Default to Clarity

While we can't eliminate our defaults, we can reprogram them. If we want to improve our behavior, accomplish more of our goals, and experience greater joy and meaning in our lives, we need to learn to manage our defaults.

The good news is that the same biological tendencies that make us react without reasoning can be reprogrammed into forces for good. Think of your default patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting as algorithms you've been programmed to run unconsciously in response to inputs from other people or the environment.

We receive some type of input from the world and then execute an algorithm that processes that input and automatically produces an output. Many of the algorithms you're running have been programmed into you by evolution, culture, ritual, your parents, and your community. Some of these algorithms help move you closer to what you want; others move you further away.

Eventually, almost everyone loses the battle with willpower; it's only a matter of time. That's just how it goes sometimes when we're forming or breaking habits. What may look like discipline often involves a carefully created environment to encourage certain behaviors. And what may look like poor choices is often just someone trying their best to use willpower and bumping up against their defaults. The people with the best defaults are typically the ones with the best environment.

The way to improve your defaults isn't by willpower but by creating an intentional environment where your desired behavior becomes the default behavior.

Joining groups whose default behaviors are your desired behavior is an effective way to create an intentional environment. For example, if you want to be more health-conscious, you could join a gym or a hiking group whose members naturally engage in the behaviors you want to cultivate.

Establishing rituals is the key to creating positive inertia. Rituals focus the mind on something other than the moment. They can be as simple as taking a quick pause before responding to someone's point of contention at work.

Rituals are hidden in plain sight anywhere temperament matters for performance. The next time you watch a basketball game or tennis match, notice how the players always bounce the ball the same number of times before shooting a free throw or serving. It doesn't matter if the previous play was the best or worst of your career. Rituals force the mind to focus on the next play, not the last one.

Strength is the power to press pause on your defaults and exercise good judgment. It doesn't matter what's going on in the world, or how unfair things may seem. It doesn't matter that you feel embarrassed, threatened, or angry. The person who can take a step back for a second, center themselves, and get out of the moment will outperform the person who can't.

Here are four key strengths you'll need to develop:

1. Self-accountability: Holding yourself accountable for developing your abilities, managing your inabilities, and using reason to govern your actions.
2. Self-knowledge: Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses—what you're capable of doing and what you're not.
3. Self-control: Mastering your fears, desires, and emotions.
4. Self-confidence: Trusting in your abilities and your value to others.

Mastering these strengths will give you the power to press pause on your defaults and make better decisions, even in the face of adversity and challenging circumstances. It's not easy, but the rewards are immense. By creating space for clear thinking, you'll be able to consistently make choices that put you in increasingly better positions to achieve your goals and live the life you truly desire.