THE LEVEL UP LETTER

Hi All!

Here is your weekly Level Up Letter. This week we're tackling something that silently drains your effectiveness as a leader: decision fatigue. Ever notice how your decision quality deteriorates as the day progresses? By the afternoon you’re agreeing to shit you never would have at the start of the day? There's a neurological reason for this, and understanding it can transform your effectiveness and energy levels. Let's dive into why your decision-making ability is a finite resource - and how to stop wasting it on the small stuff.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

YOUR BRAIN'S ENERGY CRISIS

Juggling multiple businesses has been my reality for years - from music production to real estate investing to executive coaching. In the morning, I might be selecting investment properties, by midday reviewing artist contracts, and by afternoon coaching executives through their strategic challenges. I pride myself on being the guy who can switch contexts and make calls in any arena. But by 4 or 5pm, I'd hit a wall. My brain felt like it was wading through mud. I'd stare at a simple email for 15 minutes, unable to decide how to respond. The quality of my thinking wasn't just slightly diminished - I was mentally bankrupt. Sound familiar?

Here's what's happening biologically: Every decision you make depletes glucose and oxygen in your prefrontal cortex - the decision-making center of your brain. Unlike a machine that performs identically all day, your brain's decision quality diminishes with each choice, regardless of size.

The kicker? Your brain doesn't distinguish between deciding company strategy and choosing lunch. Each depletes your decision-making resources equally.

THE HIGH COST OF LOW-VALUE DECISIONS

The average adult makes about 35,000 decisions daily, according to research from Cornell University. For leaders, that number is even higher. Yet most of these decisions don't deserve your limited cognitive resources:

• What to wear

• When to schedule routine meetings

• How to respond to standard emails

• Which basic tasks to prioritize

• What to eat throughout the day

These minor decisions create a "decision tax" that leaves you depleted when facing the decisions that actually require your expertise. The result? Decision avoidance, decision delay, or worst of all, poor decisions on the things that matter most.

This is why “what do you want to do for dinner?” feels like a monumental task for couples as well.

DECISION MINIMALISM: THE ANTIDOTE

The solution isn't making decisions faster - it's making fewer decisions overall.

1. Decision Elimination

• I identified decisions I was making repeatedly and created systems to eliminate them

• Example: I subscribed to Factor for all of our lunches. One less meal I have to think about throughout the day. (and I can keep them under 500 calories)

• Steve Jobs and Alex Hormozi do the same for their clothes. Same outfit every day.

2. Decision Automation

• Create "if-then" rules for predictable situations

• Example: When looking at real estate deals, I developed clear criteria for property evaluation - if it meets X, Y, and Z metrics, we proceed; if not, we pass (ie: metro size, pad count, city utilities etc)

• This removed the need to do a full analysis with each new property

3. Decision Delegation

• Be honest about which decisions truly need your input

• My property management team now handles all decisions under a certain dollar threshold without my input

• I've found 80% of what I used to decide didn't actually need my specific expertise and them waiting on me just slowed everything down.

THE ONE-WEEK EXPERIMENT

This week, try this decision minimalism experiment:

1. Decision Audit: For one day, track every decision you make in a simple note on your phone (ok, not all 35,000 but the ones you notice)

2. Classify each decision as "high leverage" (needs your unique expertise) or "low leverage" (could be systematized, delegated, or eliminated)

3. Choose the three most frequent "low leverage" decisions and create a system to eliminate your involvement

4. Block your calendar to batch similar decisions together (email decisions, people decisions, strategy decisions)

5. Schedule your most important decisions for morning hours when your brain is freshest

The goal isn't to make zero decisions - it's to preserve your limited decision-making capacity for the choices that truly matter. What you decide not to decide is often more important than what you do decide.

Would love to hear from you - what's one low-value decision you could eliminate from your day to preserve mental energy for what matters most?

Forward this to someone who might be suffering from decision overload and needs permission to be more selective with their decision-making capacity.

READY TO LEVEL UP?

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