The Art of Making “One Time Life Changing Decisions” and Gain Control of Your Life

Most people think improving their lives is about making better decisions every day.

I think it’s the opposite.

The biggest improvements in my life have come from making a handful of important decisions once and then never thinking about them again.

Over the years, I’ve realized that every decision costs energy. What to eat. Whether to work out. Whether to work on my goals. Whether to take overtime. Whether to buy something. Whether to start that thing I’ve been putting off.

One decision isn’t a problem.

A hundred decisions every day are.

It’s death by a thousand cuts.

The more decisions you have to make, the more mental energy you spend. The more mental energy you spend, the less you have available for the things that actually matter: your work, your goals, your family, your relationships, and building a life you genuinely enjoy.

That’s why I’ve made it a habit of making decisions once.

The Goal Isn’t More Discipline

Most people think they need more discipline.

I used to think that too.

Special Note for my ADHD/ADD-ers here: When you’re on your meds or on hyper flow, life will still feel overwhelming. You might feel now you can handle everything on your mind, but at some point, you will realize that the results are still not there.

This is because you won’t always be able to keep up with that high.

To get better and faster results, the less you deal with and the more clarity you have, the more you will be able to use that energy to be more efficient and see results. The less you want, the more you will have.

Now I think most people need fewer decisions.

The more you can automate, eliminate, delegate, simplify, compromise, or accept things in your environment, the more clarity you create.

Instead of constantly asking yourself:

• Should I work out today?
• Should I eat healthy?
• Should I work on my goals?
• Should I stay late at work?

You simply follow the rules you’ve already decided on.

You stop negotiating with yourself. Over time, these one-time rules might need small marginal adjustments, yet it’s the core principle about making one time decisoins that makes this habit so great.

Example:…

My Weight Rule

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was about my health.

It’s hard to get myself to the gym, to have to think about me overeating, eating on time, what to eat, and on and on. I struggled for years! Until I made one single rule that improved every other part of my health.

I’m 5’5″, and according to most health guidelines, a healthy weight for my height falls somewhere between 125 and 168 pounds.

I decided I wanted to stay around 140 pounds for the rest of my life.

That’s it.

Not a specific diet.

Not a complicated workout plan.

Not counting every calorie.

Just one simple rule.

If I drift too far above 140, I know I need to tighten things up a little. If I start feeling unhealthy, I add more exercise or make healthier food choices.

The beauty of this system is that I don’t spend much time thinking about health anymore.

The decision was already made.

The Thirty-Minute Rule

Another decision that changed my life was committing to at least 30 minutes of knowledge work every day.

Reading.

Writing.

Budgeting.

Planning.

Building a side business.

Learning.

I don’t care what form it takes on a particular day.

I just know that for the rest of my life, I will spend somewhere between 30 minutes and two hours intentionally improving my future.

Have I missed days?

Absolutely.

But because the decision was already made, I always come back to it.

The rule remains.

The Power of Default Decisions

Once you start looking for them, you’ll see opportunities for one-time decisions everywhere.

For example:

I found a pre-workout supplement I like.

Instead of endlessly researching and trying new ones, I buy the same one every time.

I found a pen I enjoy writing with.

Instead of collecting random pens, I buy the same pen whenever I need more.

I have a set number of shirts, pants, and shoes.

I don’t spend much time shopping because I already know what works.

I decided that as long as I can pay my bills and have a little money left over every month, I won’t work overtime.

That decision protects my evenings, my goals, and my quality of life.

Every one of these decisions removes friction.

Every one of them gives me back a little more energy.

The Rule Behind the Rule

Sometimes people make decisions that are too difficult to maintain.

For years, I tried to wake up at the exact same time every day.

It never worked.

My work schedule changes constantly.

Sometimes I’m on call.

Instead of forcing a rigid rule that didn’t fit my life, I created a better one:

Always be early.

To make that happen, I set two alarms for every commitment.

One alarm goes off two hours before.

The second goes off one hour before.

I’ve tracked this habit for over a year.

Now it’s rare for me to be late.

I don’t think about it anymore.

The system handles it for me.

That’s the point.

Good rules make life easier.

Bad rules create constant friction.

Design Your Life Once

The longer I live, the more I realize that life is largely the result of the systems we build around ourselves.

The people who seem disciplined often aren’t making better decisions every day.

They simply made the important decisions a long time ago.

The goal isn’t to control every part of your life.

The goal is to create enough structure that you can spend less energy deciding and more energy living.

Because your time, attention, and energy are limited.

The fewer decisions you have to make about the things that don’t matter, the more you’ll have available for the things that do.

And that’s what Vida Lit is really about.

Not becoming perfect.

Not optimizing every second.

Not chasing productivity for productivity’s sake.

It’s about intentionally designing a life that gives you more freedom, more clarity, and more room for the things that make life worth living.

Take Action

Ask yourself:

What is one decision you keep making over and over again?

Is there a simple rule you could create that would eliminate that decision completely?

Start with one.

Make the decision once.

Then spend your energy living instead of deciding.

Final Thoughts

The most powerful changes in my life didn’t come from motivation. They came from creating simple rules that removed the need for motivation altogether.

A good decision doesn’t just help you today.

It continues helping you months and years later because it quietly becomes part of who you are.

That’s the real power of one-time life-changing decisions.

They don’t just change your behavior.

They change the direction of your life.