19. Are You Making Critical Decisions on Autopilot? Here’s How to Stop

Autopilot thinking, decision fatigue, and hidden cognitive biases could be sabotaging your judgment right now.

In this episode of Decisions That Count, neuroscientist Dr. Shawn Watson and co-host Michelle O’Brien sit down with leadership coach, drummer, and author Grant 'Upbeat' Bosnick to reveal science-backed tactics for reclaiming deliberate, high-impact decisions—whether you’re scaling a startup, captaining an esports team, or managing daily life.

🎙️ What You’ll Learn

- Spot & stop autopilot — recognize the tell-tale signs that your brain has slipped into default mode and how to steer it back on course.

- Beat decision fatigue — practical micro-break and “upbeat” drumming drills that reset your prefrontal cortex in minutes.- Neutralize hidden biases — familiarity bias, confirmation bias, and “captain-itis”—and why they silently warp hiring, strategy, and risk calls.

- Flow vs. autopilot — unlock productive flow states without sacrificing critical thinking.

⏱️ Chapters

0:00 Introduction

3:00 From pro drummer to global leadership coach

8:53 Biases, brain science & decision fatigue

15:03 Flow state vs. autopilot

26:20 First-choice fallacy & panel decision hacks

34:41 Leveraging AI to surface diverse viewpoints

43:52 Focus techniques you can use anywhere

52:34 Self-leadership tools & where to learn more

🔑 Key Takeaways

- Autopilot is useful for routine tasks—but disastrous for high-stakes decisions.

- Decision fatigue lives in the prefrontal cortex; short “oscillation” breaks restore performance fast.

- Diverse perspectives (including AI personas) dismantle echo chambers and sharpen outcomes.

- Flow can boost productivity up to 500 %, but leaders must still pause for conscious analysis.

- Self-leadership begins with radical self-awareness of your own biases and mental patterns.

👥 About Our Guest - Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick has spent 25 years in Asia training Fortune 500 leaders to blend rhythm with neuroscience for sharper thinking and higher performance. His award-winning book 'Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite-Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience' dives into practical ways for people to lead themselves better, so they can ripple out more intentional positive impact on others.

 Connect with Grant:

 Website: grantbosnick.com

 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grantbosnick/

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🧠 Hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Shawn Watson and marketer-mum-marathoner Michelle, Decisions That Count explores how science-backed insights can help you overcome decision fatigue and unlock peak performance.

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💡 If you found this episode helpful, like, comment, and subscribe. Share it with someone who could use a reset on how they make decisions. Let’s build better brains together—one choice at a time.

Your decisions shape your life. Make every decision count.

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