I would start with the best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey. What is about this simple number 7 that has such a great psychological appeal? I believe the number 7 has been embedded into society for centuries.
Here I will offer an alternative to why you should stop using the number 7 to make better life decisions.
Let’s say someone asks you to rate a particular thing, person, object, idea, etc, on a scale from 1 to 10. Psychologically, if you are ranking by choosing 7,8,9, or 10 you want to see it happen, you loved the idea, and if your numbers are less than 7, hmmm, you did not really like it.
Recently I read a blog by Tim Ferriss, author of the 4 Hour work week (amazon affiliate link). He also wrote the book Tribe of Mentors back in 2017. In that book, he mentions an exercise to pick a number from 1 to 10, but there is a constraint that you can not choose the number 7.
He suggests that 7 is too secure in choosing on a scale from 1 to 10. It does not mean anything because if you choose the number 7, you are really bound to choose that thing consciously.
In the book, he also mentioned number 8 as excited and number 6 as terrible. You simply stick to these numbers when you have to make decisions. If you rate something 8 or above, you definitely like that thing, and if your rating is 6 or less, you are probably double-minded and still in the thought process to say yes or no.
Next time, when you want to make a decision, try to rate your decision on a scale from 1 to 10 by avoiding the number 7. Give 8 or above if you really want to take that decision and number 6 or less if you are still thinking or don’t want to take that decision.
You can easily imbed this technique in your daily life even when you are making small or huge life decisions: buying a home, considering an online course, going to the gym, diet, professional networking, etc.
In conclusion, avoid the number 7 from your rating scale and rate 8 if that thing excites you and 6 if it’s terrible.
Stay happy and healthy!
I asked my wife, ‘on a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate me as a lover?’ She said, ‘You know I’m no good at fractions.’
— Rodney Dangerfield
Thank you for reading and let me know if the comments how often you. sue the number 7?
