#55 Decision Making

Every day we’re faced with new decisions.  Most of the time we generally have a good idea of what’s a good and bad decision, right?  Are we going to get everything right?  Absolutely not, it’s just a fact of life.

Diet

Take diet for example.  Some people know what to do, and some have not the slightest clue.  That’s why there’s people like me to teach you.  When you dive into the weeds of educating yourself on a subject, the decision-making process becomes clearer.  

It's Tuesday and I want to cheat.  I walk into my pantry and see marshmallows, cookies, and Oreos.  All this stuff.  My kid's eating ice cream.  I think to myself, “Yeah, I want this stuff, but will this decision bring me one day closer or one day farther away from my goals?”

Compounding Interest

Your entire life and the results you get are just like compound interest.  Meaning, you made certain decisions over and over again, and this is the result.  It's the same in finance.  It's the same in your job.  It's the same in your diet.  The results are found on the scorecard.  How you look, how you feel, and how your business is performing.  It’s all the same kind of scorecard. 

Are your decisions moving you forwards or backwards?  Looking at it from this perspective, it will be much easier to see which direction you are headed.  It’s black & white.

It’s Everything

The decisions you make on a day-to-day basis will determine the trajectory of your life.  Think about a locomotive.  It starts off slow, just barely moving down the tracks.  It begins to pick up speed, getting faster and faster.  Then, all of a sudden, bang!  I throw a car in front of the train, and it slows down a bit.  Then, two days later, bang, I throw another car in front.  It slows down even more.  You see what I’m saying? 

If you make a series of consistent, quality decisions, then you can build some serious momentum.  Conversely, if you start throwing shit on the tracks, you’ll kill any hints of progress. 

What’s the Impact?

Should I mess up now, even though no one will ever know?  Can I get away with it?  Probably, but if I’m wanting to truly separate myself from the pack, can I continue to do this?  The answer is no.  This way of thinking forces me to look at how my decisions impact my business, look, performance, and mental health.  You must look at the entire picture.

I’ve made bad decisions in training, diet choices, and other avenues of my life.  Horrible decisions.  I remember a time back in the day when I was modeling in New York in my early 20’s.  At this point, I was struggling with binging because of the low carb diet I was on.  I was going through the offices of Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie, Calvin Klein and Polo.  I met with all these main players early in my career, and I just lost it.  I got to a little carry out in New York and just started eating and couldn't stop.  My brain wasn’t working.  I was too low on carbs and had been depleted for too long.  I didn’t even tell my agent.  I jumped on a plane and just came home.  That's how fucking messed up I was.

Clear Decisions

Clear decisions require a plan.  When your brain's cloudy or you’re not feeling right, you simply can’t think straight.  If I walked into the pantry and grabbed the Oreos, then I’m starting to compound the wrong decisions, going in the wrong direction.  And then I just think to myself, do I really want it that bad?  

Make the right decision as much as possible, knowing that you won’t be 100% perfect.  Doing so will give you a higher batting average in every category of your life and a scorecard you can be proud of.