Why it may be beneficial to let others make decisions for you

In general, it is important for individuals to make decisions for themselves.  The process of making a decision forces people to educate themselves and consider what they find important their lives.  It is only through practice that people can learn to become more skilled decision-makers.  But, there are times when individuals may benefit from allowing others make decisions for them.

I, for example, delegate many of my investing decisions to a financial advisor (actually, a robo-adviser).  I do this for a number or reasons.  First, while I am capable to creating a diversified portfolio and regularly rebalancing it, I found when I managed my own portfolio that I would second-guess myself and change my investment strategy over time.  Second, I found the process of managing my portfolio to be stressful.  By allowing a robo-adviser manage my portfolio for me, I both reduce my stress and make it more likely that I stick to a long-term investing strategy.

Another area of my life in which I have found it helpful to allow others to make decisions for me is strength training.  For those not familiar, in order to build physical strength, one needs to have a methodical plan to gradually increase the weight one lifts over time.  Although I am capable of creating a long-term plan to build strength, I find that, without a coach, I tend to deviate from my plan and lift heavier weights than I ought to.  By hiring a coach to program the weight, sets, and reps that I lift, I am more likely to lift weights that are productive to building physical strength.


In the examples above, I found that I either could not make logical decisions for myself (because I let emotion get in the way), and/or the decision-making process caused me undue stress.  In such situations, I believe that allowing a person or algorithm to make decisions for me is beneficial.  If you can recognize areas of your life in which you cannot make logical decisions or making decisions causes you undue stress, you may want to consider allowing others to make for you in those areas.