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Your Life Systems is a podcast about building practical systems for everyday life.
Join Wes as he shares simple ideas, practical frameworks, and real-world experience to help you make consistent progress in the areas of life that matter most.
Most people don't need more information. They need better implementation.
Instead of relying on motivation, you'll learn how to build systems that make success easier, more consistent, and more sustainable.
Design Your Default Decisions
Hi, I'm Wes. Welcome. Today we're going to talk about Design Your Default Decisions.
I recently did a video called The Power of Pre-Deciding, which is a good video. You should watch it. It has some things that parallel this, but I want to point out the big difference.
The Power of Pre-Deciding is what it sounds like. You decide once, or before something happens, and you don't have to waste mental energy deciding again.
But today we're focusing on designing your default decisions. We're talking about how you design or create the decisions, systems, or frameworks once you make a decision so they stay in place and continue to help you. That's the big difference.
So today, think about how you're going to design what I call default decisions. I have several default decisions in my life. I've talked about some of them off and on in other videos.
For example, a few of my default decisions: I mentioned this in the other video I referenced, but I don't drink. That's a default decision. I don't do it, so I don't ever have to make the decision again.
I eat the same thing for breakfast every day and usually the same thing for lunch every day. Those are my types of default decisions.
I put those in place in my life so I don't have to think about them every day and can focus on the things that are important - my family, business, etc. I also have many default decisions that I've put in place in my business.
For example, Your Life Systems. I know what my publishing schedule is. I know how many videos I'm going to shoot every week. I know what's going to happen before a video is recorded, as soon as it's recorded, and after it's recorded.
I know who needs to do what, who needs to do the editing, and who needs to put things here, there, and everywhere.
These are all decisions that I've designed inside systems, or I've designed systems to plug these decisions into, so I've decided once. I've designed the system so these decisions continually get carried out, which frees my mind so I can work on the important things and also makes things more uniform.
In business - and there's no kidding here, this is a business - Your Life Systems is my business, or one of my businesses. In a business, consistency is important. When you deal with the public and with customers, it's important that your business is consistent.
So when you come and look at one of my videos, you know what you get. You get me, an old bald guy sitting in a chair talking to you about success or something to do with success. I sound the same every time. I look pretty much the same. You know what you're going to get.
It's consistency. Some people like me, some people don't. That's fine, but it's consistent.
Think of franchising. Think of McDonald's. McDonald's is not perfect at this, but they're pretty good at it. McDonald's wants your experience to be basically the same at any McDonald's anywhere in the world, but especially in the United States.
You can go to a McDonald's in Texas, Oklahoma, or Michigan, and they're all supposed to be pretty much the same experience. The food is supposed to be the same, taste the same, look the same, etc. In business, consistency is very important, and that's why I'm talking about designing systems or designing your default decisions.
So there are two things here. It's making the default decisions, then designing systems or frameworks that you plug those default decisions into so they work consistently. Again, there are two big benefits to this.
One is that it's good for your customers if you're in business. But even if you're not using these for business, it's good for your life because it saves you mental energy so you can use it for other things.
If you don't intentionally design your defaults, circumstances will design them for you. Good defaults make good decisions easier.
Let's talk about that for a minute because that's huge. You get to decide. You can intentionally design your systems, decisions, or defaults. If you don't intentionally do it, then life will decide them for you.
That's why the more things you can decide ahead of time, the better off you are. You already know what you're going to do in a lot of situations because you've already made the decisions and created systems and frameworks to help you carry them out.
Then when life goes to chaos, you don't have to worry about all these things you've already decided and already put systems in place for. Good defaults, good decisions, good pre-decisions, and good systems make good decisions easier. If you have defaults, you've already made your choices ahead of time. It makes life easier.
Defaults quietly shape your life. You already have defaults in place. Each one of us creates defaults - default systems, default decisions, things we've already done over and over until they become defaults.
Sometimes defaults are great. Sometimes they're not. But you already have defaults built into your life.
Remember one word I said: intentionally. It's important that you intentionally create as many defaults as you can so you can choose your defaults.
Good defaults reduce unnecessary choices, and your environment often determines your behavior. This all fits together - your defaults and your environment. I talk about environment every once in a while.
One example I've used more than once is, how do I not eat candy? I don't have it in my environment. I can't eat the candy bar if it's not here. If I don't have a candy bar in the house, I can't eat the candy bar. That's the default.
The default is that when I go to the store, I don't buy the candy bar because I can't have it in the house. You don't buy candy bars, you don't have them in the house, and you can't eat them.
That's simple, but what do you have in your life that you can change in your environment to help design your default decisions? That's how environment fits in here. That's what I'm talking about when I say your environment often determines your behavior.
Remember, we're talking about designing your default decisions. I know my environment can't have candy bars in it. Can't have it. So I make the default decision that I don't buy the candy bar and don't bring it home, because if I don't have it in my home, I can't eat it.
I know that sounds simple, but it's very, very powerful.
I'm not telling you not to buy candy bars. I'm telling you to figure out how you can use this in your life. What's one thing you can change in your environment that's going to support how you design your default decisions or defaults?
Every time you identify something you can put in place or remove permanently to design your defaults or default decisions, the more powerful you become.
I've used this time and time again. Another example is when I used to write full-time. I would get up, have a morning routine, then start writing. I'd write the first line.
It's easy to get writer's block or create writer's block. I didn't deal with writer's block a lot, but maybe it's because I put this default decision in place.
The default decision was: You sit down and write the first line. It doesn't matter if the first line is atrocious. You've got to get started. You write the first line.
Then you write the first paragraph. That did something to me. Even if I was struggling with ideas or putting sentences together, once I got started, it started flowing more and more.
I still had some days that were better than others, etc. But that was a default decision I'd put in place. When I was writing full-time, it didn't matter. I got up, did my morning routine, and immediately started the first sentence.
That was the default.
So what is it you can put in place like that? I've given you two examples. You get up and start writing if you're a writer. You don't buy the candy bar if you don't want to eat the candy bar, so it's not in your environment.
What can you do that creates the same type of leverage intentionally when you want to design your defaults or default decisions? That's what you're looking for. That's my challenge to you.
Find one thing today that you can intentionally design to help you.
Here's another thing: Making no decision is the same thing as making a decision.
What happens if you don't decide to design a default decision or a system for your default decisions? I already covered that. Here's what happens: The world forces something onto you.
It's not intentional anymore, so you're missing your opportunity to intentionally create and design what you want.
Pre-deciding, which I mentioned earlier, chooses your direction, but defaults make following the direction automatic. That's where these two tie together with the previous video.
Pre-deciding is important. You make the decision once, and you benefit from it going forward. Designing your default decisions is creating the system that you plug that decision into.
You pre-decide, then you create a default that makes following that pre-decision automatic.
So in closing, your defaults are already shaping your future. You're already doing things by default.
Stop doing them without thinking about them and design them intentionally instead of accepting them accidentally.
Intentional is a big word. When you intentionally design your defaults, you have more control and a better chance of succeeding in whatever you want to do.
The easiest decision tomorrow is the one you've already prepared today.
I'm Wes. This is Your Life Systems.
Like, subscribe. Thanks for being with me. Good luck.