Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results

by Shane Parrish

Each default plays a role in setting us up for regret. The social default prompts us to inherit goals from other people, even if their life circumstances are very different from ours. The inertia default encourages us to continue pursuing the goals we’ve pursued in the past, even after we’ve come to realize that achieving them doesn’t make us happy. The emotion default sends us this way and that, chasing whatever captures our fancy in the moment, even at the expense of pursuing long-term goals that matter more. And the ego default convinces us to pursue things like wealth, status, and power, even at the expense of happiness and well-being—our own and that of the people around us. If you give any of the defaults command of your life, your ultimate destination is regret. Don’t live life by another person’s scoreboard. Don’t let someone else choose your objectives in life. Take responsibility for where you are and where you are headed. Real wisdom doesn’t come from chasing success but from building character. As Jim Collins wrote, “There is no effectiveness without discipline, and there is no discipline without character.”[1]