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Never make a Significant life Decision After a Peak Experience
There’s a hidden danger to peak experiences that people rarely talk about. When you have a peak experience like going to a motivational seminar, you’re emotional instead of objective.
Instead of using rational optimism to make a decision, delusional optimism guides your choices.
The consequences of those choices are more often than not detrimental. Quitting your job without a clue how you’re going to come up with next month’s rent might get you many likes when you announce it on Facebook. But when reality sets in and the rent is due, what appears to be courageous ends up being stupid.
People do stupid things like this all the time after a peak experience. The upsell at the back of a room in a motivational seminar takes advantage of this. They end up spending money they don’t have.
But if you’re fortunate, an ethical teacher like Philip Mckernan will tell you about the upsell before you’re at the peak of your emotions and tell you not to buy if you can’t afford it.
Anytime you make a significant life decision after a peak experience, you overlook the second-order consequences of your choices. A decision you make leads to a cascade of changes you don’t anticipate.
