Actively redesign your physical and digital environments to make desired behaviors (e.g., healthy choices, productivity) the easier default, rather than being a slave to environments created by others.
Regularly question your intuitions, especially for important decisions, as most decisions are not based on data but on gut feelings, and a sense of questioning can lead to better outcomes.
When making personal decisions, think about what advice you would give to an external person in your situation to reduce the influence of your own biases and gain an outside perspective.
Identify areas in your life where you don’t behave well and create specific, clear rules (e.g., ‘I always do X,’ ‘I never do Y’) to guide your actions, making them easier to follow than flexible guidelines.
Once a year, typically at the beginning or end, review your decision strategies and habits to determine if they align with the kind of person you want to be, making general decisions about your habits.
Schedule your most demanding and important tasks for the first two hours of your workday (e.g., 8-10 AM or 9-11 AM), as this is when most people are most productive.
Begin your workday by focusing immediately on the single most important thing you want to achieve, avoiding distractions like opening social media or email.
Organize your refrigerator and pantry to place fruits and vegetables in prominent, easily accessible locations to make healthy food choices the most convenient option.
Manage discretionary spending (coffee, restaurants, entertainment) by loading a prepaid card weekly, starting on Monday, and receiving daily reminders of your remaining balance to control expenditures.
Step on a scale every morning, not for immediate feedback on weight fluctuations, but as a consistent reminder of your health goals, which serves as an important motivator.
When tracking progress for long-term goals like weight loss, seek feedback that is delayed and averaged (e.g., a 3-week running average) to avoid discouragement from daily fluctuations and unrealistic expectations.
When making a decision, evaluate its implications by imagining you had to make it a thousand times or if it were a much larger, more impactful choice, to avoid giving yourself a ‘one-time’ discount.
In group settings, if you don’t understand something, ask a question immediately without looking to others, assuming you will help others who likely share the same confusion.
When asking potentially ‘basic’ questions in a group, attribute your confusion to an external factor (e.g., ‘Sorry, I’m not familiar with the local customs, but…’) to make it easier to speak up.
Prioritize working exclusively with people you genuinely like and admire, hiring them first and then figuring out specific projects, to foster a joyful and productive work environment.
As a leader, hire highly capable individuals and empower them to work independently, positioning yourself as a resource available for support when needed, rather than a supervisor.
To build resilience and a sense of progress, establish short-term goals that are measurable and allow you to see tangible improvement, even in challenging circumstances.
Allocate some of your time to pursue non-obvious opportunities or ‘wild cards’ that don’t immediately maximize logical outcomes, as these can sometimes lead to unexpectedly valuable experiences or insights.
Cultivate heightened awareness and vigilance regarding honesty in all aspects of life, recognizing it’s an ongoing daily struggle rather than a one-time fix, especially concerning conflicts of interest.