#87: Spend less time making decisions

#EmbraceUncertainty #GenuineConnection #DecisionMaking #ResilientGrowth

👋 Welcome to Pursuit, where we explore the art of living well. My name is Amir, and each week, I go over 10 hours of content about personal growth and mental well-being, bringing you four insights and thought-provoking perspectives from leading thinkers. I hope to have a tiny impact on your life and inspire you with the tools to lead a more fulfilling life. Join us on this journey of continuous improvement and discovery.

Digital art by alinaholtmann.com | Insta: @holagrafik

This week’s discovery:

• 🌌 The place where possibility lives

• 🧠 How to remember names

• 📋 Spend less time making decisions

• 💪🏼 Bad days, better you

If you’re interested in listening to this week’s newsletter, you can follow Pursuit’s podcast on Spotify or other popular podcast platforms. Here’s this week’s episode:

🌌 The place where possibility lives

I've been making some changes in my life recently. It's pushing me out of my comfort zone and taking me to uncharted territories. With that comes uncertainty and fear. But with age, I'm learning to trust myself—trust that I'll be able to figure it out eventually. Even if things don't work out exactly as I imagine, I know I'll have grown through the experience. I've listened to my desires and run with them. I've taken action to change. As Lisa Olivera eloquently puts it:

Your fear isn’t a sign something is wrong or gone awry. It’s just a reminder you’re still alive, still here. It’s just a reminder you’re doing something tricky, something new, something unknown. It’s just a reminder you’re letting yourself wade into uncertainty — the place where possibility lives.

You don’t need to trust what you don’t yet know; you just need to trust yourself to be with what’s ahead. You trusting you matters so much more than you being completely certain about what’s next. You trusting yourself to meet what’s coming means so much more than you being able to predict, control, or hold certainty over what’s coming. You can trust yourself. You can trust yourself.

🧠 How to remember names

In the past, I used to try remembering people's names by linking them to weird images in any language I knew. This way, I could mix visual and sound memory to make names stick better. But Asi Wind, a magician who was on the Huberman Lab podcast, has a different idea:

When it comes to memory, specifically remembering names, it's less about the tricks and more about actually caring. If you're genuinely interested in someone, you'll naturally remember their name. The best way to ensure this happens is by repeating the person's name when you meet them and engaging in meaningful dialogue. The more you know about a person, the more context you have, and the easier it is to remember them.

📋 Spend less time making decisions

People spend an estimated 2.5-3 hours daily on trivial decisions, like choosing dinner—about 40 days yearly. Most everyday choices are between similar options. Fredkin's paradox: the more alike choices seem, the less they matter, yet the harder they are to make. Consequently, we often spend the most time on the least important decisions.

The choices we make don’t need to be the best; they just have to be worth more than the time spent making them. If we spend less time making decisions, we can spend more time making whatever decision we made work. Here’re my favorite decision making principles from Gurwinder:

• If you can't decide between two equally difficult choices, take the path that's more difficult/painful in the short term.

• If a task will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it’s defined.

• If you can’t decide, pretend you’re deciding for a friend.

• If you can’t decide, the answer is no.

The opinion you should care about most is your future self’s. Consider how a decision will affect you in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. By stepping outside the present moment, you become less vulnerable to the desire for immediate gratification. Think about it: somewhere in the future, your older self is watching you through memories. Whether it's with regret or nostalgia depends on what you do now.

💪🏼 Bad days, better you

I'm writing this a few days after dealing with some really bad sleep. When I go through times like this, I get really fragile. I lose my composure easily and everything feels like it's going wrong. Now that I'm out of it and looking back, I'm realizing something important: how I handle my emotions and act during these rough patches is what really counts. As Shane puts it:

What you do on your bad days matters more than what you do on your good days. Anyone can nourish their most important relationships when life is smooth, but the effort you put in during the rough patches matters more. When you're motivated, eating healthy is easy, but your choices on your toughest days can undo your progress. Keeping your emotions in check is easy when things are going well, but managing your emotions when the world isn't cooperating sets you apart. Push through the grind and maintain the momentum.

📸 Love the quotes? Join me on Instagram for daily doses of inspiration, highlights from my readings, and more thought-provoking content. Follow @pursuit.community and let's continue our journey of growth and discovery together!

🎵 Discovery for your ears

You’ll find mostly Ethnotronica, Organic House, World, Disco, and Organic Electronic here:

🎧 If you appreciate the music I carefully select and haven't followed my Spotify playlists yet, now is the perfect time to hit that follow button and join me on this musical journey! 🎶

• 🌒 Pano: Danceable and electronic obscure songs

• 🌓 Sisy: Ethnotronica and organic house

• 🌑 Berghain: Dark, minimal techno and tech house

• 🌕 Heide: Groovy soul and disco house

• 🌞 Sonntag: Afterhours shit

• 🌎 World: From Latin jazz to Turkish psych

• 🌚 Super Slow: For your intimate moments

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Previously on Pursuit:

#86: Shaping your future self: choice or discovery?

#85: Escape the endless checklist