How The Top 1% Make Difficult Decisions Easily

Summary

Dieses Skript präsentiert eine Methode, wie man Entscheidungen treffen kann, die die Produktivität und Leistung langfristig verbessern. Es basiert auf der Idee, den eigenen Verstand wie einen Supercomputer zu nutzen, der perfekte Entscheidungen fließend und fehlerfrei hervorbringt. Der Sprecher, RAR, CEO des Float Research Collective, teilt seine Erfahrung und wie er durch das Erleben von Flow-Zuständen gelernt hat, Intuition und bewusstes Überlegen zu verbinden, um schnellere und bessere Entscheidungen zu treffen. Er erklärt die Unterschiede zwischen dem intuitiven System 1 und dem bewussten, logischen System 2 des Denkens und wie man durch das Festlegen klarer Probleme, das Warten auf die Inkubationsphase und das Extrahieren von Lösungen aus dem Unterbewusstsein, die Qualität der Entscheidungen erhöht.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Die Fähigkeit, schnelle und perfekte Entscheidungen zu treffen, kann die Produktivität und Leistung eines Menschen erheblich steigern.
• 🔄 Der Sprecher erlebte früh, wie das Festhalten an einem analytischen Entscheidungsprozess zu Blockaden und Unsicherheiten führen kann.
• 🧐 Es gibt zwei Denkmodi: System 1 (intuitiv, schnell, unbewusst) und System 2 (bewusst, logisch, langsam und mühsam).
• 💡 Der Übermäßige Einsatz von System 2 kann zu Stress und schlechter Leistung führen und Menschen in eine Sackgasse der Selbstzweifel führen.
• 🏃‍♂️ Durch das Erlebnis des Flow-Zustandes beim Wandern und Laufen im irischen Gelände wurde der Sprecher inspiriert, ein alternatives Entscheidungsverfahren zu suchen.
• 🤔 Transient hypofrontality, ein vorübergehendes Abschwächen des präfrontalen Kortex, ermöglicht es, Entscheidungen intuitiv und ohne bewusstes Zögern zu treffen.
• 🌊 Der Flow-Zustand ermöglicht eine nahezu perfekte intuitive Entscheidungsfindung, die ohne die störende Wirkung des Selbstbewusstseins stattfindet.
• 💡 Flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung bedeutet, die schnelle und fehlerfreie Intuition des Flow-Zustandes auf alle Entscheidungen anzuwenden.
• 🎯 Um eine flow-basierte Entscheidung zu treffen, ist es entscheidend, das eigentliche Problem klar zu definieren und nicht nur an die Symptome zu gehen.
• ❓ Die Formulierung einer prägnanten Frage hilft, das Unterbewusstsein zu aktivieren und die Suche nach einer Lösung zu beginnen.
• 🕒 Die Inkubationsphase ist entscheidend für die flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung, da sie der Subjektivierung und der unbewussten Problembehandlung Zeit lässt.
• 📝 Schreiben Sie das Problem und die Frage auf, um die Inkubationsphase zu unterstützen und die Lösungen, die aus dem Unterbewusstsein kommen, zu extrahieren.
• 🚀 Durch flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung können Menschen schneller, effektiver und mit mehr Klarheit Entscheidungen treffen, ohne unnötige kognitive Energie zu verbrauchen.

Q & A

Was ist das Hauptthema des Skripts?

Das Hauptthema des Skripts ist die Verwendung von Flow-Zustand, um Entscheidungen schneller, fehlerloser und intuitiv zu treffen.

Wer ist der Sprecher im Skript?

Der Sprecher ist der Mitgründer und CEO der Float Research Collective, dessen Name im Skript nicht erwähnt wird.

Was ist die 'Flow State', die im Skript erwähnt wird?

Die 'Flow State' ist ein Zustand optimaler Konzentration und Leistung, in dem Menschen ihre bestmögliche Leistung erbringen und Entscheidungen nahtlos und intuitiv treffen.

Was sind die zwei Modi des Denkens, die im Skript beschrieben werden?

Die zwei Modi des Denkens sind 'System 1', ein intuitives, automatisches Denken, und 'System 2', ein bewusstes, logisches und überlegtes Denken.

Wie nennen die Autoren die Verzögerung und Unsicherheit, die durch zu viel Überdenken entsteht?

Die Autoren bezeichnen dies als 'self-debt', welche Ihre Zuversicht untergräbt, Ihre Konzentration verringert und Ablenkungen zulässt.

Was ist 'transient hypofrontality'?

'Transient hypofrontality' ist ein Phänomen, bei dem die Aktivität des präfrontalen Kortex, der Region des Gehirns für bewusstes, überlegtes Denken, vorübergehend abnimmt, während man sich in einem Flow-Zustand befindet.

Wie wird im Skript die Bedeutung klarer Problemdefinition für die Entscheidungsfindung hervorgehoben?

Im Skript wird betont, dass eine klare Problemdefinition entscheidend ist, um die besten Lösungen finden zu können, da die Qualität der Entscheidungen von der Genauigkeit der Problemidentifikation abhängt.

Was ist der 'silent operator' und wie spielt er in der Entscheidungsfindung eine Rolle?

Der 'silent operator' ist ein Begriff für das adaptive Unterbewusstsein, das bei der Entscheidungsfindung eine Rolle spielt, indem es Muster erkennt und Lösungen für komplexe Probleme findet, ohne dass der Bewusste Geist aktiv involviert ist.

Was ist 'exformation' und wie wird es im Kontext der Skriptanalyse verwendet?

Exformation sind Daten, die wir bewusst verwerfen, aber die dennoch unser Unterbewusstsein erreichen und in die Entscheidungsfindung einfließen, indem sie eine umfangreiche Analyse von Informationen bieten.

Wie kann man den 'Flow State' außerhalb des eigentlichen Flows nutzen, um Entscheidungen zu treffen?

Man kann den 'Flow State' außerhalb des eigentlichen Flows nutzen, indem man die Intuition und das schnelle, fehlerfreie Denken, das während des Flows stattfindet, auf alle Entscheidungen anwendet, was als 'flow-based decision-making' bezeichnet wird.

Was ist der 'cognitive bias high' und wie kann man es erreichen?

Der 'cognitive bias high' ist ein Zustand, in dem man Entscheidungen trifft, die gegen die verzerrte Entscheidungsfindung durch kognitive Verzerrungen gehen. Man erreicht diesen Zustand, indem man sich auf die Intuition verlässt und sich über kognitive Verzerrungen hinwegsetzt.

Wie kann man die Kreativität des Default Mode Networks maximieren, um die Flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung zu verbessern?

Man kann die Kreativität des Default Mode Networks maximieren, indem man Aktivitäten durchführt, die das Unterbewusstsein aktivieren und die Inkubationsphase fördern, während man sich von der aktiven Problemlösung zurückzieht und dem Unterbewussten die Möglichkeit gibt, Lösungen zu entwickeln.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Entscheidungsfindung im Flusszustand

Der erste Absatz spricht über die Möglichkeit, das Gehirn so zu nutzen, als wäre es ein Supercomputer, der perfekte Entscheidungen fehlerfrei trifft. Der Sprecher, RAR, Co-Founder und CEO des Float Research Collective, und sein Partner Step CER, haben Tausende von Profis gelehrt, wie sie Flusszustände jederzeit herbeiführen. Er erinnert sich an seine eigene Erfahrung als Jugendlicher in Irland, wo sein gesamtes Zukunftshoroskop auf einer einzigen Prüfungswoche abzielte. Sein Problem war jedoch nicht die Entscheidung selbst, sondern der Entscheidungsprozess, der auf einem analytischen, bewussten und umständlichen Weg basierte. Er lernte über die zwei Modi des Denkens und der Entscheidungsfindung, die von Daniel Kahneman entdeckt wurden: System 1 (intuitiv, schnell, unbewusst) und System 2 (bewusst, logisch, langsam). Er erzählt von seinem Erlebnis, wie er in einem Flusszustand auf einem Bergpfad durch das intuitive Navigieren eine höhere Entscheidungsqualität erlangte, ohne bewusst darüber nachzudenken.

05:02

🚀 Anwendung des Fluss-Gedankens auf Entscheidungen

Der zweite Absatz beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, ob man die schnelle, fehlerfreie Entscheidungsfindung, die man im Flusszustand erreicht, auch außerhalb dieses Zustands nutzen kann. Der Sprecher teilt, dass er heute 60 Mitarbeiter und zwei Unternehmen hat und eine viel größere Anzahl an Entscheidungen treffen muss als in seiner Jugend. Er musste lernen, auf System 1 (Intuition) zu vertrauen und ein Gleichgewicht zwischen beiden Systemen zu finden. Der Flusszustand wird als optimaler Bewusstseinszustand beschrieben, in dem man am besten fühlt und leistet, was auf nahezu perfekte intuitive Entscheidungsfindung zurückzuführen ist. Die Idee ist, diese intuitive Entscheidungsfindung auch außerhalb des Flusszustands zu nutzen, was als flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung bezeichnet wird. Dies erfordert jedoch eine sorgfältige Vorbereitung und Ausdauer, um das Unterbewusstsein und die Intuition zu nutzen.

10:02

🎯 Identifizierung des Hauptproblems

Der dritte Absatz konzentriert sich auf die Bedeutung, das Hauptproblem einer Entscheidung zu identifizieren. Ohne eine klare Problemformulierung ist eine Entscheidung nicht besser als das, was sie lösen soll. Es wird betont, dass manchmal das wahre Problem nicht die offensichtliche Symptom ist, sondern etwas tiefergehender. Der Sprecher gibt Beispiele dafür, wie man das Hauptproblem von der Oberflächenproblematik unterscheiden kann, und wie man dadurch neue Lösungsmöglichkeiten öffnet. Es wird auch erwähnt, dass man Zeit mit dem Problem verbringen sollte, bevor man zu Lösungen übergeht, um die Kreativität und das flow-basierte Intuitive nicht zu begrenzen.

15:03

🤔 Aktivierung des Unterbewusstseins

In diesem Absatz wird die Bedeutung der Aktivierung des Unterbewusstseins, auch als 'stiller Betreuer' bezeichnet, für die flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung erläutert. Es wird erklärt, dass das Unterbewusstsein eine enorme Menge an Informationen verarbeiten kann, die normalerweise vom Bewusstsein nicht beachtet werden (Exformation). Durch die Formulierung einer Frage, die das Unterbewusstsein bearbeiten kann, wird dasadaptive Unterbewusstsein angeregt, welches in Mustererkennung und schneller Informationsverarbeitung excels. Es wird auch auf die Rolle des Netzwerkwandels im Gehirn hingewiesen, der zur Inkubationsphase führt, in der das Unterbewusstsein Lösungen generieren kann, während das Bewusstsein mit leichten Aktivitäten beschäftigt ist.

20:04

✍️ Inkubation und Extraktion von Lösungen

Der vierte Absatz beschreibt die Schritte der Inkubation und Extraktion von Lösungen, um die flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung zu vervollkommnen. Es wird empfohlen, das Problem schriftlich festzuhalten, um die Aufmerksamkeit des Gehirns auf die Problemlösung zu lenken. Die Inkubationsphase erlaubt dem Unterbewusstsein, die Informationen zu verarbeiten, während das Bewusstsein mit anderen Aktivitäten beschäftigt ist. Schließlich wird die Extraktion der Lösungen durch das Schreiben von Ideen und Lösungen angegangen, die das Unterbewusstsein im Laufe der Zeit generiert hat. Dies führt zu einer schnellen und qualitativ hochwertigen Entscheidungsfindung, die über die bewusste Überlegung hinausgeht.

💡 Meinen der kognitive Bias High

Der fünfte und letzte Absatz spricht über die Vorteile des flow-basierten Entscheidungsprozesses und wie man ihn im Laufe der Zeit verfeinern kann. Es wird erwähnt, dass die Verwendung dieses Prozesses zu einer schnelleren intuitiven Entscheidungsfindung führen wird, die ohne den Prozess selbst ausgeführt werden kann. Der Sprecher teilt eine persönliche Erfahrung, in der er und sein Geschäftspartner ein Produkt aufgrund ihrer Intuition ablehnten, obwohl es bereits fast fertiggestellt war. Dies führte zu einem sogenannten 'kognitiven Bias High', der auftritt, wenn man eine Entscheidung trifft, die gegen die durch übermäßiges Bewerten des bewussten Denkens entstandenen kognitiven Verzerrungen geht. Schließlich wird betont, dass die Entscheidungsfindung nur so gut ist, wie die Rumination, und dass die Kreativität des Default-Modus-Netzwerks maximiert werden sollte, um die flow-basierte Entscheidungsfindung zu vertiefen und zu beschleunigen.

Keywords

💡Entscheidungsfindung

Entscheidungsfindung ist der Prozess, bei dem eine Auswahl zwischen verschiedenen Optionen getroffen wird. Im Video wird betont, dass eine effektive Entscheidungsfindung zu einer Steigerung der Produktivität und Leistung führt. Das Video diskutiert, wie man durch den Einsatz des 'flussbasierten' Denkens schnelle, fehlerfreie Entscheidungen treffen kann, indem man auf systemein und systemzwei zugreift, was im Kontext des Skripts als Schlüsselelement für das Erreichen von Flow genannt wird.

💡Flow

Flow ist ein psychologischer Zustand, in dem man sich in der Tat optimal konzentriert und leistet. Im Video wird Flow als eine optimale Bewusstseinslage beschrieben, in der die Intuition und die Entscheidungsfindung am besten funktionieren. Beispielsweise wird erläutert, wie der Sprecher durch das Sprinten in einem Flow-Zustand Entscheidungen treffen konnte, ohne dass der bewusste Wille involviert war.

💡System 1 und System 2

System 1 und System 2 beziehen sich auf zwei Modi des Denkens, die von Daniel Kahneman entdeckt wurden. System 1 ist der intuitive, schnelle und unbewusste Modus, während System 2 der bewusste, logische und überlegte Modus ist. Im Video wird erklärt, dass wir oft zu sehr auf System 2 angewiesen sind, was uns verlangsamt, und wie man stattdessen System 1 nutzt, um schnellere und intuitivere Entscheidungen zu treffen.

💡Intuition

Intuition ist eine Form des Denkens, die auf unmittelbaren Eindrücken und Gefühlen basiert, anstatt auf rationalen Überlegungen. Im Video wird Intuition als das beschrieben, was bei Flow zu schnellen und fehlerfreien Entscheidungen führt und wie man diese Intuition auch außerhalb von Flow ausnutzen kann, um Entscheidungen zu treffen.

💡Deliberation

Deliberation bezieht sich auf einen sorgfältigen, überlegten Entscheidungsprozess. Im Video wird darauf hingewiesen, dass zu viel Deliberation zu Stress und einer Abnahme der Leistung führt. Es wird eine Balance zwischen Deliberation und Intuition als ideal dargestellt.

💡Transiente Hypofrontalität

Transiente Hypofrontalität ist ein Zustand, in dem die Aktivität des präfrontalen Kortex, der für bewusste, überlegte Entscheidungen verantwortlich ist, vorübergehend abnimmt. Im Video wird beschrieben, wie dies beim Sprinten in den Flow-Zustand geschieht, wodurch die Intuition und das System 1 die Entscheidungsfindung übernehmen.

💡Problembehandlung

Problembehandlung ist der Prozess des Identifizierens und Lösens von Problemen. Im Video wird erläutert, wie man die richtige Frage stellen und das Problem klar definieren muss, um eine effektive Entscheidungsfindung zu ermöglichen. Das Beispiel von Eisenhower, der die 'richtige' Frage stellte, um die Atlantikwall-Problematik zu identifizieren und zu lösen, wird genannt.

💡Inkubation

Inkubation ist der Prozess, bei dem das Unterbewusstsein weiterhin an einem Problem arbeitet, auch wenn man es nicht aktiv denkt. Im Video wird beschrieben, wie man die Inkubationsphase nutzt, um die Lösungen des Unterbewusstseins zu erhalten und wie dies zu besseren Entscheidungen führt.

💡Exformation

Exformation bezeichnet Daten, die wir bewusst verwerfen, aber die dennoch von unserem Unterbewusstsein verarbeitet werden. Im Video wird erklärt, wie Exformation, die von unserem Unterbewusstsein verarbeitet wird, zu Intuition und schnellen Entscheidungen beiträgt.

💡Kognitiver Bias

Ein kognitiver Bias ist eine systematische Abweichung von der logischen oder rationalen Entscheidungsfindung. Im Video wird der 'kognitive Bias High' beschrieben, der auftritt, wenn man Entscheidungen trifft, die gegen die durch kognitive Bias verursachten Verzerrungen gehen und wie das flussbasierte Denken dazu beiträgt, diese Biase zu überwinden.

Highlights

The concept of enhancing brain function to make perfect decisions effortlessly.

Introduction of the speaker as RAR, co-founder and CEO of the float research Collective.

Teaching professionals to access flow states at will to improve decision-making.

The struggle with decision-making and its impact on productivity and confidence.

Personal story of the speaker's struggle with choosing a major in high school.

The discovery of two modes of thinking: System One (intuitive) and System Two (deliberate).

The tendency to over-rely on System Two, leading to decision-making paralysis.

The experience of Flow State and its impact on decision-making during a hike.

Transient hypofrontality and its role in intuitive decision-making during flow.

The idea of applying flow-like intuition to decisions outside of flow states.

The importance of balancing System One and System Two for optimal decision-making.

Flow-based decision-making as a method to enhance intuitive action.

The step-by-step process for mastering flow-like decision-making.

Defining the root problem accurately as the foundation for effective decision-making.

The analogy of the silent operator and its role in subconscious problem-solving.

The concept of exformation and its contribution to subconscious decision-making.

Leveraging the power of the subconscious through externalizing and incubation.

The process of extracting solutions from the subconscious mind.

The cognitive bias High and its relation to flow-based decision-making.

The long-term benefits of flow-based decision-making for enhanced intuition and confidence.

Transcripts

what if you could make your brain act

like a supercomputer that churns out

perfect decisions flawlessly so that

every time you're faced with a do I

don't I choice you make the right move

would happen to your productivity and

your performance over the years as in

each of those little micro decisions you

get faced with throughout the day you

took the optimal path now I'm RAR

co-founder and CEO of the float research

Collective along with my partner step

CER we' taught thousands of

professionals how to access States for

flow at will you know that horrible

feeling of not being able to decide you

keep swinging between decisions in one

moment thinking you've made up your mind

then later realizing that you actually

haven't well the reality is this is what

happens when you're stuck making

decisions in a way that the average

knowledge worker is conditioned to do so

I first experienced this as a teenager

in Ireland your entire future hinges on

a single week of exams at the end of

high school your performance during

those few days determines what college

you'll get into period no interviews no

resumes just those exam results so every

moment leading up to that week is

precious precious study time but there I

was fixated on what to major in instead

of prepping for the tests that would

determine my future I was torn between

philosophy and business two pads that

felt completely at odds I made dozens of

pros and cons lists that always seemed

evenly split down the middle never

Landing decisively on one side or the

other I thought about it constantly

ruminating during class when I should

have been taking notes staying up late

into the night staring at the feeling

the uncertainty ate away at me and this

was just one decision as a teenager the

problem wasn't the decision itself the

real problem was my decisionmaking

process in general I was relying on an

analytical deliberate form of decision-

making which blocked me from making

decisions in a more effortless and

intuitive way it turns out I was relying

on the wrong system in my brain that's

when I learned about the two modes of

thinking and thus deciding discovered by

Israeli American psychologist Daniel

canaman system one is an intuitive

automatic mode of thinking that's fast

and effortless this is intuition it

leverages the subconscious it's when a

manager sees leadership potential in a

junior employee promotes them despite

their lack of expertise and the employee

thrives in the new role now system two

on the other hand is a conscious logical

and deliberate and it's slow but

effortful this is deliberation it often

shows up when you carefully weigh the

options and analyze the pros and cons of

a decision the Trouble Is We tend to

over index on system to and it slows us

down increases our stress and degrades

our performance this causes you to get

stuck in self- debt which erodes your

confidence decreases your focus and

makes you prone to progress sapping

distractions worst of all this keeps on

happening from one decision to the next

you get trapped in this cognitively

draining Loop of doubt this is what

happened to me as a student in Ireland

when trying to decide what to do in

college then one weekend I decided I'd

go hiking in the Irish Countryside to

clear my head I started sprinting down a

mountain trail jumping between rocks as

I ran down the hill I entered an intense

Flow State that feeling of being in the

zone I was effortlessly navigating the

rocky terrain by intuition alone the

decision of where to place my feet on

each precarious Rock became completely

automatic and unconscious it was just

happening in this Flow State my

prefrontal cortex the region of the

brain that orchestrates our conscious

deliberate decision-making was taking a

back seat and this is a phenomenon known

as transient hypofrontality a tempor

quieting of the part of the brain that

during regular Consciousness would be

intensely deliberating each step instead

my system one thinking was in charge

jumping from rock to rock making Split

Second decisions with ease that felt

almost like no decision maker was

present this disappearance of the sense

of self our inner monologue that nagging

voice you have in your mind this is a

key characteristic of Flow State when

you're one with the wave like the surfer

or one with the mountain like I was that

day bizarrely there is no self there is

no sense of self-consciousness present

to make decisions in a deliberative way

so my brain was relying on faster more

efficient pattern recognition an

instinct from lower brain regions like

the basil ganglia and amigdala this

leads to more automatic and shud of

system one thinking I reached the bottom

of the mountain exhilarated as I caught

my breath I couldn't help but Wonder hey

hold on a second why can't I make

decisions about what course to do in

college in the same intuitive effortless

way I decided which rock to place my

foot on as I sprinted down that Hill

here I was agonizing over philosophy

versus business when moments ago I had

intuitively navigated highly

consequential footsteps on a mountain if

one wrong step could have broken my neck

but the Flow State led me to perfect

decisions without thinking the stakes

were much higher on the mountain yet

choosing a college major felt impossible

I realized the problem wasn't my

decision-making ability the problem was

that I didn't know how to apply that

flow like intuition to decisions outside

of flow even though my brain was clearly

capable of doing so as demonstrated by

my sprinting down the mountain so the

question is is there a way to pull that

fast Flawless decision-making approach

out of flow the type of decision making

you tap into when you're skiing surfing

and running and use it any time well

fast forward to today I now am fortunate

enough to have 60 employees two

businesses and I have to make 100 times

the amount of decisions that my teen age

brain had to make back in the day with

unimaginably higher Stakes if I was

leaning on system 2 deliberation still

making decisions the way I used to it

would be physically impossible for me to

have time to do anything but making

decisions nowadays so I had to learn how

to lean on system one intuition and to

balance between both systems and here's

why this matters so much flow is an

optimal State of Consciousness where we

feel and perform our best which of the

reason why we perform at such a high

level inflow is due to the near perfect

intuitive decision-making that happens

while in the state it is system one

operating at its peak you know what this

is like to take an example you're a

writer working intensely on a complex

passage the right phrasing seems just

Out Of Reach until you get into float

suddenly everything clicks your fingers

fly across the keyboard as the perfect

words come to you intuitively it's like

the text is writing itself hours passing

by in a blink as you draft an entire

chapter this is system one decision

making at its best insight and

expression flowing seamlessly with

minimal conscious thought perturbing it

but here's the crazy thing there's a way

to tap into this highlevel intuitive

decision- making that we get INF flow

even outside of actually being in a flow

State as flow researcher Lori yto of

Alto University put it flow can be

thought of as intuitive action whereas

intuition in turn can be construed as

cognition in flow in other words

intuition is what powers our decision

making and flow and that flow-based

intuition can power all our thinking and

decisions not just the ones made in flow

this is called flow-based

decision-making flow-based

decision-making means harnessing the

fast Flawless intuition of flow and

applying it to all choices with the

Perfect Blend of system one and system

two of intuition and deliberation it

leverages your subconscious but you also

get the most out of the conscious mind

without it becoming an obstacle it's

like having the batting skills of a pro

baseball player able to hit the ball in

the blink of an eye even when you're not

in the middle of the game the result you

make more decisions make them faster and

make them better without expending on

necessary cognitive energy to be clear

we're not telling you to randomly start

going with your gut and making rash

decisions as you'll see flow-based

decision- making requires rigor prep and

diligence at its outset so you can

harness subconscious processing and

intuition so how do we do this how do we

take this form of decision- making out

of Flow State and apply it everywhere to

elevate the quality of our decision

making across our lives well here's the

step-by-step process to master flow-like

decision-making the first stage the

flow-based decision-making process is to

give your subconscious a Target imagine

this you're General Eisenhower in the

leadup to dday you've got the greatest

army the world has ever seen boats

planes and your mind is full of

incredible military strategy now let's

say you misdiagnose the problem thinking

that the main German defense is the Air

Force so you decide to invest heavily in

anti-aircraft meas

you deploy the troops hit the beaches

and are instantly mowed down by

fortified machine gun nests why because

you made a decision based on solving the

wrong problem in reality the strongest

part of the German Army was not their

Air Force Eisenhower thankfully didn't

make this mistake he understood the root

problem the Atlantic Wall a massive

system of fortifications built by Nazi

Germany along the western coast of

Europe from Norway to Spain the real

challenge was not just the German Army

but how and where they were fortified so

he made a decision to invest in massive

artillery and specialized engineering

teams trained to destroy obstacles

turning the Atlantic Wall into more of a

speed bump than a blockade the decision

was only as good as the problem was

designed to solve a decision is nothing

more than the selection of a solution to

a problem that's what a decision

fundamentally is you can think of the

problem as a lock and the decision as a

key you can't make a key that unlocks a

lock if you don't know the Lock's shape

and structure and the same goes for

flow-based decision- making without

identifying the root problem you're like

a surgeon in an operating room hacking

away at the wrong organ unknowingly in

this way your decisions are only as good

as how precisely you are able to

identify the problem this was evident

during my Sprint down the mountain in a

state of flow I effortlessly navigated

the precarious terrain through

split-second decisions this hyper fast

intuition worked because the problem was

unambiguously and clearly defined right

in front of me where to place my feet on

each upcoming Rock The Objective was

crystal clear that's what we're going

for here this is how slow based

decision- making kicks in with such an

explicitly defined problem both systems

one and two your conscious and

subconscious know exactly where to apply

their efforts so when the root problem

is vague your mental resources scatter

and if you don't clarify the problem you

might be trying to solve a problem that

doesn't even exist or trying to solve a

different problem even as we speak you

might be blindly walking around trying

to solve things you've spent no time

trying to find out the root cause of

it's like furiously scooping water out

of a sinking boat with a bucket but you

never look for the hole in the boat

that's causing the leak the water keeps

filling up and you're trapped in an

endless loop of bucket scooping it's

staggering when you think about the time

we sink into tackling these Phantom

problems to avoid this trap it helps to

separate the symptom from the problem

for example I remember a while back I

was trying to figure out what car to buy

seem simple enough just compare models

of various cars so I spent a weekend

test driving some new cars comparing

specs and asking friends what they

thought investing a bunch of brain

Cycles on the decision with system 2

deliberative thinking but one morning as

I sat in Non-Stop traffic trying to get

to work yet again it hit me the real

issue wasn't what car to buy but had to

reliably get to work each day no matter

the traffic as soon as I reframe the

problem from choosing a Tesla or a

Mercedes to solving my transportation to

work a whole new range of options opened

up I could car poool bike take public

transport or even just work from home

the perceived problem or symptom was

which car should I buy the root problem

was how do I reliably get to and from

work another time I was having a hard

time trying to decide whether to hire

one person or another for a key role on

my team both candidates seemed qualified

in their own ways one candidate had

great technical skills but she had less

experience the other had tons of

experience but his Tech skills were not

as sharp in the meantime customer

support inquiries were building up the

pressure didn't help it made me second

guess the decision even more and then it

dawned on me what I really needed was

just something to handle customer

support once I realized this was the

core the root problem I could expand out

the options maybe I could set up an FAQ

page tweak the onboarding process to

reduce customer queries deploy an AI

chatbot or even Outsource the whole

customer service function the perceived

problem or symptom was whether a hire

person A or B the root problem was to

ensure all customer inquiries were

responded to so the key is drilling down

to the actual underlying problem not

just the surface level now once you've

separated the symptoms from the root

problem let yourself linger with the

problem before jumping to Solutions

spending time in the problem space is

uncomfortable because naturally we want

the problem to be solved but rushing to

a solution bypasses the essential

incubation period which we'll cover in a

moment the critical mistake is to jump

to Solutions too fast which limits all

creativity and defeats the purpose of

flow-based intuition just as you don't

want to define the problem incorrectly

you don't want to decide prematurely and

a less effective solution you've only

just clearly defined the problem and the

brain's pattern matching abilities need

time to find the best solution by

lingering with the root problem your

subconscious mind continues to process

and examine a problem even when you're

not actively thinking about it and the

next stage of the flow-based

decision-making process is to recruit

the silent operator consider this

analogy from Advisory Board member to us

at flow research Collective and Stanford

neuroscientist Dr David Elman the

conscious mind can process the headline

of a newspaper

while the subconscious mind can process

the entire newspaper but what if there's

a way to bring the entire newspaper into

your conscious awareness just imagine

how much better you'd be able to solve

problems and make decisions well here's

how you can so far we've defined the

root problem but the main purpose of

defining the root problem is so we can

pose the question that is the question

our subconscious can mul on and pattern

match and search for the answer this

question is how we coax the rest of the

newspaper to the surface for example by

going through the previous steps let's

say you discover that the problem isn't

just how can we increase leads but

actually how can we increase netfree

cash flow in our business well now you

need a question that you can feed your

subconscious so that it can help solve

the problem for you that question might

be one of the most effective ways to

generate and sustain increased cash flow

in the next quarter by formulating this

question you activate your adaptive

subconscious the brain's rapid response

unit that psychologist Timothy Wilson

calls the silent operator an evolved

high-speed information processing system

that excels in pattern recognition the

silent operator rapidly scans your

environment your memories and social

cues when you get a good feeling that's

your silent operator built from a

lifetime of experiences coming to knock

on your door recruiting the silent

operator is the goal standard for

flow-based intuitive decision-making

system one it's like having a mental

search engine able to instantly pull up

the right solution among millions of

options instead of inad of making

decisions from the newspaper's headline

alone the silent operator scours and

brings to the surface the rest of the

newspaper's information much of this

information is what Tor nanders author

of the user illusion calls exformation

exformation is data that we consciously

discard yes because our senses register

this data it gets stored in our

subconscious exformation is all the

details you're not consciously aware of

but that you're still absorbing the

ambient noise of the coffeee shop the

barely perceptible scent of fresh paint

the fleeting Expressions on a stranger's

face all of this expiration is discarded

by our conscious Minds before a coherent

conscious experience is presented to us

this data filtering process showing us

the headline of the newspaper rather

than the whole newspaper is crucial for

our survival as handling the full scope

of information that's out there in the

world would completely overload our

brain that's partially because the

conscious mind can only process a

trickle of 40 to bits of information per

second meanwhile research from the

University of Pennsylvania indicates

that your subconscious mind processes

400 billion bits per second if your

conscious mind is a lone fisherman with

a fishing rod think of your unconscious

as an industrial troller gobbling up

swaths of data all that exformation and

here's the key though this exformation

is discarded from our conscious mind it

still enters and feeds our subconscious

this means that your intuitive gut

feelings aren't

but our data points amassed from an

extensive subconscious analysis of

billions of bits of information this

rapid adaptive subconscious information

processing is also the answer to the

question why do we have insights in the

shower the mechanism behind this boils

down to a network change in the brain we

engage in lightly stimulating activity

like driving showering the conscious

mind is occupied with the easy task this

is automaticity at work this switches

your cognition from the task positive

Network which is active when you're

focused and converged on a task to the

default mode Network which is active

when you dislodge your attention from a

task and let your mind wander instead

this allows your adaptive subconscious

to run high level simulations at

astronomical speeds think of it as a

neural supercomputer accessing a galaxy

of xformation each fragment seasoned

with the juice of lived experience it's

the silent operator doing its job

extracting ex formation on your behalf

so how do we leverage all that

processing power well there's a few

things number one is to First

externalize the problem at this point

you've identified the root problem and

have formulated a question now you need

to write it down for a few reasons

number one is that neurosci shows that

when you actively generate information

such as true writing you increase the

likelihood that the information will

move from your short-term memory to your

long-term memory this fuels the

incubation process Rising also activates

what's known as the reticular activating

system the RAS a bundle of neurons in

your brain stem the r acts like a mental

filter prioritizing information that you

need to pay attention to by writing down

your problem you're effectively telling

your brain to allocate more resources to

solving it the next step to leveraging

the processing power of your

subconscious is the incubation itself

the key here is to surrender control to

the silent operator to let the

incubation process take over stay away

from the problem and do other things

while your subconscious solves it for

you so instead of pounding away at a

problem or decisioning your desk go take

a shower this allows the subconscious

mind to take over the information

processing responsibilities depending on

the problem's magnitude this could range

from our

to multiple days to weeks where you're

incubating on the question that you have

written down subconsciously without

consciously exerting Cycles on it 90% of

decisions don't need to be made today

usually 48 hours or more if the decision

needs to be made immediately go for a

quick walk or do something stimulating

but not taxing gardening cleaning

playing pool it all works for two

reasons first these activities can

sufficiently distract the conscious mind

allowing the subconscious mind to

continue processing information second

these lightly stimulating physical

activities can induce transient hyper

frontality as mentioned transient hyper

frontality is a temporary down

regulation of the prefrontal cortex

which is partially responsible for the

increased cognition creativity and

decision- making found in Flow State

what doesn't work is TV or video gaming

or scrolling social media all these

require too much mental processing to do

the trick now if the incubation phase

will take multiple days it's okay to do

whatever activities you want your

subconscious will still be processing

the problem the final step to leveraging

your adaptive subconscious for

flow-based decision-making is to extract

the juice from your subconscious at this

stage you sit back down and you start

writing down solutions to the problem

that you defined hours or days or even

weeks earlier usually after a minute or

two of writing the decision will start

to pour through this is simple but the

results are often stunning this process

leverages all of the neurobiological

power of the subconscious extracting the

otherwise discarded exformation to fuel

your decision-making what you'll also

find is is that often a decision will

become very clear the silent operator

will knock on your door through a gut

instinct before you even have to sit

back down to write down the answer to

that decision as you master this

flow-based decision-making process

you'll begin to find the idea of

deliberately sitting down to solve

problems by thinking them through

consciously laughable compared to the

speed enjoyment and improv

decision-making quality you will get by

using the flow-based decision- making

process and over time your intuitive

decision- making will speed up even

without running the process some

industry veterans can assess a candidate

on the spot some investors know whether

to invest by seeing a pitch deck alone

because they've done it thousands of

times as an added bonus when you tap

into flow-based decision- making you'll

experience something called the

cognitive bias High the cognitive bias

High occurs when you make a decision

that is counter to the distorted

decision- making the cognitive bias he's

resulted which is often a consequence of

over-indexing on system to deliberative

thinking you experience the cognitive

bias High when you make the hard but

right decision and rise above what

you've been evolutionarily adapted for

that is the cognitive bias I experienced

this with my business partner Steven CER

a few years back the team and I had

poured considerable time and resources

into creating a new product after months

of work the product was almost fully

ready and we had booked studio in LA to

put the final touches on it but once we

were sitting together under the bright

lights with the cameras rolling I just

knew deep in my bones that the product

wasn't a good fit for our brand and

vision I looked at Steven and I knew he

was thinking the same thing the despite

the very loud so cost bias that could

have urged us to move forward with it

without hesitation we immediately made

the decision to drop the product no

deliberation no second guessing no pros

and cons list just pure unadulterated

flow-based intuition with the silent

operator knocking on our door and US

trusting that instinct 99% of people are

not able to make these types of

decisions because they can't Elevate

themselves above the cognitive biases

but as you get better flow-based

decision-making you'll experience the

cognitive bias highing more often it's

like having night vision in a dark

Forest where others stumble over

cognitive biases you'll see clearly and

navigate easily it's a beautiful feeling

you now understand how to leverage the

hardware your biology gives you to turn

your brain into a 24/7 problemsolving

supercomputer no more self-doubt eroding

your confidence you move rapidly from

insight to action making the right call

at the right time this process leverages

the full potential of your mental

Hardware you Leverage The flaw of

exformation that most people discard

through flow-based

making you'll feel a calm confidence in

your choices and conserve cognitive

resources for where they matter most now

one last thing to bear in mind your

decision- making is only as good as your

rumination so to deepen and accelerate

your flow-based decision- making the key

is to maximize the creativity of your

default mode Network the part of the

brain that is active Around the Clock

even while you sleep click the video on

the screen now to find out how to do

that