A decent chess player thinks well beyond their immediate turn.

They imagine how their opponent will respond, how they’ll then need to respond to that hypothetical action, and so on.

The chess player knows that they need to think ahead before they can make a logical decision about what to do next.

The same should be true in our everyday life.

As an obvious example, the decision to go to the gym requires thinking several steps ahead.

I don’t go to the gym because I enjoy the sensation. In the moment, there’s no question that I’d rather be sitting on the couch.

But I go to the gym because I know it will make me feel better for the rest of the day and, assuming that I continue to make the same healthy decisions going forward, I know I’ll enjoy my life more because of the decision that I made.

Again, fairly simple, but it certainly gets more complicated.

When we decide to strike a fair deal with our partner rather than ripping them off, we’re playing the long game. We’re thinking two, three steps down the road about what the relationship will look like if it starts with distrust and anger.

Similarly, when we keep our mouth shut after we hear something offensive, it isn’t because we don’t want to run our mouths and set the story straight. It’s because we’re able to think about the inevitable escalation that will come if we respond in a certain way, and we make our decision based on what we anticipate several steps down the chain of events.

Effective decision making requires imagination. We need to be able to predict what the future might look like for each choice we make, and choose accordingly.

There’s a lot more to it than simply doing what we want in every moment.

-Brandon