Making decisions is not hard, really 💁🏼♂️
Any personal decision problem can be reduced to a tractable finite set by adding enough constraints 🤝
Since you define your own parameters and actions, your problems can be reduced and measured.
Are decisions easy? Let's see 👇
Finite set of actions
The overall claims goes as follows:
If you know all variables, all constraints, and the full state space, then solving a problem = picking one option from a finite set of possible actions.
Chess example: If you fully specify the board state, legal moves are a finite set. Even though the tree is astronomically large, every problem reduces to choosing the next move from a discrete list.
And this applies to personal day-to-day decisions as well.
Shopping example: If you know exactly what’s in stock, your budget, and your preferences, you reduce it to a finite set of baskets.
Anxiety is an unknown board
Problems cause stress when you don't know the next action.
But, if you reduce the problem to a finite set of actions, it's mostly about picking one.
The uncertainty of the outcome remains, it cannot be avoided, it's the essence of complex systems.
Since uncertainty it's inevitable, it's also not meaningful (you get it either way).
Overthinking
Even if the set of actions is finite, it doesn't mean it's small.
You often cannot hold nor define the set of all possible next actions in your mind only.
That's overthinking. You are trying to reduce the problem in your head, but you just end up in a loop of uncertainty (and anxiety).
Which brings me the the next point 👇
Write it down
For a problem to be tractable, it must exist.
Start by writing down the problem in as much details as possible.
Just specifying the problem may give you the solution 🙌
If not, you can start applying constraints and reduce the set of possible actions.
Example: "What career should I pursue?"
This definition is too broad to pinpoint your next move.
Let's apply some constraints:
- Must pay more than 50k/year
- Must involve creative work
- Must allow remote work
- Must be related to my degree
You suddenly reduced the set of jobs to a smaller pool. Go ahead and apply to all that fit!
Not accepting reality
Constraints reduce the action set. Sometimes to 0.
Example: I want a creative job paying more than 200k, fully remote, in a non-competitive industry, with 4 hours work weeks.
Search results: 0.
You must accept this. Your constraints are too restrictive.
This should not be a source of more anxiety (e.g. "there is no place in the world for me...").
Instead, see it as an opportunity to clarify your priorities 🫵
It's even a good strategy to start with as many constraints as you really desire, and only remove when necessary.
It works, but it's not easy
Final quick point:
This method has nothing to do with emotions and easy/hard actions.
Defining constraints and actions is as objective as it gets.
Actions may be hard, constraints may remove choices or people that you may still want to include.
If you are not willing to perform the chosen action, then it's all in vain.
Accept that you don't want to solve the problem 🫵
Write down what bothers you. Write. Write. Write.
I cannot empathize this enough. Writing is a superpower. It's formalized thinking.
And if you make your thinking real, solutions emerge.
See you next 👋