Must-Read! The 8 Factors that Influence Decision Making

Deciding is too much effort so we’re likely to just stick with the default or safer option if it’s already been chosen for us. 

When we get offered too many choices, the same thing happens—we shut down, unable to decide. Often, we end up simply choosing anything, just to get the process over and done with.

This is when serotonin is at it’s natural high, which helps to calm our brain. Thus, we feel less risk averse and so we can face risks and make harder choices.

If we’re feeling hunger, thirst or sexual desire, that can actually spill over into the decision areas of our brains, making us feel more desire for big rewards when we make choices. 

This can lead us to make higher-risk choices and to want for more.

• Make your decisions in the morning;
• Eat first: Keep your physical desires taken care of before big decisions.
• Cut down your choices, right down to a tiny shortlist and you’ll have an easier time.
• Open the windows: Keeping the CO2 levels low is really important.
• Use a foreign language: Explain the situation to yourself and replying with your decision in a foreign language and see how differently you process that information.