How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices

Annie Duke

INTRODUCTION

There are only two things that determine how your life turns out: luck and the quality of your decisions.

You have control over only one of those two things.
The only thing you have control over that can influence the way your life turns out is the quality of your decisions.

Any decision is, in essence, a prediction about the future. When you’re making a decision, your objective is to choose the option that gains you the most ground in achieving your goals, taking into account how much you’re willing to risk.

Because there are so many possible futures, making the bes...