To Live Decisively is to Full Send

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Making decisions can seem like one of the most exciting feelings in the world. You could be buying a house or buying a new gaming console but one natural human instinct within us all exists and that is FOBO.

FOBO stands for the Fear Of a Better Option. FOBO at its core represents an indecisiveness about making decisions and the consequences that are associated with it.

As a soon to be college graduate, a large number of important decisions are going to be relevant as I make the transition to adulthood and being independent. Having confidence in being able to grasp and handle the many upcoming decisions that will be presented to me in the near future, is why FOBO is so important.

Before we can fully understand how to avoid FOBO we need to understand the three types of decisions that we can possibly be making. We can either be making high stakes, low stakes, or no stakes decision. The higher the stake of a decision the more factors you will have to consider to not fall into the trap of FOBO.

No stake

● Little to no impact on your life (ex. Picking channel to watch).

● Just have to move on otherwise you are wasting your time.

● Solution: Narrow down to two different options and flip a coin.

Low Stake

● A decision that has low consequences (ex. which hotel to book)

● Solution: Outsource decision and critically think (ex. consider reviews online and ask a friend for help with the decision)

High Stake

● Long term implications (ex. Which house to buy )

● You want to get it right.

● Solution: Figure out what really matters

1. Collect all data

2. Establish front runner

3. Compare all other items against the front runner (don’t go back to eliminated options)

4. Commit (Live decisively)

As described above the stake of the decision often times determines how likely you are to have FOBO. When a decision has no stake such as my deciding to talk about “how to make faster decisions” then there is less stress and indecisiveness. In high-stakes decisions, it is more important to keep a cool head and be able to commit to an option after careful consideration. Being able to critically think when under pressure is one of the skills that I look to improve as I progress in life.

“You may not get everything you want, but the mere fact you get to decide is powerful.” This is one of the final lines that Patrick Mcginnis says in his Ted Talk about making faster decisions. While we may sometimes not make the best decisions we should be appreciative of the position that we are in.

To live decisively is to Full Send. This is the motto that you can take away from reading this blog and the motto that can help you in future decision making.

I would highly recommend watching “The Way We Work series” at https://www.ted.com/series/the_way_we_work . There you can find the link to Patrick Mcginnis’ Ted Talk about FOBO, in addition to many more short videos that serve as practical wisdom and insight into how we can adapt and thrive amid changing workplace conventions.