Itâs easy to underestimate the role ease plays in decision-making. Since behaviour follows the path of least resistance, a surprisingly successful approach is to add friction where you find yourself doing things you donât want to do.
Related Quotes
Even when we get the big decisions directionally right, weâre not guaranteed to get the results we want.
We donât think of ordinary moments as decisions. No one taps us on the shoulder as we react to a comment by a coworker to tell us that weâre about to pour gasoline or water onto this flame.
In most ordinary moments the situation thinks for us. We donât realize it at the time because these moments seem so insignificant. However, as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, the accumulation of these moments makes accomplishing our goals easier or harder.
Each moment puts you in a better or worse position to handle the future. Itâs that positioning that eventually makes life easier or harder. When our ego takes over and we show someone weâre the boss, we make the future harder. When we are passive-aggressive with a colleague at work, our relationship becomes worse. And while these moments donât seem to matter much at the time, they compound into our current position. And our position determines our future.
You canât control everything, but you can control your response, which makes circumstances better or worse. Each response has an impact on the future, taking you either a step closer to or a step further from the outcomes you want and the person you want to be.
One effective question to ask yourself before you act is, âWill this action make the future easier or harder?â This surprisingly simply question helps change your perspective on the situation and avoid making things worse.
Few things are more important in life than avoiding the wrong people. Itâs tempting to think that we are strong enough to avoid adopting the worst of others, but thatâs not how it typically works.
We unconsciously become what weâre near. If you work for a jerk, sooner or later youâll become one yourself. If your colleagues are selfish, sooner or later youâll become selfish. If you hang around someone whoâs unkind, youâll slowly become unkind. Little by little, you adopt the thoughts and feelings, the attitudes and standards of the people around you.
Not every bad decision is rushed, nor is every good one made slowly. Itâs not that simple.
People mistake choosing for decisiveness and the decision-making process for waffling. Part of what makes slowing down and reasoning through a problem difficult is that, to the outside observer, it might look like inaction. But that inaction is a choice.