Decisions steer your life (How to make ones you won't regret)

Decision making is harder than it seems…

Decisions are important. Damn important.

Every decision says yes to one, but no to the rest.
(The meaning latin origin of decision is literally to cut out all else except whats most important)

Every single one creates who we are. Not only that, the experience now, is a result of prior decisions made, they all add up to one big, continuous outcome called our life.

“I make decisions carefully enough.”

I thought this for ages, until I asked myself: “Could you do better?”

Then I asked: “If you did, how much would your life improve?

After all, we all live the results of the decisions we make moment to moment. Is this something you could spend more time on?

Time is a one way street. You can’t claim it back. What’s spent is spent.

If we spent more time making good decisions it would ensure life still means something after 25 or 50 years. (More intentionality in your life often results in a better one) So let’s break it down.

The danger of low awareness and life decisions.

Coming out of school, I didn’t know what to do.

I was advised by people to become this or do that.

People are older, you assume they are wiser, so you listen.

They meant well, but I didn’t truly choose that direction, they did for me.

This left me feeling unhappy and misaligned because I never sat down and asked myself what I truely wanted to experience from life.

I would guess at least half the population has felt this way at one stage or another.

If I had to do it all over again, I would read all of the greats. I would also meditate to gain clarity and awareness to make better informed choices.

Observing and dodging life’s traps and illusions.

With awareness, we realise most of these goals are traps:

Society gives them. Family gives them. Ego gives them.
But more than anything, we give them to ourselves.

The true ones come deep from within once you remove enough to uncover our authenticity.

Made up things however, like misaligned goals expectations or personalities need constant support from you. They can weigh heavy, like wearing a backpack full of rocks everywhere you go.

The word “personality” originates from “persona” which in latin means mask.

Say you tell a lie, the lie must be upheld with effort and energy to keep it going. More and more lies are required to hold it up. before long, you have invested so much in it that your ego actually starts to believe it.

Personality works in the same way and it can affect every part of our being including decision making.

Truth on the other hand, is simply reality. No support required.
If you forget it along your travels, its there when you return.
No watering, no upholding. It simply exists.

This well of your truth is buried deep within you, the way to tap into it is through regular meditation, intentional experience and questioning.

The Art Of Better Decisions

Better decisions are hidden behind being more intentional, more conscious and more aligned.

Every decision you make says yes to one and no to the rest.

To uncover such truths, I have a short story for you:

There once was a wise man.

The king had requested a need for an advisor.

The wise man had always dreamt of such an opportunity.

When he applied, he requested one thing only:

A room in the palace in which no person will go.
No one can know what is inside his room.
He must have this room to himself once per day for an hour.

He also warned that if anyone broke the agreement, he would leave immediately.

After hearing the mans wisdom, the king happily accepts.

Years and years had passed, rumours had started to spread.

Although the king was grateful for his council, he couldn’t stop wondering what is in that room. Many had said he may be a spy. Others had warned he may be hiding his stolen riches there.

One day, the king had enough, during the night when it was unoccupied, he broke open the door only to find some old clothes and a woven mat.

When they found the essentially empty room, they had to ask what the hell he was doing in there…

The wise man simply advised the king that he sat in silence for 1 hour in order to make important decisions. Now he must go and the deal is over.

The lesson here: The clarity is deep within us, to determine important decisions we must seek refuge from opinion, expectations and influence in order to find our calm and truth.

8 Critical Questions To Clarify Decision Making:

1. In a years time, what would I regret not having started today?

”The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” - Chinese proverb

This classic illustrates the power of starting something early, the law of compounding only works in your favour if you use it to your benefit and move towards your goals. Otherwise? Its working against you.

Make decisions now, that you will thank yourself in 20 years time for making.

2. Will this energise me, or drain me?

Too many people (including myself) made decisions to get something (normally money) at the sacrifice of our health, energy and wellbeing.

Sure, you might be able to do it a while, but eventually it hurts more and more everyday until its unbearable.

Instead, we can choose things that energise us from the start in order to keep up solid progress sustainably without getting burnt out by the process itself along the way.

3. What is the true cost of being naive?

Alex Hormozi had a great example:

Say your goal is 1M… If you earn 100k, the cost for being naive is 900k…

If you can pay your way out of the misery of starting, do it so you can better dodge beginner’s mistakes and launch into success.

In my own life, the real reason why I had not made a decision is because it was too unknown, by educating myself further on the topic and gaining the basics I was better able to see what I’m getting myself into.

Another angle is courses, the ones I have completed so far helped me massively in navigating the common pitfalls of starting something new.

4. How certain am I about this decision out of 10?
How certain do I need to be?

If you aren’t sure, you should feel it.
Some good questions to ask are:

• What is the worst case scenario?

• What is the best case scenario payoff?

• Am I delaying because of the fear of unknown?

• Have I questioned myself fully to determine if its something of my creation?

Often the longer term it is, the more sure you are. Really think about your plans and ask yourself how long term they really are.

Will this aspiration, desire or goal mean something to me in 25-50 years?
Food for thought.

5. Create a mental board of mentors. (Ask them for advice to help make decisions.)

Imagine as though you are each one of them:

• What would they do?

• What would they think?

• How would they tackle this problem?

Then, with a new angle of understanding you can make new informed decisions from a potentially higher perspective.

Another equally good hack is read many books, each book comes with a certain world view. These can also be adapted and used towards higher awareness decisions.

6. How can I treat this like an experiment?

If we treat life as an experiment, we are more likely to take it seriously, look from different angles and take action changing to improve.

As with all experiments its also about testing without hesitation, exploring and thinking outside the box.

With each experiment, we record results so make meaningful steps in the right direction. Try it, see what happens, improve once you have something to iterate on.

Before long, we have optimised our decision making.

7. How can I remove constraints?

Many including myself will focus directly on the obvious problem without first pushing or testing any boundaries.

For instance, I used to have a bad habit eating lollies like you wouldn’t believe… Instead of trying to simply resist buying lollies on the way home at a service station. I would go another route home completely eliminating potential temptation.

Too many focus directly on the problem without exploring other pathways fully first. Instead, explore as many possibilities as you can to raise awareness and make a decision from a larger perspective.

8. Do I have a quitting framework?

Yes, you heard that right.
Steven Bartlett, author of “Happy, sexy millionaire” created this framework to walk through prior to quitting.

These impulses most often arise when life’s hard, or the tasks suck.
But through every journey there is a tough section, what matters is often pushing through to the good section.

This can help prevent often short term emotional impulses to quit with a logical flow chart to ensure its for the better instead of at your detriment.

Personal Progress 27th July - 3rd August 🤯

Weekly discovery:

Often it’s not adding more that creates the big results.

It’s doing less so you can focus on the highest leverage of creating more.

Favourite quotes of mine this week:

Current Reads:

4 Hour Ultimate Guide To Sales - Alex Hormozi on youtube.

Brilliant insights into the world of sales, just getting started and has helped me massively understand. Full guide for free is hard to beat!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can give you the tools, information, and resources to change, but at the end of the day, you are the only person who can change your life.

Intentional decisions are essential for a life of purpose.

My purpose in helping you is two fold:

1. Help you live with purpose to experience your ideal life.

2. Help you escape the system to unlock financial, location and time freedom.

To help another person enjoy better decision’s - Share, Like and Subscribe.

Until next week,
Leigh.