I was in Las Vegas last week to attend a conference. I could go without visiting Las Vegas again at any point in the near future, but it was a great conference full of people operating and servicing digital businesses. As I was the only practicing lawyer in attendance, I’m hopeful that it will also be fruitful for business development. At the very least, I met some interesting people doing interesting things and will build upon some of the relationships I started.

As this was the first time I visited Las Vegas for more than a few minutes, I walked along the Vegas Strip and through some of the resorts. I wanted to see places like Caesar’s Palace and the Bellagio in person after seeing them in television and movies for so many years.

In order to walk through any of the Las Vegas resorts, you must walk through part of the resort’s casino. Doing so subjects you to a deluge of lights and sounds. The video machines, whether slots or otherwise, seem to have coalesced around the same design language and so they all look the same with slight variations (e.g. the Game of Thrones version had some loud dragon sounds). Then there were the table games, which were often tame as I walked during off-peak hours but from which still emanated the occasional cheer.

I have a rule that I don’t gamble in casinos. It is a decision I made once and a decision I will never have to make again. It is a meta-decision so to speak. There is a logic to this that extends beyond just wanting not to lose money. People only have a certain amount of mental energy. It can wax and wane during the day and through different periods of life, but it is never infinite. Implementing meta-decisions saves some of that energy. In this example, I didn’t have to pull my mind away every time I saw the shining lights of the slot machines or someone hit blackjack. I had already made the decision not to gamble and so just kept walking. The same dynamic exists for things like brushing your teeth. This decision making savings is also part of the reason why Steve Jobs wore the same clothing every day—that was one less decision he had to make.

Now, I am not recommending that everyone adopt a fixed wardrobe, though I have trended in that direction in recent years. No, my call to action is something else. Look for the places where you can make your life better by implementing a meta-decision. It is much harder to eat handfuls of candy if you don’t buy candy at the grocery store. It is easier to take a walk in the morning if you set out your exercise clothes every night. It is easier to study language flashcards if you always study them while you eat breakfast. Any way you can save your daily willpower by making positive things automatic with one larger decision is a good thing. I encourage you to spend a few minutes and think of a meta-decision or rule you can try out over the next week.