Decisions are hard! We can easily become impulsive and make a choice on a whim. Or we can go the other way and over-think. We become indecisive for fear of making the wrong decision. Emotions naturally come and further impact our capacity to decide well. So what do we do: switch off our emotions and only think logically, or buy into our emotions?
Who should read this?
People with a tendency to overthink, feel indecisive or are working through big life decisions.
Quote I found helpful:
“Experience is supposed to be our best teacher, but sometimes we draw a connection between outcome quality and decision quality that is too tight.”
What is the book about?
How to Decide looks at a few key aspects of decision making and gives some helpful principles to work through decisions in a logical, effective and efficient way. Annie is a former professional poker player, in which making logical “gambles” based on probabilities is the key to success over the long term. One of the key things to learn as a poker player is that you can make all the right decisions and still lose or all the wrong decisions and get lucky. Therefore separating the outcome quality from the decision quality is key to evaluating decisions and learning for future decisions.
Another important aspect is the fact that we can never have 100% confidence in a choice as there are always other variables. This means we need to learn how to make effective decisions working within a range of possible outcomes, and choosing whether it is worth the extra time and effort to gain more knowledge for the decision. My personal key takeaway comes from this: Are the likely outcomes so different from each other that it is worth the extra time and effort to gain 5% more confidence in the decision, or should I just make the decision as the outcome is not actually that much better or worse.
The logical process of decision making may not be for everyone. Not every tool she suggests are going to feel applicable to you. But, I think there are enough helpful tools in there that you will come away from the book with something to improve your life.
Find How to Decide on Amazon and read it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments. Contact us here for professional help changing your habits or working on your psychology.