WEBVTT 00:00.320 --> 00:03.928 In this video, I want to start our conversation about decision making 00:04.064 --> 00:07.880 by looking at how long it takes a decision and all the 00:07.920 --> 00:12.184 ramifications that go along with it. Now you have in under 00:12.272 --> 00:15.816 half a second, in under one second, what's called your gut reaction. 00:15.928 --> 00:19.272 Let's do an experiment. I have a chocolate 00:19.336 --> 00:22.904 and a green apple. If you love chocolate and sweets, you probably 00:22.952 --> 00:27.100 would immediately, without thinking, go for the chocolate. 00:27.870 --> 00:31.894 Why? Because in under one second, in under half a second, 00:31.982 --> 00:34.870 only some parts of your brain get activated. 00:35.030 --> 00:38.934 You might know the amygdala, that's part of your animal brain. It's responsible 00:38.982 --> 00:41.930 for many things like fear, fight or flight. 00:42.590 --> 00:45.942 It's also responsible for things that might hurt you or 00:45.966 --> 00:49.110 things you don't like. So aversion to things 00:49.230 --> 00:52.726 right away because things that you don't like, 00:52.798 --> 00:56.640 things that can be bad for you, you have to make a really quick 00:56.680 --> 01:00.208 decision. Now, about one or two seconds later, 01:00.344 --> 01:04.032 your prefrontal cortex, the logic and reasoning part 01:04.056 --> 01:08.144 of your brain kicks in and tells you, hey, even though there was probably 01:08.192 --> 01:11.744 more sugar in the chocolate than you want the chocolate and you don't 01:11.792 --> 01:15.680 like the sour taste of the apple, guess what? The apple is better 01:15.720 --> 01:19.072 for you and you want long term health and you went to the doctor and 01:19.096 --> 01:23.296 blah, blah, blah, it's, it starts reasoning. That's your prefrontal 01:23.328 --> 01:26.848 cortex. It takes the brain longer for that 01:26.904 --> 01:30.544 part of the brain to take over and engage. So the first 01:30.712 --> 01:34.512 thing you have to understand is there's a lot of validity 01:34.656 --> 01:38.512 in your gut immediate reaction. A lot. Trust it to 01:38.536 --> 01:42.368 a large degree, but not entirely question it with 01:42.424 --> 01:46.122 your next one or two seconds. What happens then? 01:46.256 --> 01:49.862 You start to, you know, the adult 01:49.926 --> 01:53.750 you, the reasonable you, starts to reason and you 01:53.790 --> 01:57.638 start adding layers to your initial potential decision, 01:57.774 --> 02:01.526 like the logic, right? So sometimes it's 02:01.558 --> 02:05.494 helpful, sometimes it's confusing because sometimes 02:05.622 --> 02:09.286 you don't. You aren't quite able to put 02:09.358 --> 02:12.990 words on why you make a certain choice with 02:13.030 --> 02:16.494 your gut reaction. Your gut reaction may be right, you may just not be 02:16.502 --> 02:19.450 able to logically explain it to yourself. You might not sense everything, 02:20.710 --> 02:24.450 so you may confuse your initial gut reaction. 02:25.830 --> 02:29.182 There's a lot of validity in that gut reaction. But of course we know that 02:29.206 --> 02:32.462 the longer you think about a problem, the more likely you will come 02:32.486 --> 02:35.530 up with the right outcome. Think of a chess player, 02:35.990 --> 02:39.898 there's an impulse to move right away, because when you move 02:39.954 --> 02:44.010 right away, when you make an action right away, there is hope with it and 02:44.050 --> 02:47.450 when there is hope with it, there's a little bit of a dopamine Release. 02:47.570 --> 02:51.482 It feels good and it feels also 02:51.666 --> 02:55.018 good to get that little reward, like, oh, I'm going to make a quick decision, 02:55.154 --> 02:58.810 get a quick reward. Dopamine releases during the anticipation 02:58.890 --> 03:02.202 and a little bit during the actual getting of the reward. 03:02.346 --> 03:06.104 So that's the, you know, the kid who, who's playing chess very fast 03:06.152 --> 03:09.480 and doesn't want move, or people who play speed chess, they just want, you know, 03:09.520 --> 03:14.120 immediate gratification. That's fine sometimes, 03:14.280 --> 03:18.168 but the longer in chess and in life, the longer you think about 03:18.224 --> 03:21.464 a problem, you increase your chances of getting that decision. 03:21.552 --> 03:24.424 Right now, in life and in chess, 03:24.472 --> 03:28.360 actually, if you think too long, that just 03:28.400 --> 03:32.338 becomes indecision. You run out of time 03:32.394 --> 03:36.322 in chess and in life, and indecision 03:36.386 --> 03:39.666 is a decision, it's a bad decision. 03:39.738 --> 03:42.882 It's a decision not to make a decision. So at some point you 03:42.906 --> 03:46.110 have to be decisive. It's an art form. 03:46.410 --> 03:49.890 When is the right time to strike? Of course, in life 03:49.930 --> 03:54.466 you have many other dimensions. You can get help which is advised, it's wise, 03:54.578 --> 03:57.764 there's wisdom in getting help in, in coaching and etc. 03:57.812 --> 04:01.092 To have a team. And of course you want to rely on your 04:01.116 --> 04:04.820 own experience. The first time you make this decision or any 04:04.860 --> 04:08.676 other decision, you're going to make a poorer decision likely than 04:08.748 --> 04:12.640 the 20th time or the hundredth time you make a similar decision. 04:13.100 --> 04:15.880 Hopefully. Hopefully. We have to learn. 04:16.380 --> 04:19.924 And that's the timeline 04:20.052 --> 04:24.523 of how long you. You should allocate. The accuracy 04:24.651 --> 04:28.139 increasing with the time you spend to 04:28.179 --> 04:31.371 make a decision. Just about any decision. 04:31.555 --> 04:35.611 And some decisions you have to make quickly, some decisions you 04:35.635 --> 04:39.291 can wait. So knowing if you have 04:39.315 --> 04:43.163 a particular decision that's looming, you have to make a decision you 04:43.171 --> 04:46.779 have to think about how long do you have to make that decision? 04:46.899 --> 04:50.608 Give yourself the right amount of time, then give yourself within 04:50.664 --> 04:54.380 that time the right amount of resources. And then 04:55.080 --> 04:58.752 eventually pick a moment, pick a deadline to decide. 04:58.896 --> 05:02.240 That process will increase the chances that you will 05:02.280 --> 05:06.040 make the right decision, no matter what the situation is.