The Truth About Making Smart Decisions

Chapter 9. Learn from your close calls

Suppose that you consistently roll through stop signs when driving. One day, you are nearly broadsided by a Mack truck. But you narrowly escape with nothing more than a bruised ego from an obscene gesture from the other driver. What do you do? The typical reaction would be to wipe your brow and thank the road gods. Once your heart settles down, you would continue on without a second thought. Before you know it, you would be rolling through stop signs again—until one fateful day when the Mack truck actually makes contact. Then it would have your attention. Your driving would probably change (along with your insurance rates). This is just human nature. We tend to overlook the bad decisions that don’t have disastrous ...