Codie SanchezFounder @ Contrarian Thinking

The average person makes 35,000 decisions a day. The smartest leaders reduce that number on purpose.

12 Dec 2025 · 1 min

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Codie Sanchez explains why the average person makes 35,000 decisions daily and how top leaders cut that number. Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Obama all simplified routines to focus on what mattered. A study of judges showed their parole approval rates dropped as the day wore on, proving fatigue clouds judgment.

Questions this video answers

About 35,000 decisions per day.

Judges approved many more parole cases earlier in the day, with approval rates dropping to almost zero as they became tired.

Chapters

What do Steve Jobs, Einstein and Barack Obama all have in common? They all wore the exact same thing every single day. Your brain has a limited battery. And studies have found that the average person makes about 35,000 decisions a day. That's why some of the greatest thinkers of our time organized all their decisions into a three tier hierarchy. So if you struggle to make good decisions, this can help you big time. At the bottom, we have low level decisions. Eliminate them. These are the tiny choices that don't move your life forward. Monks figured this out centuries ago. Simple clothes, simple meals, simple routines, so their minds stayed clear. In middle, we have medium level decisions. Delegate them. These matter, but not enough for you to drain brain power on. This is why managers are important in order to scale your business. And at the top, we find high level decisions. Own these personally. The big calls, only you can make. A study found this pattern with judges. Earlier in the day, they approved way more parole cases. And as their brains got tired, approvals dropped to almost zero.