Making Better Decisions: How to Say “No” and When to Say “Yes” (TPS155)

If you feel stressed out or overwhelmed, there's a good chance it's because you've said “yes” to the wrong things. In this episode, Mike and Brooks cover how to escape this by making better decisions. We show you several strategies you can use today to start making better decisions for your personal and professional life. They discuss the fundamental reasons why you might be saying “yes” to the wrong things and show you how you can say “no” without damaging your relationships. We walk you through a simple framework for making tough decisions, including ways to ward off cognitive biases that lead to bad decisions. If you have trouble saying no or are stressed out because you’ve overcommitted yourself, this episode is for you.

Cheat Sheet

• The reasons why people say “yes” to things that they shouldn’t be doing (and how to overcome them when you really want to say “no”) 2:44
• How people get paralyzed by having too many options when it comes to the many things that you could be doing 5:53
• The formula for a positive “no” (how to say “no” without damaging your relationships) 8:10
• How you can be accommodating and still respect your own boundaries by saying “no” to a request in the right way 10:41
• Why you need to respect the other person when you say no (and why it's really connected to YOUR character) 16:04
• Three times when you should actually say “yes” 17:37
• How most people make important decisions (and why it's the wrong approach) 24:23
• The formula for making better decisions which are free from biases 29:43
• Why it’s important to test your assumptions when making important decisions 34:18
• Why it is so important to achieve distance before making important decisions 36:25
• How to use the 10-10-10 rule to make better purchasing decisions 38:57
• The benefits that come from planning the future death (and success) of a project 44:09

Links

• How to Beat Your Brain and Conquer Cognitive Biases to Make Better Decisions (TPS152)
• Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
• The Power of a Positive No: Save The Deal Save The Relationship and Still Say No
• Derek Sivers
• Bookworm
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
• Mike Rowe – Dirty Jobs – Art of Manliness Podcast
• Cal Newport
• Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives
• Groundhog Day
• BrainChains: Discover your brain, to unleash its full potential in a hyperconnected, multitasking world
• Clarity.fm
• Instant Pot
• Bose QC 35 headphones

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