Eric Chow on how to make a good decision: know what you need to know, weigh input by who it comes from, decide definitely, and then do the work that makes the decision the right one.
Eric Chow gave the first episode of his podcast to seven tips for making good decisions. Years later, in episode 66, he set out the sequence he uses himself: the knowledge a decision needs, whose input counts, and the point where deliberating stops. This guide gathers where he explains it.
You make the best decision you can, and then you make it right. You make it the correct decision through your efforts, your approach, and the decisions you make afterward.
So you make it the right decision. You don’t make the good decision; you make the decision, and then you make it the correct decision.
The same episode sets out the steps that come first: the knowledge a decision needs, input from the people with a stake in it, the alternatives, and your priorities. Read from this moment, Episode 66 at 29:53.
Each link opens the transcript at the moment the excerpt begins, in Eric’s words as the page shows them.
“I feel that we’re never taught how to make good decisions.”
Feelings that come up around decision making, as The Emotional Wiki reads them: what each one is telling you, with Eric’s words on it.
As Eric tells them on his podcast and in his essays.
In his first episode, Eric tells how he nearly missed transpersonal psychology in his senior year of high school. He debated it so long that he did not sign up, until a friend and mentor convinced him to change his schedule. It is why his definition of a good decision includes making it in time.
Episode 1 at 3:06When Eric decided to restart his podcast in 2023, he worked through his own steps: what he needed to know, a poll of his listeners, and then the views of two stakeholders, one of them Isaac Mashman, before he made a definite decision and announced it on the show.
Episode 66 at 17:42Before he started his show, Eric asked himself every question he could think of. Then, one Friday morning, he started it that day: he recorded the first episode, uploaded it, and announced it. On Chase the Vision he described what that taught him.
Chase the Vision, Episode 100 at 22:20One of the subjects Eric speaks on, for private groups and teams.
Making Quality DecisionsHow Eric’s decisions look from the outside, on Eric’s Approach.
Gates Before the TriggerTip six says to keep temporary emotions out of long-term decisions. Log what you feel through a day.
The Emotion Tracker
