Decisions Ahead of Time

There are 2 parts to our brains. The prefrontal cortex, the higher part of our brain, responsible for our higher self, our future self, the part of us that is concerned with our future. Then there is the lower brain, the primitive brain, the part of our brain that's main purpose is to keep us alive. While this part is very important, sometimes our brains become misinformed about what will keep us alive. Take for instance, cake, any kind of cake, but if it's me, it's going to be chocolate lava cake. When we eat something like chocolate lava cake, the dopamine that is released from the sugar is very pleasurable. The natural man/primitive brain thinks this is something will definitely keep us alive. While if we were maybe starving to death it would do just that, but in our normal everyday lives, eating chocolate lava cake every day will have a detrimental effect on our health. 

So we have to boss our brains a little to achieve what we want to achieve in this life. When we make decisions in advance, we gain greater access to success at achieving those goals. When faced with a choice in the moment, the primitive brain will take over and let us act in a way that may be contrary to our goals. But when we have already made the choice, our chances of honoring our commitments to ourselves greatly increases.