Wanting What Matters
Good judgment is about being effective at achieving what truly matters in life - not just what matters in the moment. It's not about figuring out how to succeed today, but understanding why and how we need to structure our lives with the end in mind. Good judgment is, above all else, having wisdom.
The problem is, our defaults often lead us astray. The social default prompts us to inherit goals from others, even if their life circumstances are vastly different from our own. The inertia default encourages us to keep pursuing the same goals we've had in the past, even after we've realized they don't actually make us happy. The emotion default sends us chasing after whatever captures our fancy in the moment, at the expense of our long-term priorities. And the ego default convinces us to pursue external markers of success like wealth, status and power, even if it comes at the cost of our well-being and that of the people around us.
If you give any of these defaults control of your life, the inevitable destination is regret. You can't just copy the life decisions of other people and expect better results. If you want to live the best life you can, you need a different approach - one that aligns your choices with your deepest values and what matters most to you in the long run.
The key questions to ask are: "What do I want in life? And is what I want actually worth wanting?"
Dickens's Hidden Lesson
The Happiness Experts
Memento Mori
Life Lessons from Death
Good Judgment and the Good Life
Ultimately, good judgment is about understanding how to live a good life - not just how to succeed in the moment. It's about being effective at achieving what truly matters, not what our defaults tell us to want.
When you shift your perspective to how you want your life to look in hindsight, at the end of it all, the fears and desires that occupy your day-to-day attention start to fade. What emerges are the things that have deeper, lasting meaning - the relationships, experiences, and personal growth that will give you fulfillment and peace of mind.
This long-term, values-driven mindset is what separates good judgment from mere effectiveness. It's not enough to figure out how to get what you think you want. You also have to examine whether what you want is actually worth wanting in the first place. Taking the time for this self-reflection is what allows you to align your choices with your deepest priorities and live a life without regret.