every day we make thousands of decisions
most are relatively inconsequential for
example do you want coffee or tea others
are much more complex like whether you
should accept a new job or move to a
different city these decisions weigh
more heavily because they can impact
your life in many ways you might feel
like you're bad at making decisions or
not good at making good ones however
it's something we all struggle with due
to the way our brains are made behind
every decision there are secret
psychological factors that shape the way
we think and act shining a light on
these factors can make them easier to
overcome many missteps and decision
making can be chalked up to cognitive
bias that's our tendency to think a
certain way without even realizing it
here's a simple example
have you ever avoided switching internet
providers even though you were unhappy
with your current service something
called status quo bias might be to blame
that's our tendency to stick with what
we know instead of choosing something
new and different we see the alternative
as a risk or just not worth the trouble
even if it might be better without
realizing it we can become overly
resistant to change that status quo bias
at work a bias called anchoring can also
affect the choices we make
to understand how anchoring works
imagine you're shopping for a used car
now say the dealer offers you a discount
to try and sweeten the deal
sounds like a can't-miss opportunity
right not necessarily anchoring suggests
that we rely too heavily on the first
thing we hear in this case the initial
price of the car that's what makes the
discount so appealing but it shouldn't
be the deciding factor there are also
more objective things to consider like
how much the car is really worth and
whether you can find a better price
elsewhere
if you're not careful the anchoring
effect can weigh you down cognitive
biases aren't the only thing that can
affect decision-making more and more
studies show that stress can have an
impact both on the quality of our
decisions and our ability to make them
take this well-known study about Jim at
an upscale food market researchers set
up two displays offering free samples of
Jam one gave customer six different
flavors to choose from the other 24 the
small display attracted fewer people but
there were six times more likely to
actually buy a jar of jam the reason for
this is a phenomenon now known as choice
overload choice overload can happen any
time we feel overwhelmed by the number
of options we have such a hard time
comparing them we're less likely to
choose anything at all a similar thing
happens when we're forced to make
multiple decisions one after another
after another and so on we experience an
effect psychologists call decision
fatigue decision fatigue suggests that
making a large number of decisions over
a prolonged period of time can be a
significant drain on our willpower the
result we have a harder time saying no
to things like junk food impulse buys
and other tempting offers on the flip
side fatigue can also make it harder to
say yes especially to decisions that
would upset the status quo we leave
things as they are because it's the
easiest thing to do
making decisions will always be
difficult because it takes time and
energy to weigh your options
things like second-guessing and
uncertainty are just a part of the
process in many ways they're a good
thing a sign that you're thinking about
your choices instead of just going with
the flow that's the first step to making
better more thoughtful decisions GCF
global creating opportunities for a
better life