Book Summary: Decisive
Decisive examines the things that stand between us and our decision-making process. Things like a narrow view of the issue, overconfidence or losing control of our emotions.
Related Book Summaries:
The Obstacle Is The Way – Ryan Holiday
The Power Of Less – Leo Babauta
The War Of Art – Steven Pressfield
Quotes:
Success emerges from the quality of the decisions we make and the quantity of luck we receive. We can’t control luck. But we can control the way we make choices.
When people have the opportunity to collect information from the world, they are more likely to select information that supports their preexisting attitudes, beliefs, and actions.
The researchers have found, in essence, that our advice to others tends to hinge on the single most important factor, while our own thinking flits among many variables. When we think of our friends, we see the forest. When we think of ourselves, we get stuck in the trees.
Decisive Book Summary Notes:
- Making decisions all day can be a mental drain and a chore. It gets easier if we have a framework that helps us answer them.
- Things such as: narrow thinking, previous choices, our own personal values and emotions can all hamper our ability to make the best possible choices.
- Choices don’t always need to be only yes or no. Sometimes there are other alternative options worth considering.
- Opportunity cost is also important. Is there something of higher value to that your money or time could be going towards?
- Use multitracking, or the idea that instead of pursuing only option ‘A’ you should pursue A B and C at the same time. After only a short amount of time and extra effort you may discover that one of them is working considerably better than the others and switch now to just pursuing that one. Limit yourself to the best 2-3 options however and not 50 different ones.
- Has someone else previously solved your problem? How did they do it?
- While it’s easier to find things that agree to and support your ideas or decisions, also take some time to examine the opposite. What could go wrong? It will give you a better understanding of any weaknesses to your plan and also allow you to anticipate problems ahead of time.
- Test your idea or plan on a small scale before diving in headfirst.
- Use the 10/10/10 principle. How would you feel about your decision in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years from now?
- When thinking about consequences consider both the best and worst possible outcomes. Your true outcome will likely fall somewhere between the two.
