"Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you." — John C. Maxwell
When my husband and I were planning our wedding we went to Colombia roughly a year in advance to handle all of the arrangements.
In a single day we: ✅ Chose the venue (after touring multiple) ✅ Did a hair and makeup trial ✅ Did a full menu and cake testing ✅ Picked out the flowers, table settings and decorations
Oh, and at this point in time my Spanish skills were nowhere near where they are now, so Alejandro had to translate everything for me…which led to A LOT of confusion and misunderstanding.
Needless to say, it’s a miracle we still wanted to marry each other by the time the day was over 😂.
Because making that many decisions in one day is EXHAUSTING and when you are absolutely brain fried, you tend to not be your best self.
This is decision fatigue in action.
And it's why you might start your day with the best intentions to eat well or exercise, but then by the time 8pm rolls around you’re elbow deep in a can of Pringles, doom scrolling on your phone while simultaneously watching bad reality TV.
You might think that if you just had more willpower or more discipline, you wouldn’t keep finding yourself in the same situation…
But this is where you’d be wrong.
Because the issue isn’t about getting better at choosing the healthier option…
It’s about removing the need to choose completely.
On average, your brain is making somewhere around 35,000 decisions each day, with over 200 of those decisions relating to food alone.
Just like your muscles get tired after a long workout, your brain gets tired from all that decision making.
And when your brain is tired, it conserves energy by making impulse decisions—or by making no decisions at all.
So, if you want to be successful with implementing change in your life, you’ll need to find ways to conserve “brain energy” so that when you DO need to make a choice between fries or a side salad, you’re able to think critically and with your future self in mind.
And how do you do that?
1. Automate 2. Pre-decide 3. Habit stack
1. Automate: One of the best ways to reduce the amount of decision fatigue you feel is to completely remove the need to make decisions surrounding repeat events.
Set up autopay for your bills, schedule a recurring grocery delivery or cleaning service, buy smaller plates.
2. Pre-decide: If you know there are certain times of day or days in the week when you are less likely to follow through on your good intentions, make decisions in advance to overcome the need to make a choice when you aren’t at your best.
Lay out your clothes for the next day, meal prep your dinners, pay in advance for an early morning workout.
3. Habit stack: The reason why "bad" habits can be so hard to break is because we do them without thinking...which is the same reason why creating "good" habits will also create more ease and freedom in your life. A simple way to build new habits is by "stacking" a new habit onto an existing one.
Drink a glass of water while you are brewing your morning coffee, meditate for 5 mins before you get out of the car, floss after you brush your teeth.
As your level of responsibility increases, so does the number of choices you're faced with each day, which is why you often hear stories about successful CEOs that only wear one style of t-shirt.
So if you have a lot on your plate (and who doesn't these days), one of the BEST things you can do for your health is to eliminate as many decisions from your life as possible.
Remember, it doesn't matter if those decisions are related to wedding cake or vegetables, from your brain's perspective they are all the same.
This week, I challenge you to remove ONE decision from your life by either automating, pre-deciding, or habit stacking.
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