The power of micro decisions

The decisions that have the biggest impact on our lives are not necessarily the ones we spend the most time thinking about.

We tend to over emphasize the “big” decisions in life—what job to take, who to marry, where to live—when it’s actually the day-to-day decisions that matter most.

Micro decisions, the ones we make multiple times a day, compound over time. Ultimately, these add up and determine the kind of life we have.

Everything is a decision

We tend not to identify these daily micro moments as decisions. We react to people and situations on impulse rather than from a place of clear thinking.

This is natural—biology wired us to protect ourselves—but it’s not a recipe for good outcomes.

When we don’t acknowledge that we have choice in how we respond to the vast majority of situations, we put ourselves in a place of letting life happen to us opposed to proactively influencing our destinies.

Stopping this cycle of reactivity starts with recognizing that everything is a decision.

Ignoring micro decisions drains your energy

Here’s an example of how micro decisions affect you, and specifically your energy level:

You’re in a meeting at work and a colleague asks you for an update on an assignment you’re supposed to deliver tomorrow. Since you feel embarrassed about having made no progress on the assignment, you snap at your colleague and imply that it’s none of her business.

(If that situation is unrelatable for you, substitute a situation that is. What matters is, you’re confronted with something that makes you uncomfortable so you react impulsively because you want to avoid the feeling.)

Most of us think of these moments as times when we “just reacted,” no big deal. But they have a cascading effect.

In addition to now needing to sit through an awkward meeting, you’ve just set in motion a series of energy expenditures that could have been avoided if you handled the situation with clear decision making.

You’ll use energy figuring out how to mend the relationship with your colleague. You’ll use some more energy wondering what everyone else in the meeting who witnessed the moment is thinking about you, then maybe need to take some steps to mend those relationships too. You’ll probably use even more energy beating yourself up for how you acted.

How to make better decisions

For many of us, these types of scenarios play out multiple times a day, every day. We react to our circumstances instead of consciously deciding how to handle them.

It’s no wonder we feel like we have no time or energy to think about or make progress toward the things that light us up. We don’t—we’re too busy reacting to life.

There are many strategies for making better decisions. Here’s an important one:

Your state coming into a situation is the best determinant of how you’ll come out of that situation.

Meaning, if you’re tired, cranky, stressed, anxious, and/or overwhelmed, it’s really hard to make good in-the-moment decisions. Or to even recognize situations as opportunities to influence the outcomes.

Awareness practices like intentional breathing help you tune into your body, the wisest instrument you have for connecting with your physical and emotional state.

If you sense you’re feeling low energy or agitated before having a conversation or entering a situation, take a minute to reset and recharge. Even just 3-5 intentional breaths can change your state and prepare you for making better decisions.