Home Podcast How the Power of Decisions Can Lead to Healing from Mental Health Struggles: An Interview with Nika Kabiri

How the Power of Decisions Can Lead to Healing from Mental Health Struggles: An Interview with Nika Kabiri

by Melanie

Every day we make thousands of decisions.

Have you ever considered how each of your decisions may impact your mental health and money?

In today’s episode, I chat with Nika Kabiri, a decision scientist who shares her story of overcoming mental health struggles and taking back her agency through the power of her decisions and choices.

“It’s really amazing how just deciding to decide can change everything for you.” – Nika Kabiri

“Sometimes we don’t think we have agency because we don’t see the options. And sometimes we don’t see the options because we’re not thinking about options, we’re just thinking about making it through day to day which a lot of people who suffer from depression do. But there are options.” – Nika Kabiri

“My first decision I made was, what I like to call the decision you make before you make your decision, which is the decision to be physically healthy. Because if you’re not physically healthy, you aren’t capable of making the right choices.” – Nika Kabiri

“My hope is that more people really understand what decision-making is about because I really believe that’s the key to, not only just a better mental health but a better world.” – Nika Kabiri

“I personally don’t think that there are necessarily good or bad things that happen, it’s just things that happen and we tend to project those feelings onto it.” – Melanie Lockert

What You Will Learn From This Episode 

  • How decision science relates to mental health 
  • Ways in which looking at our choices and decisions can help with our mental health
  • How our social connections can either be very destructive or very healing 
  • Tips on how to make decisions that can impact our mental health in a positive way  
  • How to react and move on when we make “bad” decisions
  • Tips on making purchasing decisions from a consumer standpoint
  • What is prospect theory and how it impact the way we manage our money and finances

About Nika Kabiri:

Nika Kabiri has spent over two decades studying how people make decisions in various contexts, from business to politics to relationships. She teaches decision science at the University of Washington and works as a consultant helping businesses understand consumer decision-making. She’s co-author of the bestselling book Money Off the Table: Decision Science and the Secret to Smarter Investing. She has also been featured in Business Insider, Yahoo News, Fast Company, and more, and has been a contributor to The Hill, Inside Sources, The Huffington Post, and others. Nika has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington, where her academic focus was on choice theory and decision-making within constraints. She also has a JD from the University of Texas.

Resource:

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Connect with Nika

Connect with Melanie 

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