We live in the free market. That means an abundance of choice.
It also means we often choose the wrong thing: We choose cookies over broccoli, parties over sleep, cute shoes over snow boots. Especially on Friday nights, we choose “comfort foods” and Netflix.
We KNOW these decisions are not the best ones—I’ve never heard anyone brag about his or her success on the Fast food diet—but we make them anyway. And it’s not because we hate ourselves; we’re just tired of making decisions.
Our parents called this “willpower”: the ability to make tough decisions and stick to them. But as Dan Ariely of Duke University writes in “Understanding Ego Depletion, ” we have limited willpower reserves. We use up those reserves regularly. On Monday morning we have plenty, so we get up early, go for a walk and pack a healthy lunch. By Friday, we’re calling Ampersand cookies and pizza!
Decision fatigue is a new idea, but it’s very real. We make more decisions than our ancestors ever did: They got up at six because the cows were hungry. They ate oatmeal for breakfast because there weren’t any eggs. They bought one gift for Christmas because everyone did. And they were probably happier for it.
The dudes under the most pressure in the business world usually take steps to limit the number of decisions they have to make each day. Steve Jobs wore the same outfit and ate the same breakfast every day. If he’d dipped into the well of willpower when choosing his cereal, that would leave less in the pool for later when the BIG decisions came up.
How do we avoid burning out our willpower? Habits.
Waking up at the same time every day.
Eating the same breakfast every day.
Going to the gym at the same time every day.
Letting someone else choose our workouts.
I try to shift as many decisions off my plate as possible. And when I make a decision, I don’t often second-guess it, because that’s exhausting. It really IS better to make fast decisions and correct your errors later than to hem and haw. Living with a decision usually isn’t hard; making the decision is hard.
If you’re starting to exercise more or fixing your diet after a rough couple of weeks, do everything you can to minimize the decisions you have to make. Do a six-week summer challenge and follow directions. Show up to a group class. Make your meals on Sunday, when you’re fresh and rested. Follow someone else’s plan for you until the habits are well established. Protect your ego and save your willpower for dealing with your boss.
Your workouts don’t have to be perfect every day. You don’t have to invent a new diet or study textbooks. You can avoid paralysis by hiring people that make decisions for you. I have a coach and a mentor; they tell me what to do next and how to do it, and then I make better decisions about what matters to me. My priority is always my relationships, but if I am overwhelmed by too many choices for my businesses, I cannot perform well in connecting with people.