How to Make Better Decisions | Shane Parrish [Best of]

Most of us think good decisions happen in the moment. Shane Parrish says they’re already decided before you sit down. And most of them end up being bad, because you waited too long to make them good.

Shane Parrish spent years inside Canadian intelligence, making real-time decisions where the stakes were other people's lives, long before he founded Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project podcast. He's the author of Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results, and has quietly become the person elite investors, athletes, and Silicon Valley leaders turn to when a single decision carries outsized weight.

In this conversation, you'll explore:

• Why the position you're in before a decision matters more than the decision itself, and how Warren Buffett almost never finds himself in a bad one
• The four hidden "defaults" that hijack your thinking before you notice
• The three-word phrase Shane uses with his own kids to defuse an argument before it escalates
• Why "doing your best" almost never happens in the hour it counts, and what actually determines the outcome
• A simple night-before, morning-after trick for spotting the blind spots in any decision you're about to make

Whatever season of life you're in, this conversation will change how you see the ordinary moments that quietly decide everything else.

You can find Shane at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sitting down with Angela Duckworth to talk about why the advice to just make the best of your situation might be exactly backwards, and how the people and things within arm's reach are quietly shaping who you become before you ever get a say. Be sure to follow Good Life Project wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss any upcoming episodes!

Midlife Design Lab: I'm opening up an intimate retreat with me and a small, curated group in Boulder, CO (Oct 24-25, 2026), followed by 3 months of virtual group coaching. A few weeks back, I shared something I'd been building for myself, and the response blew me away, so spots are limited and I expect them to fill fast. If this calls to you, apply here.

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