How to Make Better Decisions — Decision-Making Mental Models — Using Intuition | Tim Ferriss

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I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say you've really helped change my life for the better. Thanks so much!

It's so weird seeing Tim say "ladies and germs" and not just hearing him, but actually seeing him say it too 😂

Perfect is the enemy of done.

I love the idea behind the "whole body yes." So often the heart, gut, and mind can have different opinions. Going to be using this methodology going forward!

Making easily reversible decisions as fast as possible is gold to having more decision making energy in life. We often see it as "productivity hacks" (laying out clothes the day before etc..) but extending it to the daily decisions we don't realize have a lasting impact is a great way to safeguard from that daily mental fatigue that builds up much quicker than we would like.

Whenever I struggle to make a decision(esp. between two choices), I'd feel a lot of contractions in my head when thinking about one option, whereas I don't really have to think twice about the other. It's almost like I keep trying to convince myself to choose the one I think I "should" do and keep asking myself why I don't want to go for something that is seemingly good even when it doesn't "feel" right. And I end up ruminating endlessly because I can't seem to explain or understand it with reason no matter how hard I try. But thanks to you, now I know that the right decision should not cause too much struggle and unpleasant sensations in the body. If it feels right then it's probably right, and I should trust my intuition.

Summary: - If the decision is reversible (it can be cancelled, you can get a refund, etc), save your decision making energy for when the stakes are higher. - a risk and benefit list is better than a pro and cons list. - look for a yes signal in your head, heart and gut. if something feels off even after doing risk benefit analysis, go with your intuition which is a no. - but make sure you don't only use intuition by itself to make a decision.

Agreed so hard on the reversible decisions or flexible. Ones that let you just go ahead and make an action, which you can easily shift away from when needed. Save your energy for the bigger things in life. Appreciate the video TimTim

Great advice, I listened to you advice last year in March you mentioned in your podcast (forget which one as I listen to most) don't let this time go to waste. It gave me the idea to start a YouTube channel which has been a fun challenge, habit that has kept me distracted from the noise and focused on learning something new. Thanks Tim! Keep up the great work!

That was useful. I have been noticing a contraction around a place that I was considering moving but I was thinking that it was just a combination of fear and excitement about making a big move. And my mind keeps coming in to think about all of the potential fun and good things about the location, not taking into account (or overriding) the contracting feelings in my body.

there is so much noise in our lives it can be hard to work from intuition, even recognize it., should you want to use intuition. THis can mess up the whole body ... as they interplay. Well worth working on, I imagine it gets more effective the longer you do it. That "misuse" of intuition a very interesting point. Great point of reversible and small decisions. best/most likely/worst case can be good too ... and addressing the ability to deal with worst case scenario. It can take "needless" or excessive, the stress out of decisions. Great piece.

I've said it so many times, why not say it on his videos: Tim Ferris is one of the greatest, most profound, out of the box, original thinkers of our day. There; now it's written 😎

Agree, for me intuition in my gut says look further; if gut says no, it is no, if gut and heart are yes, the brain engages to figure out risk and ROI. Learning how to parse gut from fear and gut from greed will calibrate you well. Fear is a false negative, greed is a false positive. If either come up wait to choose, and maybe time will choose for you. Alternative; if i am getting the greed signal, i choose no, as someone or something is appealing to my desire for big outcomes.

Great video! Always been confused around What is intuition and what is actually fear of doing something new and the unknown. Great point using risk benefit analysis and doing a whole body scanning.

Straight down to the point and super practical advice. Thank you, Tim.

Thanks Tim, these are great and simple, applicable concepts to sort things out! I now recognise how important it is to concile as much as possible the "practical", the "rational" and the "intuitive" (whatever these mean, but I'm referring to your three main points here). Great talk! Also, you're looking good man, so happy to see you in such a lovely mood, still good old Tim but a little looser and lighter! Btw, really had a blast diving into #500, amazing stuff, thanks so much for sharing that conversation!!

The timing of this is excellent Tim! This reminded me a bit of the "in-betweenesodes" of the podcast such as the "not-to-do list" or "the art of letting bad things happen". Enjoyed that "vintage Tim" vibe! (Gotta say too that I've been enjoying the more subtle topics you've touched on conversations like the 500th episode and the recent episode with Josh Waitzkin).

Thank you for sharing! I came across "Mental Models" in the Almanack of Naval Ravikant recently which made this video catch my eye. Took action on it by making a mental model for game theory (currently a college student...in game theory): 1. Optimization - making the best decision possible given the constrains (ex: budget, time, etc) 2. Take others decisions into consideration (seeing multiple POVs) 3. Humans aren't robots. Know when to use the numbers or to trust your gut/emotions. I think the last point relates really well to the intuition you talked about in this video.

I think “intuition” can also keep you from doing things you should. For instance, when you know you should and you don’t feel that honest sense of wrongness or gut check but you spend so much time avoiding, dreading, or procrastinating because it’s not something you may necessarily like or enjoy. You can overthink or get worked up thinking of all the reasons you wouldn’t like doing that thing to a point where you practically imagine or manifest a “no” simply to justify doing something else or finding another distraction, kicking the can a bit further down the road.