Decision Fatigue, Marshall Goldsmith, and the Design of Your Strength Workout

Marshall Goldsmith, the single best-known executive coach in the world and former business school professor at Dartmouth, is one of my all-time favorite authors.  In his most recent book, The Earned Life, he touches on the concept of decision fatigue (he doesn’t call it decision fatigue specifically, but that’s what it is most referred to as).

He writes:

“Yet extensive research shows that the process of making a choice probably represents the biggest expenditure of your mental energy each day – and it leads to depletion, which can ultimately lead to bad decisions.”

Goldsmith hates making decisions.  He calls this “choice avoidance.”  He states that choice avoidance has become one of his highest priorities.  So much so that he wears a green polo and khakis nearly every day (not a great fashion choice, in my opinion, but I digress). He’s not the first to apply this approach to his wardrobe; Steve Jobs famously wore jeans and a black turtleneck; Zuckerberg dons a grey tee, and President Obama wore the same style of gray or blue suit every day.

Goldsmith’s thesis (at least in this section of the book) is that to live a great life, we have to make choices with an expanded sense of scale, discipline, and sacrifice. I agree with Goldsmith. 

For nearly 19 years, this has been Discover Strength’s obsession.  Design the workout for the client, basing it on the most current science, so the client doesn’t have to think or decide.  Just show up and do the work. 

Take Home Message: Conserve your mental energy for your higher level decision making and let the team at Discover Strength craft the nuances of your strength training workouts.