How to live a better life, by default
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4 ideas · 34 reads
Use Choice Architecture to your advantage
There are many choice architecture strategies, but having default options that were optimal changed my life for the better.
To have good default options:
- Eliminate bad choices
- Optimize your list of attributes
1. Eliminate bad choices
Once, I fell sick with a sore throat because I ate too many crackers and didn't drink enough water.
To avoid this scenario, I stopped buying junk food entirely. If there’s no junk food in my house, it’s not possible for me to impulsively snack on junk food.
Instead, I started buying healthier options like granola and oats, with yogurt and nuts as toppings.
2. Optimize your list of attributes
Whenever you evaluate a list of options, you’d usually consider each option by its attributes in some order of priority.
For example, as a broke college student, I usually evaluate food based on price and nutrition.
When I lived in expensive cities like Seoul and San Francisco, I prioritized price over nutrition most of the time.
Having fallen sick multiple times as a result of this choice, I now realize how expensive poor health can be, and try to prioritize nutrition over price as much as possible.
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