What is a good person? The one who achieves tranquility by having formed the habit of asking on every occasion, “what is the right thing to do now?”
Epictetus
55 – 135 A.D.

Economist Alfred Kahn first wrote about and coined the phrase “the tyranny of small decisions.” The concept is simple and straightforward: we often become trapped by the seemingly insignificant choices we make. If we were able to look at the end result of many of our small decisions, we’d probably choose a different path.

Take the automobile, for example. At the outset, if society had known the automobile would cause some 40,000 deaths per year, thousands more injuries, millions in property damage, dependence on foreign oil and major damage to our environment, society may well have decided that it wasn’t worth the price. But we took many small steps along the way until we became totally dependent on the automobile. Now we’re trapped.

While Kahn was mostly concerned with the impact of this phenomenon on society as a whole, I want to direct your attention to how the tyranny of small decisions affects you personally.

For those that are overweight or in poor physical condition, consider how you got that way. You didn’t wake up one morning and decide to be overweight or out of shape; it was gradual. It was thousands of small decisions about what to eat and how to avoid physical exercise.

For those who are struggling with credit card debt, it typically wasn’t one purchase that put you in the hole; it was hundreds of small decisions to buy things that now have you trapped with rising loan obligations.

When we look at successful people, we often think that there was one secret to their success. I believe we make a huge mistake in thinking that success comes from something big. In my opinion, success comes from hundreds or thousands of small decisions: decisions like reading a book instead of watching TV, or investing more in your education than your fashion wardrobe.

Your life today is a reflection of all the choices you previously made. By far, most of those decisions were small and insignificant when considered on a stand-alone basis. But cumulatively, all of those small decisions act like a trap. Because of past actions, your options are (or at least seem to be) limited.

Changing your life doesn’t involve a giant upheaval. It can start today with some small decisions that run counter to the choices you used to make. Start reading a few minutes per day instead of watching TV. Spend a few minutes daily exercising instead of sitting in the easy chair with chips and a beer.

You didn’t get to your current position in life in one day. Nor will you dramatically change your life in one day. Start by altering the small decisions you make on a daily basis.

You’ll always be held hostage by the small decisions you make. But you can pay more attention to those decisions and choose wisely.

Make the small decisions today that will give you the long term results you want.

Many small make a great.
John Heywood
c. 1497 – c. 1580

Copyright © 2009 John Chancellor