Start by tracking bad decisions.
Examples of bad decisions I’ve made:
- Almost got hit by a parking lot entry gate arm.
- Destroyed a glass bottle by putting it on the edge of the table and it fell.
- Ate McDonalds and Soda and hated it (like I knew I would).
- Almost got run over by walking in front of a tram.
- Donated to a political campaign and got spam mail by them.
- Sat on glasses.
- Talked to an incompetent random person for too long, which is fault of my open-mindedness.
- Should’ve asked how much the bun costs at the supermarket; It was actually a sweet bun and not a bread bun so $5 instead of $1.
I made a lot of bad decisions. Most of them were minor, some of them major but I didn’t know any better, but because I reviewed my bad decisions I’m now able to make fewer of them.
From these you can come up with inductive principles.
By inductive, I mean from multiple samples creating general conclusions rather than top-down reasoning. Used Obsidian for this.
- INATTENTION Almost got hit by a parking lot entry gate arm.
- ARROGANCE - KNEW IT WOULD BE BAD THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FINE Destroyed a glass bottle by putting it on the edge of the table and it fell.
- AROGANCE Ate McDonalds and Soda and hated it (like I knew I would).
- INATTENTION Almost got run over by walking in front of a tram.
- ASSUMED GOOD IN THEM Donated to a political campaign and got spam mail by them.
- INATTENTION, PLACE THINGS WHERE THEY SHOULD GO Sat on glasses.
- TRUST YOURSELF - DON’T IGNORE INNATE FEELINGS Talked to X, who is incompetent, for too long.
- ASSUMPTION - PRESUMING ONE THING TO BE TRUE Hmart should’ve asked how much the bun costs; It was actually a sweet bun and not a bread bun so expensive
Then after a period of time, ask yourself what the major problems are and stop doing them.
Some of the biggest issues were:
- Arrogance (knowing something is bad but still doing it) - 13
- Inattention (tunnel vision) - 11
- Rushing, Hastiness - 8
- Assumption (presuming one thing to be true) - 8
- Beware the PHYSICAL ZONE OF DANGER - 8
- Preparation (not doing preparation in advance) - 9
- Trust yourself/don’t trust other people unless they are a subject area expert - 7
So I realized that and started doing them a lot less now.
Now I only realize minor problems from time to time:
- You only get one chance (to talk to someone interesting, etc.)
- Document everything (packages, housing, etc.)
- Have good habits (I don’t make bad decisions, but it is still difficult to habitually do work every day)