The simplest way to make decisions is to have a personal policy about recurring “crap.”

It’s a great way to say “no” without dealing with excess peer pressure or justifying your actions. The response to “Why don’t you want to stay out?” becomes “Oh sorry, it’s a policy of mine not to have more than two drinks on a weeknight.”—it’s one rule that removes a thousand decisions.

And that’s where the “No 7s” rule comes in for me.

Think about every time you’ve “kinda” wanted to do something.

If you’re a relaxed person, there are a lot of activities, options, decisions that you might feel indifferent towards. And this might have been okay when you had a lot of time, but as you get older, you have less of that. And to live your optimal lifestyle, you really want to be doing things that you genuinely enjoy.

Time’s not a renewable resource, and with the abundance of leisure, business, and career opportunities, we need to be on point with what we say yes to.

Because saying yes to something mediocre is an opportunity cost for something fulfilling.

And to make sure we say yes to fulfilling things and not waste an extraordinary amount of time analyzing a decision until we pass out from stress, we use the “No 7s” policy.

“No 7s” is just another way of saying, “If it’s not a f*ck yeah, it’s a no.”

When you’re faced with a decision, an opportunity, you could assess it in a hundred ways, or you could ask yourself, “What would I rate this opportunity out of 10?”

The catch is that you’re not allowed to give it a 7.

That’s the No 7s rule.

Because now, the decision is likely either a 6/10, barely a passing mark, so why would you do that? Or it’s an 8/10, a great opportunity that you really should consider.

With this one policy, I’ve been able to very practically be in tune with my gut — something I’ve always struggled to do as a very analytical person.

The policy forces you to decide based on one variable, and it’s practical enough where you actually will.

So next time you’re stuck with whether to accept a job offer, go on a particular vacation, or make an expensive purchase — think to yourself, out of 10, what do I rate this job, holiday, or purchase?

But of course, no 7s allowed.

You might be surprised with how effective it can be.

I hope you enjoyed that one. Keep up with my shenanigans here; I post maybe 2–3 times a week. And here’s another link to the free database.

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