Often the people who lead the most effective lives don’t really have a full bearing on exactly what it takes to lead such an effective life. If you asked them what their secret to success was, they’d probably not be able to point to those specific factors which make their lives such a success, unless of course they’ve been “enlightened” in some way and are making a specific effort to live an efficient life in a specific way.
Although “the genius perhaps doesn’t fully understand exactly what it is that makes them the genius that they are” this doesn’t mean you can’t learn from them however. That’s why we have coaches for talented, professional football players and the likes and that’s why even the most successful business people can often point to someone as their source of inspiration and even their mentor.
These coaches, mentors, advisors, etc. have an outside view on things and they’re the best at analysing and managing talent in order to guide it into something truly great. So in the same way that these influential figures can observe their talented subjects and perhaps pin-point exactly what it is which makes that talent great, we can also all watch highly effective and efficient individuals in action and extract those elements which make them so efficient and add them to certain aspects of our own lives in order to improve ourselves.
Having awareness on how your brain works and making an active effort to think a certain way is also an important part of making the right decisions. Acquainting yourself with the concept of Metacognition: Unlocking Your Inner Genius is important for you to be able to harness your own ways of thinking. Using metacognition enhances your ability to learn and solve problems by fostering an understanding of your thought processes and learning mechanisms.
It’s All About Decision Making
Yes, it is indeed all about the decisions you make daily, particularly the small decisions which often even seem to be frivolous. I mean one thing that springs to mind are a car insurance companies asking what appear to be the most frivolous questions about the smallest, minute details of your life and how you live it when working out the premiums you’ll be paying? It doesn’t initially make sense but it all comes down to minimising risk and maximising efficiency, which is something that can definitely be learned through practice.
Let’s take a very simple example into account – let’s say your car’s tyres are worn out and you need a new set. One simple decision pertaining to getting a new set can come across as a rather loaded one, such as perhaps choosing out the best tyres for the weather conditions you drive in the most, choosing a trusted brand such as Continental Tyres and even saving time and money by having your selected set delivered to you and installed at your premises.
There are so many different ways in which this “compound” decision enhances the key elements to an effective life, such as time management, cost saving and safety considerations – all of which are taken care of with just one small decision.
