12,660 Eight cons cost. 187 00:21:13,190 --> 00:21:15,646 Nine, don't need it. 188 00:21:15,768 --> 00:21:18,982 Seven, bad buying time right now. 189 00:21:19,116 --> 00:21:19,606 Eight. 190 00:21:19,708 --> 00:21:21,666 Would need to take a loan from parents. 191 00:21:21,778 --> 00:21:23,382 Six, higher insurance. 192 00:21:23,516 --> 00:21:24,200 Seven. 193 00:21:25,050 --> 00:21:33,100 It's the act of going through and honestly assigning values to everything that also lets you find what is important to you. 194 00:21:33,470 --> 00:21:37,974 Some people might want a car because they figure it will be better off for their commute. 195 00:21:38,102 --> 00:21:45,498 But when they honestly assess themselves, it might just be because they enjoy the ego boost a fancy car provides on a daily basis. 196 00:21:45,594 --> 00:21:46,720 And that's okay. 197 00:21:47,330 --> 00:21:53,140 Understanding what you're basing your decisions on is as important as the factors themselves. 198 00:21:54,710 --> 00:22:04,660 Second, if you can understand what factors are important in your decisions, it allows you to see what you can address independently of the big decision itself. 199 00:22:05,270 --> 00:22:13,480 In this example, it appears that independent of the new car, the sound system and the leather seats appear to be very important. 200 00:22:14,330 --> 00:22:23,130 Instead of going all in on a new car, you can just address what bothers you about the current car and make a more efficient decision. 201 00:22:24,430 --> 00:22:35,200 The last important factor in better quantified, pros and cons lists is to be aware of which factors are mixed and which are subject to change in the future. 202 00:22:36,050 --> 00:22:41,434 Your world may not be the same next year as it is today, much less tomorrow. 203 00:22:41,562 --> 00:22:44,798 The things on your list may change for better or worse. 204 00:22:44,974 --> 00:22:52,100 However, only some of those will change, while others are more or less static for all time. 205 00:22:52,470 --> 00:23:00,120 This is something to keep in mind because it means a con may not always be a con, and a pro may not always be a pro? 206 00:23:00,810 --> 00:23:06,646 How much deviation are you willing to factor in and accept as time goes on? 207 00:23:06,828 --> 00:23:16,490 For example, do you expect that you'll always want a better sound system, or is that something that's in your mind right now because of a new coworker's influence? 208 00:23:17,150 --> 00:23:27,040 Differentiate between what can and cannot be changed at all, and make sure you aren't going into a decision with the idea that factors will change. 209 00:23:27,650 --> 00:23:32,522 That's like marrying someone depending on the fact that they will undergo a sex change. 210 00:23:32,596 --> 00:23:36,340 It's putting the cart before the horse in a major way. 211 00:23:37,350 --> 00:23:43,038 Hopefully, this can change the way you fundamentally look at pros and cons lists. 212 00:23:43,214 --> 00:23:46,310 This can be as complex as you wish. 213 00:23:48,730 --> 00:23:50,070 Satisficing. 214 00:23:51,610 --> 00:23:58,006 The next part of your mental checklist is to ask whether you are embodying this unfamiliar word or not. 215 00:23:58,108 --> 00:24:03,270 The word satisfies is a combination of the words satisfy and suffice. 216 00:24:03,430 --> 00:24:14,430 It's a term that Herbert Simon coined in the 1950s, and it represents what we should shoot for rather than something that is guaranteed to optimize and maximize our happiness. 217 00:24:15,330 --> 00:24:28,414 Perfection can be deadly in the decision making process as we'll explore a little more in a later chapter, but there are ways to moderate unrealistic expectations and keep our eye on moderate outcomes. 218 00:24:28,542 --> 00:24:32,180 After all, enough is just that it's enough. 219 00:24:32,870 --> 00:24:42,710 Generally, people can be split into those two categories those who seek to satisfy a decision and those who seek to maximize a decision. 220 00:24:43,130 --> 00:24:45,506 Let's suppose that you're shopping for a new bike. 221 00:24:45,618 --> 00:24:52,474 The maximizer would devote hours to researching their decision and evaluating as many options as possible. 222 00:24:52,672 --> 00:24:59,094 They would want to get the best one possible for their purposes and want to leave no stone unturned. 223 00:24:59,222 --> 00:25:08,030 They want 100% satisfaction, despite the law of diminishing returns and the Pareto principle, which would warn against such measures. 224 00:25:08,370 --> 00:25:17,090 By contrast, the satisfy sir is just shooting to be satisfied and for an option that suffices for their purposes. 225 00:25:17,430 --> 00:25:23,730 They want something that works well enough to make them satisfied and pleased, but not overjoyed or ecstatic. 226 00:25:24,150 --> 00:25:30,290 They aim for good enough and stop once they find that these are very different scales. 227 00:25:30,370 --> 00:25:42,890 And for this reason, studies have shown that Satisfyers tend to be happier with their decisions, while maximizers tend to keep agonizing and thinking about greener pastures after their decisions. 228 00:25:43,790 --> 00:25:58,510 Maximization represents a conundrum in our modern age because while it is more possible than at any point in human history to get exactly what you want, there is also the paradox of choice, which makes it impossible to be satisfied. 229 00:25:59,170 --> 00:26:05,200 On a practical matter, there are few decisions where we should strive to maximize our value. 230 00:26:05,650 --> 00:26:14,814 Sure, you want to take your time and make an effort when choosing a life partner or picking out a permanent tattoo that's going to be visible to everyone for the rest of your life. 231 00:26:14,952 --> 00:26:22,326 But deciding what color socks to wear, you're better off with a decision that's not perfect but good enough. 232 00:26:22,508 --> 00:26:27,720 Therefore, put forth proportional effort and just make a choice already. 233 00:26:28,890 --> 00:26:33,900 Most of the time, you simply want something that is reliable and works. 234 00:26:34,510 --> 00:26:39,740 Suppose you're in a grocery store and you're trying to pick out the type of peanut butter you want. 235 00:26:40,130 --> 00:26:41,854 What should you shoot for here? 236 00:26:41,972 --> 00:26:44,270 Satisficing or Maximizing? 237 00:26:44,690 --> 00:26:50,538 What are the opportunity costs of spending 15 minutes ruminating over peanut butter? 238 00:26:50,714 --> 00:26:54,386 How much mental power did you waste reading the labels in detail? 239 00:26:54,568 --> 00:27:03,970 And what more significant future decisions have you undermined by blowing your cognitive budget for the day on this one decision? 240 00:27:04,710 --> 00:27:10,710 The same type of thinking should apply to 99% of our daily decisions. 241 00:27:11,450 --> 00:27:22,490 Otherwise, we're constantly overwhelmed and waste our mental bandwidth on Maximizing, where it doesn't matter and where there are massive diminishing returns. 242 00:27:23,230 --> 00:27:31,420 Whatever net benefit the most optimal type of peanut butter brings to your life is likely not worth the extra effort it took to find it. 243 00:27:31,870 --> 00:27:44,180 It's unlikely that you're going to run to this chapter whenever you hit a fork in the road, but hopefully but hopefully, one or two lessons stick and you're able to make great decisions suited for you and no one else. 244 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:58,830 And that wraps up today's episode from Peter Holland's book, the Art of Strategic Decision making. 245 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,010 We'll cover the summary of that episode in just a moment. 246 00:28:03,540 --> 00:28:12,912 Today we'll take just a moment to remember the Queen of Rock and Roll Tina Turner, who died yesterday at the age of 83 at her home in Switzerland. 247 00:28:13,056 --> 00:28:19,648 She suffered in recent years from a stroke, from cancer and kidney failure, although the cause of death was not reported. 248 00:28:19,824 --> 00:28:28,010 Born in Tennessee in 1939, she first rose to fame with the lead singer at the Ike and Tina Turner Review. 249 00:28:28,460 --> 00:28:36,168 She left that group and the abusive relationship associated with it in 1976 and started her solo career. 250 00:28:36,344 --> 00:28:49,660 In that career, she sold over 150,000,000 records, won twelve Grammy Awards and was inducted twice into the hall of Fame, once with icontina Turner and once as a solo artist. 251 00:28:49,820 --> 00:29:01,270 At 44, she became the oldest female solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1984 with What's Love Got to Do With It? 252 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,420 And now a short recap of the takeaways from today's episode. 253 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:16,436 We are always battling our laziness in all aspects of life with decisions. 254 00:29:16,548 --> 00:29:19,770 Implementing a simple checklist of sorts can help. 255 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:25,008 First travel into the future with the 1010 Rule. 256 00:29:25,204 --> 00:29:33,148 This implores you to consider three different timelines in the future and how you'll feel about your decisions at those three points. 257 00:29:33,314 --> 00:29:37,970 That is, ten minutes, ten days and ten months from now. 258 00:29:38,660 --> 00:29:42,716 Ideally, you want all three timelines to be positive. 259 00:29:42,908 --> 00:29:49,680 If not, can you live with the informed decision that one timeline might be negative or detrimental? 260 00:29:50,020 --> 00:29:56,340 This technique will help you play out decisions in your mind, rather than focusing only on immediate results. 261 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:03,280 Another mental check in is to examine whether or not your options are in line with your worldview. 262 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:13,560 And this is accomplished by asking a series of questions that both alleviate you of your blind spots and make clear the reasons you have for engaging in certain actions. 263 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,248 There are few absolute, objectively good choices. 264 00:30:18,344 --> 00:30:23,900 Rather, the right choice is the right choice for us relative to our values and goals. 265 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:29,810 Setting your own arbitrary boundaries can help with decisions because they narrow your options. 266 00:30:30,260 --> 00:30:34,050 These give shape and structure to your decision making process. 267 00:30:34,740 --> 00:30:38,588 You can set limits and use deal breakers or requirements. 268 00:30:38,684 --> 00:30:42,630 They all work to clarify your intentions and work more quickly. 269 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,910 Look beyond pros and cons. 270 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:57,770 Making pro and con lists is usually inaccurate and too subjective, since there's no way to weigh up each item and we may be unconsciously biased one way or another. 271 00:30:58,700 --> 00:31:04,250 Are you satisficing or unknowingly trying to maximize every decision you make? 272 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:12,300 99% of daily decisions don't require maximization and suffer greatly from the law of diminishing returns. 273 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:24,748 Satisficing a combination of satisfaction and sufficing is the key, and we wrap up today's episode with our comings and goings lists. 274 00:31:24,844 --> 00:31:26,284 Today's birthdays. 275 00:31:26,412 --> 00:31:29,900 Avery Gay, a millennial ballet dancer. 276 00:31:30,060 --> 00:31:31,688 Chloe Lacasiac. 277 00:31:31,724 --> 00:31:33,140 I probably pronounced that wrong. 278 00:31:33,210 --> 00:31:34,144 Another dancer. 279 00:31:34,192 --> 00:31:35,220 An actress. 280 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,496 Celian Murphy, an Irish born actor. 281 00:31:38,688 --> 00:31:43,460 Mike Myers, the multitalented actor comedian. 282 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,580 Roman Reigns's birthday is today. 283 00:31:46,650 --> 00:31:48,640 An undefeated wrestling champion. 284 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:56,184 And Thorgy Thor's birthday is today for you drag queen fans, although this is probably not celebrated in Florida on this day. 285 00:31:56,222 --> 00:32:06,748 In 2020, George Floyd was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis, and in 18 three, Ralph Waldo Emerson was born. 286 00:32:06,884 --> 00:32:10,240 Who better to quote than Ralph Waldo Emerson? 287 00:32:10,980 --> 00:32:13,292 All life is an experiment. 288 00:32:13,436 --> 00:32:15,810 The more experiments you make, the better.