Your life is a series of days, and each day is a series of decisions. What if today is the day that everything goes right? How can you make today the day that everything goes right?
What are your days aimed at? How are you making your decisions? Are your decisions consistently aligned with your aim, or do your decisions change with your moods?
I can tell you what the default decision-making framework is—priorities and loss aversion. Human beings sacrifice everything for their highest priority. Just watch how anyone, including yourself, behaves. What do parents sacrifice for their kids? What do champions sacrifice for victory? There’s even a corrupted version of this dynamic. What will an addict sacrifice for their next fix? So, your priorities determine your decisions. It’s human nature.
Human beings also fear a loss more than they desire an equivalent gain. The expression “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” is the simplest way to understand this dynamic. Applying the logic of the expression, some people will sacrifice double the gain to avoid a loss, and you’ve probably seen evidence of this dynamic too. So, the loss you need to avoid at all costs determines your decisions. That is also human nature.
So, your default decision-making framework is the combination of your highest priority and your aversion to the loss that must be avoided at all costs. Have you ever sat down to define your priorities? Have you ever sat down to define the loss that must be avoided at all costs? If not, then you’re running on the momentum of a default decision-making framework. Do you want your decisions to be made by default?
Your life is a series of days, and each day is a series of decisions. Your custom decision-making framework allows you to take ownership of your decisions, your days, and your destiny. Set your authentic, nonnegotiable priorities.
What is the mission you would happily devote all of your time and attention to?
What kind of day do you want to have?
What do you need to do to have that kind of day?
Define the loss that must be avoided at all costs.
If you become resentful, who will you blame for your regret and resentment?
What will cause you to become resentful?
What do you need to do to avoid becoming resentful?
The answers to these questions will allow you to define your authentic, nonnegotiable priorities so you can replace your default decision-making framework with a custom framework.
What if today is the day everything goes right? What if the days that everything goes right don’t happen by accident, but through effective prioritization, decision-making, and sacrifice? How are you going to ensure that your decisions get made by your priorities, not by default, and not by your mood swings? What is your strategy for planning your life day-by-day, and decision-by-decision?