Step 1: Eliminate as many choices as possible. We all have a finite store of mental energy for exercising self-control. Some of us have less, some have more . . . but we all eventually run out of willpower steam. That’s why the more choices we need to make during the day, the harder each one is on our brain—and the more we start to look for shortcuts. (If you like, call this the “Oh, screw it” syndrome.) Then we get impulsive. Then we get reckless. Then we make decisions
