How to make better decisions in life and in business: a mini guide

Originally published on JOTFORM.COM

Peek in my closet and you’ll see a row of identical Lacoste polo shirts in every color of the rainbow. Every morning, I grab a shirt, a pair of jeans, and I’m ready to go. I barely have to open my eyes.

It seems my “life uniform” also puts me in good company. Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie, PR maven Kelly Cutrone, and even Barack Obama often sport the same outfit, day after day.

Hey, if it’s good enough for Obama, it’s definitely good enough for me — and science backs us both up.

As author John Tierney explains, humans are hardwired to feel decision fatigue when we face too many choices:

“Decision fatigue helps explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car.

No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price.”