Tuesday, 3 January 2012

How to Make Better Decision

ALWAYS when a new year comes, every one has their own resolution, earn more money, find a new gf, quit smoking, promotion blar blar barl.... but often things are not always in line with our expectation. 

This is what i always encounter. Being a gemini, mind always flipping around with extremely weak WILL power, some people said we are kind people, we are very cincai or flexible.... some people said you have no your own point, always follow people this and that.... they are absolutely right, i am always easily affected by a sweet talk, emotion and etc.... not a good sign before i become a fucking rich person in the world 


I found this article in my reading panel, hopefully this really help me to strengthen my will power and also my muscle....... haha lets check it out and hopefully you guys enjoy and success and get whatever you wants in 2012..... anything but definetely not end of the world.....

below are copied from www.businessinsider.com



Make your most important decisions in the morning, before you experience "ego depletion
"Freud speculated that the self, or ego, depended on mental activities involving the transfer of energy. ... [His] experiments demonstrated that there is a finite store of mental energy for exerting self-control."

As the day wears on, your energy reserves are further depleted.
Source: NY Times



Our finite supply of "decision-making power" means that all of the small decisions add up quickly
Image: Associated Press

Which would explain why shopping is so exhausting. 

Researchers found that shoppers who "had already made the most decisions in the stores gave up the quickest" on a math test.

Source: NY Times 



Your brain needs glucose in order to make good decisions
“Even the wisest people won’t make good choices when they’re not rested and their glucose is low,” Baumeister tells the Times. "That’s why the truly wise don’t restructure the company at 4 p.m. They don’t make major commitments during the cocktail hour. And if a decision must be made late in the day, they know not to do it on an empty stomach." 

Grocery retailers discovered this decades ago.

Researchers found that, "just when shoppers are depleted after all their decisions in the aisles -- with their willpower reduced, they’re more likely to yield to any kind of temptation, but they’re especially vulnerable to candy and soda and anything else offering a quick hit of sugar."

Source: NY Times



"People spend three to four hours a day resisting desire"
Image: monsieur paradis on flickrThough our independent analysis is that we're usually fighting some sort of desire at any given moment.

We use the same mental energy reserves to fight off temptation as we do to make complex decisions.

Source: NY Times



Smart people develop routines -- that way, they eliminate stress and conserve energy for important decisions
"The most successful people, Baumeister and his colleagues have found, don’t use their willpower as a last-ditch defense to stop themselves from disaster," reports the Times. "Rather, they conserve willpower by developing effective habits and routines in school and at work so that they reduce the amount of stress in their lives. They use their self-control not to get through crises but to avoid them. They give themselves enough time to finish a project; they take the car to the shop before it breaks down. Like the readers who commented earlier, they make their big decisions in the morning, before decision fatigue sets in."



and they make time for adequate sleep, eating healthfully and exercising



Women help groups make better decisions
Image: JPMorgan

A study evaluating 192 groups found that those with women had the highest group intelligence, according to research published in the Harvard Business Review.



Our unconscious plays a key role in helping us make good decisions
President Obama's decision to "sleep on it" -- it being whether or not to raid Osama Bin Laden's compound -- aligns with psychologists' recommendations for complex decision making.

"Because your conscious attention is limited, you should enlist the help of your unconscious," according to the Harvard Business Review

Even if you don't have the option to delay your decision, engaging in another activity will take your mind off your dilemma, and allow your unconscious to surface. 



Sometimes, it's best to run your ideas by others
Image: The White HouseSmart people have a network of people they go to for advice.

But they also know when too many ideas can complicate their decision-making.



There's value to simply caving in and saying "yes" to the "wrong choices" once in a while
Image: icanteachyouhowtodoit via FlickrIt can reinvigorate you, so you don't feel completely deprived all the time.

There's a reason why people celebrate Mardis Gras before the Lenten season.

Source: NY Times



There's also power in deciding NOT to decide -- or having others do it for you
Image: Robert Helfman via flickrAre there decisions you don't have to make right now, or you can have someone else make for you?

"Instead of deciding every morning whether or not to force themselves to exercise, [smart people] set up regular appointments to work out with a friend," reports the Times.

If you want to conserve energy in the short run, this is a good move. But keep in mind that when you put off too many decisions, you'll likely have added stress later. 



It comes down to preparing for your moments of weakness -- because we're only human, after all
“Good decision making is not a trait of the person, in the sense that it’s always there,” Baumeister says. “It’s a state that fluctuates.” The Times reports

His studies show that people with the best self-control are the ones who structure their lives so as to conserve willpower. They don’t schedule endless back-to-back meetings. They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets, and they establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices. ... Instead of counting on willpower to remain robust all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for emergencies and important decisions.

“The best decision makers are the ones," he says, "who know when not to trust themselves.”



The keys are planning ahead, not overwhelming yourself with choices, and conserving your energy

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