Protecting Yourself with Safeguards
There are many inbuilt biological vulnerabilities that can impede good judgment: sleep deprivation, hunger, fatigue, emotion, distraction, stress from feeling rushed, and being in an unfamiliar environment are just some examples. We can't avoid finding ourselves in these conditions from time to time. But we can implement safeguards to protect us from our defaults when we are.
Safeguards are tools for protecting ourselves from ourselves---from weaknesses that we don't have the strength to overcome.
Safeguard Strategy 1: Prevention
The first kind of safeguard aims at preventing problems before they happen. One way to do this is to avoid decision-making in unfavorable conditions. Stress, for instance, is a big contributor to bad decisions.
You can use the principles behind HALT as a safeguard for decision-making in general. If you have an important decision to make, ask yourself: "Am I hungry? Am I angry or otherwise emotional? Am I lonely or otherwise stressed by my circumstances, such as being in an unfamiliar environment or pressed for time? Am I tired, sleep-deprived, or physically fatigued?" If the answer is yes to any of these questions, avoid making the decision if you can. Wait for a more opportune time.
Implementing a HALT check before important decisions can help you avoid making choices while under the influence of strong biological drives or mental states that compromise clear thinking.
Safeguard Strategy 2: Automatic Rules for Success
Reactive choices are automatic responses to a stimulus. Most of these responses are below the level of consciousness: We're not even aware of them.
There's an easier way - automatic rules for success.
Rather than deciding on a case-by-case basis something that requires a lot of effort and is prone to error, make a rule instead.
Step 1
Imagine a film crew following you around documenting how successful you are. What would you want them to see you doing? What habits and behaviors would you want to model?
Step 2
Translate those desired behaviors into personal rules that become automatic, requiring no decision-making in the moment.
Step 3
Leverage the power of social pressure by making your personal rules known to others. People typically don't argue with your rules, they just accept them as features of who you are.
Creating personal rules is a powerful technique for protecting yourself from your own weaknesses and limitations. Sometimes those rules have surprising benefits.
Safeguard Strategy 3: Creating Friction
Another safeguarding strategy is to increase the amount of effort it takes to do things that are contrary to your goals.
It's easy to underestimate the role ease plays in decision-making. Since behavior follows the path of least resistance, a surprisingly successful approach is to add friction where you find yourself doing things you don't want to do.
For example, if you struggle with checking email too frequently, you could move your email app to a less convenient location on your phone or computer. Or you could unsubscribe from unnecessary email lists. Making your desired behavior the default behavior is a powerful way to break bad habits.
Safeguard Strategy 4: Putting in Guardrails
Another safeguarding strategy is to formulate operating procedures for yourself because you know from hard experience when your defaults tend to override your decision-making.
Checklists, for instance, offer a simple way to override your defaults. They force you to slow down and go back to basics, asking questions like "What am I trying to accomplish? And what are the things I need to accomplish it?"
Checklists act as a safeguard, putting distance between your impulses and your actions.
Safeguard Strategy 5: Shifting Your Perspective
Each of us sees things only from a particular point of view. Nobody can possibly see everything. That doesn't mean, however, that we can't shift the way we see things in any given situation.
Shifting your frame of reference is a powerful safeguard against blind spots.
For example, one strategy is to always start a conversation by offering your impressions of how the other person sees the situation, and then asking "What did I miss?" This simple question implies that you're open to correction and gives the other person a chance to provide valuable perspective you may have overlooked.
Shifting your frame of reference by actively soliciting different viewpoints can reveal blind spots and uncover important information you're missing.
In summary, there are numerous safeguards you can implement to protect yourself from your own weaknesses and defaults, ranging from prevention strategies to creating friction, using checklists, and shifting your perspective. These safeguards make the desired behavior the path of least resistance, helping you make better decisions even when your impulses and biases would lead you astray.