“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln (we know he gets the credit for a lot of other people's quotes too)
Thank you for joining me for another blog (#42!), highlighting decision-making and the brain. This is my public exploration of what drives decision-making and how we can use that information to make better decisions, resulting in better outcomes.
After thanksgiving, I find myself reflecting and planning for the next year, knowing that soon the year will begin to wind down.
I need your help! What should we cover in 2023? There are far too many topics to cover so I want to make sure I got the most relevant topics for you. By leaving a comment on linkedin, on the bottom of this blog, or by replying on email to the email you get please let me know what you would like to cover (even if it is not in the list of topics below). Before I launch into the topics, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the support: sharing my blog with friends, sending me links to interesting articles, and giving your own thoughts and improvements on what I have written.
Topics I am researching for next year:
1) The physical conditions for good decision-making
- link between physical health and mental health
- link between mental health and decision-making
- importance of silence, solitude and darkness
- meditation techniques
- how to physically prepare for decision-making
2) How to learn quickly and retain information
- optimal learning conditions
- techniques to improve focus
- Ultradian and Circadian rhythms
- common revision mistakes
- how to structure revision
- how to make things more memorable
- rest and overstimulation
3) Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
- what is EQ? why is it important?
- How do we assess our EQ?
- what is empathy
- ways to boost EQ
4) Persuasion and influence
- positive ways people can influence you
- negative ways people can influence you
5) Gathering good information
- sources and biases
- information gathering techniques
- finding blindspots
- the scientific method
6) Neuroscience of everyday joy
- music, dancing and singing
- comedy
7) A model of the anatomy of decisions
- which decisions to ignore, outsource, automate or spend time on
- staging the decision
- priors
- information gathering
- distilling insights
- blind spots
- going from insights to options
- weighing up options
- going from options to a decision
- going from a decision to action
- reviewing decisions when new facts come to light
8) Important things schools do not teach you
i) health plan
ii) relationship plan
iii) financial plan
iv) finding purpose
v) enjoyment plan
v) getting the balance between the 5 above right
9) The big decisions the world needs to make
- Climate change
- Ageing populations
- Wealth inequality
10) Mental models and Game theory
- why rational decisions sometimes lead to bad social outcomes
- when do markets need intervention
- game theory and morals
- the relevance of mental models and how they can help you make decisions
I cannot wait to hear your feedback and get cracking on the research.
Thank you again for being such a supportive community.
HS