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Life is a series of choices.
What career should you choose?
Who should you marry?
How many apartments should you view before picking one?
Most people either rush in too fast or overanalyze to the point of exhaustion. Neither works.
There’s a simple rule that can fix this: The 37% Rule.
The Magic of 37% rule
The rule is simple: Spend the first 37% of your decision-making process exploring options with zero commitment.
No second-guessing.
No FOMO.
No endless searching.
After that, commit to the next best option you find.
Brian Christian, author of Algorithms to Live By, explains it perfectly.
“Be prepared to immediately commit to the first thing you see that’s better than what you saw in that first 37%.”
Why 37% rule?
Because the world greats said about the speed of decision-making:
“Life is Quicker Than a Blink of an Eye” — Jimi Hendrix
“The best kinds of failures are quick, cheap, and early, leaving you plenty of time and resources to learn from the experiment and iterate your ideas.” — Tom Kelley
“Better a good decision quickly than the best decision too late.” — Harold Geneen
Why Does This Work?
Mathematically, this strategy comes from the Optimal Stopping Theory—a formula to maximize rewards and minimize regrets.
It prevents:
Over-exploration: Analysis paralysis that kills momentum.
Over-exploitation: Settling too soon and regretting lost opportunities.
The 37% Rule gives you a scientific way to strike the perfect balance.
MATHEMATICAL THESIS (1/e Stopping Rule)
This rule actually has a formula behind it and mathematicians insist this rule gives you the highest probability of making the optimum choice.
If you’re into math, it’s actually 1/e (1 over e, where ‘e’ is the basis of the natural logarithm), which comes out to 0.368, or 36.8 percent or 37% as the number of choices increases.
The Rule in Action
Consider these real-life applications:
Hiring: Interview 37% of candidates with no intention of hiring. Then, choose the first one better than the best so far.
Secretary problem — 37% Rule Law of Dating: If you want to settle down by 40 and start dating at 18, explore until 26. After that, commit to the best match.
What is the right sample? Apartment Hunting: If you have 30 days to find a place, spend the first 11 days looking. Then, rent the next best one you find.
It’s that simple.
But What About Psychology?
Mathematics provides the optimal solution, but humans aren’t robots.
We all struggle with the explore/exploit trade-off:
Too much exploration: Jack of all trades, master of none.
Too much exploitation: Stuck in a rut, losing motivation.
The key?
Find balance.
Teenagers and entrepreneurs lean toward exploration. Adults and managers lean toward exploitation.
Ask yourself these three questions to see where you stand:
Will you eat at a restaurant you love, or try a new one?
If a slot machine pays $50, do you keep playing or try another?
Do you stick to a game plan, or experiment with new strategies?
Final Thoughts
The 37 percent Rule is more than a math trick—it’s a life hack that prevents endless searching and painful regrets.
Next time you face a big decision, remember:
Spend the first 37% gathering information.
After that, commit to the next great option.
That’s how you win at life without overthinking it.
Mathematical proof of the 37 Rule:
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