Making the Right Decisions and Avoiding the Fudge Factor

Yesterday I watched Akshay kumar's latest movie Chandini Chowk to China, a caricature of Chinese martial arts. The scene that endured however wasn't one with any of the kicks or locks but of Ranvir Shorey as 'Chopstick' making a decision about whether to con the hero into going to China or not.

He vacillates between the voice of his inner angel and inner devil. The angel is dressed in spotless white indian clothes and the devil in bright red Chinese attire! Veiled political comment by the director? Hmm. 

Anyway to the others it looks as though Ranvir is needlessly turning left and right. And in fact Akshay asks him why the hell he's turning left and right. He's listening to his internal voices of course.

This is what we do when we have to decide, we not only hear voices, we see movies or slides too, we also have feelings. But under pressure many people cannot decide for themselves, they base their decisions on false assurances and rationalizations. This is what I call the fudge factor. 

So what I'm going to discuss now is a method that I use to make good decsions, you can use it too because good decisions are the cornerstone of a good life. You see good decisions lead to good experiences and good experiences lead to good feelings which lead to more good decisions... anyone read 'The Secret' and the secret 'law of attraction'? Maybe this is the loop. The secret advises you to enter this loop at the 'good feelings' stage. I just entered the loop at the good decisions stage and it has transformed the quality of my life. And unlike the secret, there's no blind believing required either :)

So here's how you build the habit of making good decisions

EXERCISE

1. Think of a good decision you've made, one that you have no regrets about. If you can't think about one right away, think about brushing your teeth this morning... is it a good decision with no regrets? Notice where you're looking when you think about this. Is it an image you see internally or a movie? In any case the decision with 'no regrets' is located at a specific location in the space relative to you, by your brain. Is it to your left, right, up down, in front, behind where?
2. Once you've located the good decision, think of a lousy desicion you made, one that you regretted considerably later. If you're having trouble with this one I'm jealous! find the location of the 'lousy decision with a lot of regrets' in much the same way.
3. Notice that these two are located at different points in space relative to you. 
4. This sorting is really very sophisticated, if you're old enough to read and understand this, you brain already has made a decision strategy that will make you healthy, happy and comfortable. Remember there is no limit to how healthy, happy or comfortable you can get.There is a state of happiness happier than your happiest till now! Dr Bandler asks, 'How much pleasure can you stand?'  So if you can trust your brain's sorting mechanism you're on the road to great good decisions and a lot of pleasure.
5. Ok now think of something you're undecided about, line up the various options you have and see where they fall, If they clearly fall or lean towards the 'bad decisions, many regrets' location then run a movie of the whole event from the moment you make the decision to the logical end and your unconscious will show you what's bugging you that can actually go wrong. If you find a fix for this problem the decision will magically float to the 'no regrets' place! For example I needed to attend a friend's music album launch at a particular venue, the decision to go to the place fell into the 'bad decisions many regrets' place. I was surprised that attending a friend's album launch could be a bad decision. Then i ran a movie of it, it was at a venue where I was likely to run into some people that make me uncomfortable. And that was what my unconscious was warning me against. When my wife told me that these blokes were not likely to be there because they had some other event to go to, the decision shifted into the 'no regrets' place. I went there and had a great time
6. Build a 'WAITAMINNIT' device before you make a bad decsion. Think of the bad decision location and imagine a motion detector laser in that location. Whenever your unconscious pops a decision in this location let the 'WAITAMINNIT' alarms ring and flash 10 lights like ambulance lights in front of your face. Just build this device. Imagine installing it and test it. Install the wires and the electronics in your imagination. And pop a bad decision in the area. See if you're able to get thoselights flashing and those alarms wailing!
7. To complete the 'WAITAMINNIT' device install a projector that automatically runs the movie for you of the whole event from the moment you make the decision to the logical end. See yourself running the wiring and circuitry for this device.Test this by making a deliberate bad decision a few times. You should hear the ambulance wail and see the flashing lights before the whole movie starts t0 run in front of your eyes.
8. Once you've exposed the fudge factor, you can make a good decision.
9. Whenever you hear this alarm examine your decision, because you're gonna regret it!
10. Ever heard a cash register ring? Wire some motion detector lasers in your 'good decision' location to make that 'trr..ding' sound everytime you decide something good, because this will make you healthier and richer remember?
11. Now's the fun part. Think of a decision you need to make, see where it's floats to, if you've built the devices right. You will automatically start to make good decisions

Tell me if you're having trouble, I'd be glad to help you build this machine in your brain.