#Decision Making

Deciding Early: The 70% Information Rule

To complete the picture, it’s important to note when 70% is not enough. In domains like medicine, aviation, security, or compliance, the costs of being wrong can be catastrophic, and information gaps may represent unacceptable hazard rather than tolerable uncertainty. In these cases, the decision process must prioritize robustness over speed. Even in business, the rule can be misused to justify underthinking. The spirit of the quote is not “decide with little evidence,” but “decide before the evidence is perfect, once the decision is sufficiently informed and you can still adapt.” The discipline lies in knowing which situation you’re in. [...]

Relentless Training as the Root of Judgment

Applied beyond the sword, Musashi’s advice becomes a blueprint: if you want better decisions, make training continuous and specific to the choices you face. That might mean rehearsing scenarios, reviewing failures, practicing fundamentals until they are boringly reliable, and seeking feedback even when you would rather be praised. Like a fighter repeating footwork, a leader might repeat difficult conversations; like a strategist studying opponents, a professional might study past incidents and near-misses. In the end, the quote closes the loop: the “decision” is merely the public moment. The private life of repeated training—day and night—is what quietly determines whether that moment will be wise. [...]

Polishing the Mind to See Right Action

Confucius frames the mind as a mirror: when it is clean, it reflects reality without distortion, making the “next right move” easier to recognize. In this view, wisdom is less about sudden inspiration and more about removing the grime of haste, ego, and confusion that blurs judgment. From there, the quote suggests a practical ethic. Right action is not presented as an abstract rulebook but as something revealed moment by moment when perception is accurate—an idea echoed in the Analects (5th century BC), where self-cultivation is treated as the groundwork for virtuous conduct. [...]

Turning Small Daily Choices Into Bold Directions

Rumi’s line reminds us that our lives are not redrawn by rare, dramatic events but by the smallest choices we make repeatedly. Each decision, no matter how trivial it seems—what we read, how we speak, where we place our attention—acts like a stroke of ink on the map of our future. When these small choices become intentional and courageous, the overall pattern of our lives begins to shift. Thus, rather than waiting for a grand turning point, Rumi invites us to recognize that the turning is already happening, moment by moment, through what we choose now. [...]

Steering Daily Life With Imaginative Navigation

Yet a ship needs a captain, and here Woolf subtly points to responsibility. Imagination is not escapism if it is harnessed with intention; rather, it becomes the disciplined art of charting where we wish to go. Just as navigators study maps and stars, we can examine our values and desires, asking which course aligns with them. Therefore, imagination does not excuse us from accountability; it deepens it, because we can no longer pretend there were no other options available. [...]

Designing a Life Through Compounding Good Choices

Defining quality is not enough; we must make it easy to act repeatedly. Habits and environment design reduce decision fatigue so the default is good. James Clear’s Atomic Habits (2018) and BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits (2019) show that small, obvious cues and frictionless steps beat willpower. Put healthy options in reach, schedule deep work, and pre-commit where it matters. By automating the ordinary, we reserve attention for the consequential. Moreover, systems create reliability: when the next good choice is the path of least resistance, discipline turns into design. This prepares us for fast feedback and continuous improvement. [...]

Success Is Not Earned by Chance but by the Choices We Make — Anonymous

It underscores the importance of taking personal responsibility for one's actions. The decisions one makes play a crucial role in the level of success they achieve. [...]