{"id":76261,"date":"2022-08-21T11:36:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-21T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=76261"},"modified":"2022-08-22T16:02:58","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T20:02:58","slug":"important-decisions-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is a big decision on the horizon for you? What are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. When faced with a big decision, it\u2019s important to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-push-yourself\/\">push yourself<\/a> beyond the current situation and consider how you&#8217;ll feel about your decision at various points in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how to make high-stakes decisions, according to Chip and Dan Heath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-look-far-into-the-future\"><strong>Look Far Into the Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Chip and Dan Heath, the authors of <em>Decisive<\/em>: <em>How to Make Better <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-life-choices\/\">Choices in Life<\/a> and Work<\/em>, <strong>we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/make-better-decisions\/\">make better decisions<\/a> when we give additional weight to our future feelings. <\/strong>When we consider how we\u2019ll feel in the future, we\u2019re more likely to welcome a change in the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One technique the authors recommend for making important decisions in life is the \u201c10\/10\/10 test,\u201d created by business writer Suzy Welch. First, select one of your options. Then, ask yourself, \u201cIf I chose this option, how would I feel about my decision 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years after I made it?\u201d If you determine that you\u2019d feel positively about that option at all three points in the future, it\u2019s a strong option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Is it Possible to Accurately Predict Future Feelings?<\/strong><br><br>Experts have differing opinions about how accurately we can predict our future feelings. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/stumbling-on-happiness\/1-page-summary\"><em>Stumbling On Happiness<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>psychologist<em> <\/em>Daniel Gilbert argues that it\u2019s futile to do this because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/stumbling-on-happiness#poor-choice-1-you-think-youll-feel-in-the-future-as-you-do-now\">your present emotions determine how you think you\u2019ll feel in the future<\/a>. He\u2019d likely claim that a test like the 10\/10\/10 test will only reflect your current state of mind, rather than tell you something new about your future state of mind.<br><br>However, whether or not it\u2019s possible to accurately predict future feelings, Annie Duke, author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/thinking-in-bets\/1-page-summary\"><em>Thinking in Bets<\/em><\/a>, argues that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\">imagining the future<\/a> can still positively impact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a>. She claims that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/thinking-in-bets\/chapter-4#time-travel-as-a-thought-exercise\">by remembering past decisions and imagining future outcomes, we better manage our emotions and make more rational decisions.<\/a> She calls this strategy \u201cmental <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/traveling-through-time\/\">time travel<\/a>.\u201d&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is a big decision on the horizon for you? What are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life? Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. When faced with a big decision, it\u2019s important to push yourself beyond the current situation and consider how you&#8217;ll feel about your decision at various points in the future. Here&#8217;s how to make high-stakes decisions, according to Chip and Dan Heath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[721],"class_list":["post-76261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-psychology","tag-decisive","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. Here are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. Here are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-21T15:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-22T20:02:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1158\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"657\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-21T15:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-22T20:02:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Decisive\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\",\"name\":\"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-21T15:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-22T20:02:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. Here are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg\",\"width\":1158,\"height\":657},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life - Shortform Books","description":"Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. Here are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life","og_description":"Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. Here are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-08-21T15:36:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-22T20:02:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1158,"height":657,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life","datePublished":"2022-08-21T15:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-22T20:02:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/"},"wordCount":352,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg","keywords":["Decisive"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/","name":"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-21T15:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-22T20:02:58+00:00","description":"Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. Here are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg","width":1158,"height":657},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/making-decision.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76261"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76477,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76261\/revisions\/76477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}