The Only Framework You Need To Make Better Life Decisions

Happy Thursday!

This edition of Thrive Protocol describes a simple framework you can apply toward terrifying life decisions.

Spoiler alert: it’s what Jeff Bezos used to decide to start Amazon.

Important Disclaimer:

“Following the below does not guarantee a net worth in the hundreds of billions…Individual results may vary.”

You’ll never be sure that you’re making the right decision for your life.

No matter how often you write out pros and cons lists, take contemplative showers, or go for long walks, you can never be sure that you’ve chosen the right path.

But you must choose despite the uncertainty of the future and infinite other paths available to you.

Standing firm in our choices despite the other things we could have done makes these choices meaningful. It’s better to embark on an intentional journey than to be blown about aimlessly by a storm.

Aside from being assured that you’ve made the right choice (impossible), the next best thing is to use mental models and frameworks to increase the likelihood that you’re making the right decision(s) for your life.

Most advice for what you should do with your life comes from the framework of optimizing for the avoidance of discomfort.

Think of the stereotype of the immigrant family who worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for their children and will accept nothing less than the following as career options:

a. Doctor

b. Lawyer

c. Engineer

They want their children to optimize their chances for a comfortable life above anything else. The fact that their children may not want to become doctors, lawyers, or engineers doesn’t matter.

Choosing a safe path with the lowest chance of discomfort and struggle is the guiding value for their decision.

It’s easy to understand why a species that has spent most of its existence struggling to survive would adopt a bias toward avoiding discomfort.

But is the best framework for deciding on a life path today?

There are dozens of books you can pick up to demonstrate that life is improving across every metric you can imagine (i.e., The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley and Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker).

Poverty and World Hunger are still issues that demand resources and attention. Still, it’s fair to say that, on the whole, our species is moving toward having a different (arguably better) set of problems.

Two points emphasize that optimizing for low discomfort is not an ideal framework to operate under today:

1. As our society moves up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, our problems are increasingly those of meaning and purpose over putting enough food on the table.

2. The internet has created infinite opportunities: we are no longer limited to conventional paths.

If you neglect to pursue what you’re most passionate about in favor of a safe option to pay the bills, you’re operating under the Discomfort Minimization Framework.

However, if you prioritize working on your passion, you’ll increase your chances of failure and discomfort but decrease your chances of regret. This is the Regret Minimization Framework.

The Regret Minimization Framework is how Jeff Bezos decided to quit his cushy Wall Street job to start a company selling books online (this was a crazy idea at the time).

The Regret Minimization Framework is simple to apply.

Project yourself forward in time to when you’re 80.

Imagine the two following outcomes:

1. You went all in on your passion/business/creative idea and failed. You tried your best, but it didn’t work for whatever reason.

2. You didn’t try. You played the safe route, and you never failed.

In Jeff Bezos’ words:

I don’t think anyone makes it to 80 without any regrets.

But I want to live my life in a way that will minimize those regrets. The thought of always wondering what I could have done if I had pushed myself out of my comfort zone hurts.

When I apply the Regret Minimization Framework, I’m surprisingly not bothered by the thought of failure(assuming that I gave my goals a sincere effort).

But I feel sick to my stomach when I imagine myself as an 80-year-old man wondering, “what if?”

The drive to optimize for the safe path with low discomfort is borne from a scarcity mindset. Its origin is understandable, but it’s not the best mindset for those who want the most out of life.

When you optimize to minimize regret over discomfort, you’ll experience discomfort.

You’ll be challenged.

You’ll have stressful moments, you’ll get rejected, and you’ll probably fail multiple times.

But it’s the only way to reach your full potential and get the most out of your life.

Life is an adventure. Live it boldly and discover who you can be.

If you set out on this path and fail, you’ve still lived honorably.

You stepped into the arena.

What’s tragic is those who never step into the arena at all.

Choose a life of discomfort and low regret over a life of comfort and regrets.