How does Joe Hudson say fear distorts the decisions people make?

Joe Hudson says fear does two things to a decision. It forces black-and-white thinking, so a person asks whether to take the job or break up instead of seeing options such as negotiating or leasing, and it creates a false end, as if no further decision will ever follow. He suggests thinking of decisions as a portfolio, the way a fund manager accepts that not every pick works, and cites Amazon's rule of deciding fast when a choice can be reversed.

• Hudson says perfectionists and people criticised heavily as children struggle most with decisions.
• Hudson's antidote is to feel the feared consequence fully, past the point where it ends, until it loses its grip.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Modern Wisdom (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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