someone once said that life is just one decision after another and I agree some decisions are small like what to wear but some are so big they'll affect us for decades to come like choosing a career when I'm facing a big decision I make sure I do three things free up my brain's bandwidth give it the fuel it needs and get honest advice from her friends by eliminating the small choices in life you save the best of your brain's ability for the really important things when he was an office Barack Obama removed one decision from
his daily life what to wear it was always a grey or blue suit and a white shirt because he knew the science behind decision making and that by wearing a kind of uniform he'd say found wit for the really important choices scientists studying the brain have seen that all decisions big or small consume the same amount of energy a small decision takes the same amount of energy as a big one so when you need to make really important decisions like which university to apply to all which job offer to accept be vigilant about not wasting
energy on decisions that aren't going to make a massive difference to a life save your brains bandwidth for things that really matter your brain needs fuel to think just as much as your body does to move thanks to advanced imaging we can watch the brain working away more clearly than ever before it's the most complex and energy demanding organ we have if you're very hungry neurotransmitters can't be produced which results in communication between the brains 86 billion neurons breaking down compromising your ability to think and make good decisions so when you need to make an
important decision make sure you're not hungry and I don't mean reach for the biscuit in research shows are drinking plenty of water and having a slow-release carbohydrate breakfast like porridge will help you think clearly omega-3 is also a brilliant brain feed you can find it in oily fish and pumpkin and sunflower seeds it doesn't mean you can't treat yourself but do try to give your brain of this kind of fuel tea the final step is to stop the fear of loss dominating your decision-making Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman spent a decade studying human decision-making and found
that in big decisions were generally more afraid of loss than we are motivated by gain according to his research this means we often pick the safest option rather than the one that will have the most positive impact on our lives car Nimmons got a great tip for getting over this fear of loss ask the advice of a friend who's not afraid to drop some truth bombs even if it means your feelings get a bit roughed up an objective friend can help you identify the best decision because they're not weighed down by the fear of what
could be lost in the end the decision is always your's but it helps to seek this kind of advice so the next time you're facing a big decision free your brain from straw decisions give it really good fuel and seek out a friend who cares more about your future than your feelings thanks for watching don't forget to subscribe and click the bail to receive notifications for new videos see you again soon
