WEBVTT - Know the horse to beat

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that if you are trying to make a

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<v Speaker 1>plan or a decision, figure out your best currently available

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<v Speaker 1>option and then compare any other possibilities to that. In

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<v Speaker 1>other words, know the horse to beat. When we are

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<v Speaker 1>trying to make decisions, it can be tempting to view

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<v Speaker 1>this almost as a blank slate. We are choosing from

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<v Speaker 1>all the options in the universe, but this is rarely true.

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<v Speaker 1>In many cases, there is a fallback option, something you

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<v Speaker 1>will wind up selecting if you don't actively choose something else.

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<v Speaker 1>This can be because it's the option currently available to you,

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<v Speaker 1>or because it's the default that will happen if you

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<v Speaker 1>don't make another choice. When you recognize this, you transform

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<v Speaker 1>an open ended question into something that's more of a

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<v Speaker 1>yes or no matter do I prefer this or that. So,

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<v Speaker 1>for instance, let's say you are going to a wedding,

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<v Speaker 1>you might think you should get a new outfit. You

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<v Speaker 1>can spend a lot of time shopping for set outfit,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you don't find a great new dress, if

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<v Speaker 1>that's the sort of thing that you usually wear to weddings.

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<v Speaker 1>There is probably something you would wind up wearing. What

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<v Speaker 1>is that? When you know what that is, then you

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<v Speaker 1>know what to compare any new options against. Is this

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<v Speaker 1>dress better than your existing dress? You are not hunting

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<v Speaker 1>for the platonic ideal of a dress. You are hunting

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<v Speaker 1>for one that is better than what you have, and

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<v Speaker 1>if if you don't find it, you will go with

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<v Speaker 1>the default. I found this a helpful mindset when we

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<v Speaker 1>were deciding whether to move to a new house a

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<v Speaker 1>few years ago. We met with some renovation people who

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<v Speaker 1>showed us what we could do with the house we

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<v Speaker 1>were living in at the time. When I looked at houses,

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<v Speaker 1>I could put them through the filter of whether they

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<v Speaker 1>were better than what our renovated house would be. In

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<v Speaker 1>many cases they weren't, And then one day I found

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<v Speaker 1>a house that was. But through the whole process, I

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<v Speaker 1>knew the horse to beat. When you know the horse

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<v Speaker 1>to beat, you transform an open ended question into an

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<v Speaker 1>easy yes or no question. Do I prefer this or that.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a lot easier to compare two things at

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<v Speaker 1>a time than to compare an infinite set of options.

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<v Speaker 1>And the truth is that most decisions are between an

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<v Speaker 1>option you are considering and a default. You could go

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<v Speaker 1>anywhere over Christmas break perhaps, But if you tend to

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<v Speaker 1>go to a sunny resort as a family and you

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<v Speaker 1>usually enjoy that, then that is the horse to beat.

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<v Speaker 1>You can compare any potential vacation to a week at

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<v Speaker 1>a sunny resort, which sounds better to me. The good

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<v Speaker 1>news is that since probably a lot of the choices

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<v Speaker 1>sound good, the stakes are actually low. Things will be

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<v Speaker 1>great either way. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the moost of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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