2508: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

No doubt you’ve asked yourself “what if” more times than you can count—but have you ever stopped to consider what that hesitation is really costing you? George G explores why we don’t fear failure as much as we fear discovering our own capability, how fear disguises itself as wisdom, and why deciding what matters is the first step toward a meaningful life. George’s newest book is available! Get your copy of The Meaningful Few here: https://amzn.to/4qA26X9 Feeling busy but unfulfilled? The Meaningful Few helps you identify what truly matters, eliminate distractions, and live with intention and clarity. Learn more here: MyMeaningfulFew.comYou can learn more about us at LifeBlood. Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you’d like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood. Live. Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffee.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifebloodGet your copy of The Purpose Book here:https://amzn.to/47Y2u98 You can get a free digital download of The Purpose Book here:https://moneyalignmentacademy.thinkific.com/enroll/2554435?price_id=3360279 Get our monthly updates here:https://george-grombacher.aweb.page/Thanks, as always for listening! If you got some value and enjoyed the show, please leave us a review here:​​https://ratethispodcast.com/lifebloodpodcastYou can learn more about us at LifeBlood. Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you’d like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood. Live. Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifebloodCopyright LifeBlood 2026.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:44Speaker 01

  When I was in college, I discovered that sociology was several things. First and foremost, it was very interesting. It's interesting to learn about human beings and how they interact with others. And it was also very, very innate for me. So it was very easy. I guess that's it. So I ended up minoring in sociology. And one of the schools, I thought it's called interactionist. And the sociologists would tell us quite confidently that life is the sum of our interactions with other people. And on the surface, it definitely sounds right. We are shaped by our families and our communities, our cultures, and our conversations.

• 1:28Speaker 01

  Certainly, nobody grows up living with wolves in the woods, raised by them, and nobody lives in a vacuum. But then you watch people actually live their lives. You could have two kids, brothers and sisters, two brothers living in the same house, same parents. You could even have to be twins, doing exactly the same thing, sharing almost identical DNA, same dinner table. One builds a life that is dynamic and a life that he respects, and the other spends decades explaining why the world didn't give him a fair shot. So two people having essentially the exact same...

• 2:07Speaker 01

  I guess, factors, variables, but having really different outcomes. So if the interactions were destiny, then that wouldn't happen. So that suggests something mildly offensive to modern sensibilities, that life is not just what happens between people, it's what happens inside people when a decision is required. So I think that this interactionist approach from sociology, that life's the interaction, or the sum of the interactions we have with other people, that explains exposure, it explains influence, and it helps to explain a little bit about pressure, but it doesn't explain the trajectory that we find ourselves on, and we eventually look backwards and can connect those dots and saying, "Oh, that's interesting. That's what happened."

• 2:52Speaker 01

  That's because every different interaction passes through a filter, and that filter is judgment. And judgment expresses itself as decisions. So a more complete equation would be, "Life equals interactions times decisions." Interactions times decisions, that's going to equate to your life. And you can have the same interactions, but make different decisions, leading to a radically different life. You can look at that backwards, saying, "Oh, you know what? George's right. If I had done this, in that moment in time, my life would be completely different."

• 3:37Speaker 01

  That's where responsibility sneaks in. It's quietly, but certainly not permanently. So what makes a right decision? What makes a right decision? Because who would want to make wrong or bad decisions? Nobody. And we all want to know, "Like, if I do this, what am I gonna get?" And unfortunately, at least I can't see the future. I do not know what's going to happen. I do not know, even though I try to think through as much of my decision-making as I can, I just don't know how choice A over choice B is going to play out over the long term. Because that is sort of the bad news, is we don't get certainty, we don't get any guarantees, and we never get confirmation in real time. So a right decision is not the one that works out,

• 4:22Speaker 01

  it's the one that aligns with what matters most before you know the outcome. So, a lot of bad decisions feel good right away, and a lot of good decisions can feel pretty heavy at first. And that's why wisdom traditions don't teach prediction, they teach principles. So, you don't need to know what will happen, you need to know what you're willing to stand behind. And here's the thing, is that because of that uncertainty, people avoid deciding all the time. We kind of opt out, which is the shadow side to this conversation, because most people don't fail because they're making bad decisions, they fail because they're not making any

• 5:06Speaker 01

  decisions at all, they are refusing to choose. And indecision has excellent manners. It calls itself being careful, being cautious. It claims it's waiting for more information, and it insists that it's keeping all options open. But the truth is a lot harsher, because not deciding is not neutrality, it's a decision to let circumstances choose for you. So why do people avoid deciding? Because deciding assigns responsibility, because outcomes become very, very, very personal, because I made the decision, and ambiguity, well, that provides cover, they can hide behind that.

• 5:50Speaker 01

  So if you don't choose, you can blame the economy, you can blame your parents, you can blame your boss, you can blame timing, so many things that you can blame. But, while that indecision may preserve your innocence, it is coming at the very, very, very, very, very high cost of your agency. And slowly and quietly, it teaches you something really dangerous, you are not the kind of person who decides.

• 6:19Speaker 00

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• 6:49Speaker 02

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• 7:21Speaker 01

  So, good life is built by faithful decisions under uncertainty. A good life is built by faithful decisions under uncertainty. And a diminished life is built by avoiding decisions while pretending avoidance is wisdom. Same world, same interactions, different responses. And this is precisely why the meaningful few exists. Pareto talked about the meaningful few. He talked about how, which you know, that 80% of the outcomes are driven by 20% of the actions. Well, he also talked about the meaningful few, which are, there are only a handful of

• 8:05Speaker 01

  things that you do which are going to get you the results that you want. Those must be focused on and treated with priority. And the rest, that's the trivial many. It's just nonsense. It's noise. It is garbage. That is just clouding things.

• 8:22Speaker 01

  Because the decisions that shape your life do not announce themselves. In fact, they hide in hesitation, they disguise themselves as delay, and they live in moments where it could be easier to drift. That's why you need to get really clear on what matters, what must be done in service of what matters, and then figure out how to do those things.

• 8:43Speaker 01

  Prioritize your meaningful few, and try to get rid of the trivial many or ignore, avoid. That's where, that's where you can just not decide. Stop saying yes to everything. So, I created a worksheet for you, because I like to give frameworks, like to give step by steps, because we need to be able to make decisions. It's not busy work, it's not therapy. It's, it's, this is designed to be a weapon against you drifting through life. So it's the Meaningful Few Decision Worksheet.

• 9:19Speaker 01

  What I want you to do is kind of slow the moment just enough for your agency to return. So when you're going through different scenarios, and different situations, and different interactions, think about what really matters here, what actually matters? What's the time horizon that we're looking at? Is this relief? Or am I adding new direction to my life? And if I do this, what kind of person does it make me? So, we're not predicting the future, but we are voting for a desired identity. Now, this worksheet, it's just a worksheet. It's not going to provide you with perfect outcomes, but it will help you restore your authorship, your locus of control, your feelings of ownership over your life. And that's really what I want for you. And we, when we have open loops,

• 10:04Speaker 01

  that's what gives us anxiety, that's what stresses us out. It's like, oof, I've got this stuff that I know that I was supposed to be doing, and supposed to be making decisions on that is haven't yet. And that's the stuff that sticks in your craw, stuff that really bugs you and keeps you up at night. So this will help you turn that anxiety into a decision. And once your decision is named, you can own it, and you can make it happen. So yeah, for sure, our lives are shaped by the interactions we have with the other people. But these interactions do not excuse us from choice. So every day, in quiet ways, we are deciding to act now, or to delay, to confront, or to avoid, to steer, or to simply continue drifting.

• 10:46Speaker 01

  And over time, those decisions compound into something that looks suspiciously like destiny. So, most people don't ruin their lives by making the wrong decisions. They ruin them by refusing to decide and then calling the result fate. Almost finally, indecision is the most common form of self betrayal, because it lets you avoid responsibility while pretending you're being wise. Talk about screwing yourself over. Phew. I know I don't want to be there, and I'm sure that you don't want to be there. So, check out the worksheet, and if you like it, if you're sort of picking up what I'm

• 11:28Speaker 01

  putting down, you like the way that I'm communicating information, sharing ideas, check out my newest book, it's called The Meaningful Few: Designing a Life That Actually Works. You can get that on Amazon, I'll link that in the notes, but then you can also go to mymeaningfulfew.com, there'll be a lot of resources and additional stuff for you to sort of sink your teeth into. Because I foundationally and fundamentally want you to get what you want. I want you to get the life that you want. I know it's available to you. I know you're worthy of it, you're deserving of it, but we're not entitled to it. So, work is required. And I think it'll help you get closer to it. So, why not? Why not check it out? Finally, finally, do your part by doing your best.

• 12:21Speaker 03

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• 12:47Speaker 02

  At Humana, our Medicare Advantage plans are easy to understand and easy on your wallet. Like offering more benefits than you'd get from original Medicare alone. And including dental, vision, and hearing coverage in every plan. And the best part is, every plan has a $0 or low monthly plan premium, which makes it easier to save, too. So this Medicare planning season, plan well with Humana. Learn more at GetHumana.com. Humana is a Medicare Advantage, HMO, and PPO organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in any Humana plan depends on contract renewal.