Know the time of day, the mood or the situation where you make your worst decisions. Plan around it.
STILLNESS
WHAT THIS MEANS
Bad decisions are not spread evenly across your life, they cluster. Same hour, same mood, same two people in the room, same end of a long shift. Once you can name the conditions, you stop needing to be strong in them, which matters because being strong in them is exactly what nobody manages.
Write down the last three choices you regret and look for what they had in common. Then build one rule around it rather than relying on resolve: no spending after a bad day, no agreeing to plans while tired. Structure holds when willpower is busy elsewhere.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Under what conditions do you make your worst decisions?
MORE IN SOLITUDE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE
- Stepping outside a party for five minutes alone isn’t antisocial. It’s how some people stay at the party.
- Being the only kid in town who’s into astronomy or poetry is lonely. It’s also proof you picked it yourself.
- Be alone long enough and your worries line up to be heard. Better to meet them than drown them out.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.