The Next Big Idea Daily

As a U.S. fighter pilot, Hasard Lee has had to make split-second decisions under extreme pressure. Now he's here to teach you how to do the same.

Today, we're continuing our deep dive into decision-making with a few big ideas from Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School and author of "The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters."

Sometimes it seems that all we do in life is make decisions, and yet it’s a surprisingly difficult skill to master. How do you get good at deciding? To answer that question, we’re calling in the pros: Annie Duke, Eric Johnson, Hasard Lee, Abby Davisson, Myra Strober, and Steven Johnson. They’re ex-poker players, business school professors, fighter pilots, and science journalists — and together, they’re going to share a whole bunch of tools you can use to improve your decision-making capabilities.First up is cognitive scientist turned poker player turned decision strategist Annie Duke to share a few key insights from her recent book “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.”• Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter• To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app

For any trade-off between your current and future self, it's always the you of today who has to make the sacrifice. In his final appearance on the show, UCLA's Hal Hershfield offers a way around that problem.

Today, Hal Hershfield ("Your Future Self") explains how you can make life better tomorrow by making grand plans now to ease your future life.

Does your future self seem kinda blurry? Try writing them a letter.

It may sound strange, but if you can learn to treat your future self like someone you really care about, then you'll be more likely to make satisfying, rewarding, and ethical long-term decisions.

Can vividly imagining your future self help you make better decisions? Hal Hershfield thinks so, and he’s got the research to prove it. Hal — who teaches at UCLA and has been called a “pioneering psychologist” by none other than our curator Adam Grant — is out with a new book called “Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today,” and he is here all week to help Michael, you, and future you achieve success.

In the final installment of his mini-masterclass, Brett Crozier shares advice for being a staunch defender of your personal time.

Today, retired Navy captain Brett Crozier ("Surf When You Can") explains why in order to achieve big success, you've first got to nail the little things.• Sign up for our newsletter to get a behind-the-scenes look at how we make this show• Download the Next Big Idea app to hear hundreds of authors summarize their books• Use code DAILY to get 10% off a Next Big Idea Club subscription at nextbigideaclub.com