Rules of Thinking, The

RULE 79

Understand your emotions

Emotion certainly has a part to play in making good decisions (I’ll come on to that in the next Rule).²⁷ However, emotions are the culprit in a huge number of bad decisions. My own personal fault is making snap decisions for no good reason. Frankly, how much can it matter when you’re choosing which chocolate bar to buy, or which evening to go to the cinema? But it’s a whole different story when you’re buying a house or a car or booking an expensive holiday or deciding whether to take a job, or indeed whether to hand in your notice in a fit of pique.

If this describes you, just stop it (I’m talking to myself here too). I understand, I really do, but it’s only a matter of time before you do something you really ...