The author, a physician himself, recounts the story of a problem his 2 year old son had one night.  Despite the many years of  training and practical experience in the medical field, and a strong affinity for the importance of good decision habits, he is  still is able to fall into a potentially dangerous trap.  In addition, the potential for others to fall into the trap with him, reveals an additional need for vigilance when dealing with critical decisions such as emergency medical diagnosis.

Click here for the original article

http://www.the-hospitalist.org/details/article/590327/Mind_Games__Silence.html

It looks like Shakira Did it Again, but its starting to cause problems for her.  When Shakira wrote Did It Again (with Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes), she's probably wasn't aware that her lyrics reflect one of the most common traps in making decisions.  Here is yet another song that presents  the theme of the singer knowing what she should do, but simply not being able to do it.    In DEF terms, the "Commitment to Follow Through" is the element that separates a belief from decision.  Without the determination to turn our thinking into action, we've done little, in terms of good decision making, than to engage in an academic exercise.  If you want to make your life better, it is not enough to make a choice in your mind, you must convert that choice into behavior.

If you're not already familiar,
Click here for Shakira's "Did It Again" lyrics

From the lyric we can see that she's very clear on what what's happening, and what she ought to do, because she's thought about this in her quiet, reflective moments.  But her excitement overwhelms her.  We use the term "decision fitness" to describe the general state of ones ability to make "good decisions".   Since good decision making involves multiple steps, there are many ways our "decision fitness" can be compromised.  But what we often miss, is that once we're "in the moment", even if we had previously followed "good decision" practice, we lose our ability to "follow through".  The worst part is that for young people in particular, this is one of the most dangerous traps, because the consequences can be truly horrific.

She knows that she's getting herself into something from the very beginning of the lyric,
"Smells like danger, Even better,....
I'm in trouble,
But it feels like Heaven". 

Even past experience doesn't prevent her from resisting temptation.  Why is this?  Well, we're not talking about love and romance here, which is certainly a powerful force.  But this is lust, pure and simple, and it's even more powerful.  So powerful that even when someone knows she is making a bad decision, not only can't she stop herself, but she becomes regretful as well.

I Did It Again now,
I got it all wrong now,
But if felt so right
I can't believe it
All the mistakes that
Went on for too long
Wish there was a way
I could delete 'em

And she just won't learn from experience because every time she gets excited about a man ("I liked your moves") she's back at it.

Second night, in a row
Back in trouble, I don't get it
...
When it comes to men, it's known
That I end up choosing wrong

There are many reasons why we make the same kind of "in the moment" decision errors, and Shakira has nothing on the dieter who swears to start tomorrow, "after I finish this piece of chocolate cake".  If there's truth in her lyric, then it would appear, having seen her in a video, that she may actually have a harder time resisting men than chocolate cake.  Spending more than we can afford, having one drink too many, getting in a car with a drunk driver....there are too many examples to mention, all which come under this same category where a person's emotional state overwhelms their conscious decision making ability.  We know its not the right decision, but we do it anyway. 

All of the elements of good decision making suffer when we are not decision fit, but our commitment to follow through becomes particularly critical for the kind of decision Shakira has to make.  Its a familiar one, as is the "temptation of the chocolate cake" to the dieter, which she's had time to think through every time she steps on her bathroom scale. Recently, through the use of brain imaging techniques, as well as clever and well focused behavioral research, an enormous amount of valuable work has been done in understanding how our minds really work.  In particular, the growing acceptance that while man has evolved the capacity for rational thought, we really aren't completely rational beings.  Nor should we be.  Our emotions,  and the mechanisms the brain uses to manage them are fundamental in all of our decision processes.  This is why we say that "good decisions feel right in the head and the heart".  Understanding decision fitness, and accepting that there are guaranteed to be times when our emotional state renders us helpless to make sound judgment, or maintain our commitment to following through with our previously made decision, will not protect us from our human nature, but it can help us avoid potentially disastrous behavior.

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