Planning isn’t all its cracked up to be. — We all want to win. So it seems logical to look for worst case scenario examples when planning a task you want to win. You can manage risk by conducting a thought exercise to reveal your vulnerabilities. This seems like the right thing to do. If you can foresee what…

It certainly helps when it comes to playing the games of life. — Life is a game of chess. Right now you’re thinking one of two thoughts. I know-or more likely, as you reflect on your knowledge of chess and try to form a comparison, is life really a game of chess? A more significant observation comes when we look for games within…

Imagination is quite an asset when it comes to deciding — Changing perspectives is a gift most choose not to use. It isn’t easy-changing perspectives. But, when you do, oh wow. It leads to new questions. New queries lead to new information which leads you to new considerations. Everything changes. When it happens, and you end up changing your point of…

Is there a more compelling reason to journal than this? — Your memories are time stamps of history. Your history. The problem is your memories are stored in your mind, and it isn’t very good at remembering. Yes, your mind has a lot to hold onto, so it tends to skimp on the detail. And that’s not good. It’s the details…

It’s time to face the truth… — It’s scary how most likely you don’t know how important decision making is. You might be thinking I’m talking about big decisions when I say important decision making. To be clear, I’m not. All your decisions should be important to you. When you think about it, there isn’t a lot…

The peril of making decisions — When it comes to deciding, we are often our own worst enemies. Awareness brings us little protection. The most rigorous process falls apart when urgency or emotion presents itself. Intuition becomes the boss. Confirmation bias finds itself rewarded too. Sometimes that’s a good thing — and sometimes it isn’t. We…

Curiosity offers a way to calm the unknown — We’ve got uncertainty all wrong. Our fear of what we don’t know should be a gateway to curiosity. What often happens is that we ignore uncertainty. We make decisions without any consideration of what we don’t know. …

Are you acting to do the right thing or chasing a goal? — Planning and predicting are not the same. Predictions come from a sense of righteousness. They smell of certainty and confidence founded on beliefs and bravado. Planning is the act of preparation for a future outcome. The process builds on facts and judgements of the information to hand. There is a…

Simple steps to improve your critical thinking — In our fast-paced world, being a critical thinker is hard. The pressure to conform is strong. Opinions can force us to accept false information. Acceptance hides under the vale of the bully as they blur the lines between fact and opinion. When Elon calls for freedom of speech, what he…