1120: Finding freedom through less decisions
Today I'm sharing some really helpful things from a book I'm enjoying listening to, and inviting you to make less decisions!
Episode transcript:
Good morning, daily peppers and a very happy Monday to you. So I thought we kick off this week on The Daily Pep. By So I thought I'd kick off this week on the daily pet by sharing a book that I've been really enjoying lately. And something that I'm finding really helpful from it. So the book is Happy Mind, Happy Life by Dr Rangan Chatterjee, and I've been listening to it for a good couple of weeks now. I was first put off by the title because I thought it sounded way too simple, and it was gonna be all about positive vibes only. But it really isn't. It's really nuanced, and I really love it.
Now there are so many things from it that are so good, and I'm definitely gonna be coming back to it on future episodes of The Daily Pep. But the thing I wanted to focus on today is what he calls the choice trap. So he starts off by sharing that studies have shown that we make 35, 000 choices every single day, and each of those decisions takes cognitive effort. So it's no wonder we're feeling exhausted because every day, there's so many things we have to decide. And in a world where, often with things like Netflix, it can feel like we've got unlimited choices. The amount of choices that we have can actually do more harm than good. Now I know only too well that decision fatigue is real, And so many of the decisions aren't even that important. But the weight of the amount of decisions that we need to make on a day to day basis takes a lot of the energy from the actually important ones.
If we can reduce the amount of decisions that we need to make and make life a bit easier, we lower our stress, and I think life becomes a whole lot more fulfilling and enjoyable. So today, I want you to think about the different choices you can pre make that are gonna make your life that bit much more simple. I know for me, when me and Mr Meg had a stack of films that we wanted to watch, as opposed to sitting through endless choices on streaming services. We ended up enjoying what we watched so much more. I know that if I pick out what I'm gonna wear the day before, which I definitely don't always do, it takes away 1 less thing in the morning. And if I've got a bit of a meal plan for the week and I know what meals I'm buying for and we've got the ingredients for, At least then, we're trying to figure out which meal to have on what day rather than what the fuck do I cook. And I think, as well, we can have a lot of fun with this as multipassionates. I've said before that containers are so helpful.
We think that it restricts our freedom. But I think we can have so much more freedom within a bit of a structure. So, for example, you could decide for the summer that fiction wise, you're gonna find a reading list online, or you're gonna focus on a certain subgenre. You could also create a bit of a personal development curriculum for yourself based on the things you really wanna learn, which gives you the freedom to put everything else on the back burner. And maybe when it comes to decluttering, it's doing it 1 area at a time, and that is probably gonna make a bigger difference. So as you've been listening to this, there's probably been 1 area of your life that sticks out that you could make some serious progress on if you narrowed down your choices. And maybe if you decide, decide, for example, when you start on a morning routine or a bedtime routine, the 2 things that are really important and in what order, it's probably gonna make it much more likely to you to have a good start or end to the day. Sometimes, structure can, in a funny way, give us more control over our lives.
And even though so many of us would probably say that we like unlimited freedom, it can be quite overwhelming to have all the choices all the time. So see if you can have fun with it and think about 1 decision that you make every single day that stresses you out and see what is the easiest way to eliminate that choice. Do future you a favor. Have a think and I'll see you tomorrow.
Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io
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A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!
The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.
Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.
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