DEVELOP THE HABIT OF Making Great Decisions

DAAJI challenges us to think about how we make decisions, and shows us how a regular meditation practice can lead us to knowing right from wrong, naturally and easily, by listening to the heart and allowing it to guide our choices.

- DAAJI

"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it earns it, he who doesn't, pays it.” Sometimes, I think about this quote (often attributed to Einstein) in a different context: making good decisions.

On average, we make hundreds of decisions every day. What to wear? What to eat? How to put aside half an hour to help a loved one in need? What to say to a disgruntled customer? Which stock to buy? When we make good decisions, they have a compounding positive effect on our lives, and when we don't, we suffer the consequences.

Often, we think it's the big decisions that matter most. For example, whom to marry? Which career to choose? And so on. But decision-making is not a one-and-done deal. Decisions form a continuum, where many smaller decisions come before and after the bigger ones. When we steadily improve our batting average in making good decisions, the better we will be in achieving our goals.

Meditation will help you improve your batting average. The more meditative your mind becomes, the better the decisions you will make. In 2011, researchers from Virginia Tech asked people to play the Ultimatum Game, which assessed the quality of decision-making?. They found that meditators consistently made better decisions and ended up with better outcomes than those in the control group. The meditators were more rational and reflective than those in the control group.

So, why does meditation make us better decision-makers? There are many reasons and here are three big ones you can validate yourself:

A Meditative Mind Escapes The Gravitational Pull of Desires