Willpower

with this open loop in your head: You’re wrong, you’re right, you’re wrong, you’re right. Every single time you make a choice, you’re stepping into an existential void.”
    An existential void is not, ordinarily, very easy for psychologists to observe in the lab. But when people spend a lot of time in that void, the consequences can start to show up in ways that are easier to measure. A person might, as we shall see, start behaving like Eliot Spitzer.

4.
    DECISION FATIGUE
    Man who man would be,
Must rule the empire of himself; in it
Must be supreme, establishing his throne
On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy
Of hopes and fears, being himself alone.
    —From Shelley’s sonnet “Political Greatness”

    B efore we get to the science of decisions, let’s start with a political exercise. Suppose you are a married man who is the governor of a large state in the American Northeast. You’ve put in a long day at the office, and you’re relaxing late in the afternoon by surfing the Web. You happen upon—well, it’s not exactly by happenstance—a site that describes itself as “the most preferred international social introduction service for those accustomed to excellence.” It is named the Emperors Club VIP.
    “Our goal,” the club explains, “is to make life more peaceful, balanced, beautiful and meaningful.” Toward these purposes, the club displays pictures of young women, many in transparent lingerie, each rated by a certain number of diamonds. Each woman happens to be available to spend time with you in return for an “introduction fee.” A decision must be made. Which of these options would bring the most “balance” to your life?
    a. Arrange to contemplate Impressionist paintings at a museum in the company of Savannah, “an artist by profession and creative beauty at heart,” for $1,000 per hour, to be paid in cash.
    b. Make a dinner date with Renee, an “Italian/Greek fashion model” who “delights in Tuscan wines, black espresso, and the cool fresh scent of men’s perfume,” for $1,500 per hour, to be paid with an anonymous money order.
    c. Book an evening in a hotel room with Kristen, a twenty-threeyear-old who describes herself as having “a lot of depth, a lot of layers,” in addition to a tattoo in Latin, for $1,000 per hour, to be covered by a wire transfer from your personal bank account.
    d. Schedule an entire day with Maya, rated at seven diamonds with “her incomparable look and electrifying presence,” for $31,000, to be billed to your gubernatorial expense account under the heading of “Personal Balance Consultant.”
    e. Ask your chief political adviser which woman would be most suitable for you.
    f. Close the Web page, turn on C-SPAN, and take a cold shower.
    Not a very tough call, is it? So why did Eliot Spitzer have such a tough time with it when he was the governor of New York? By choosing c (Kristen), he joined the long list of famously shrewd politicians and corporate executives who have destroyed their careers with an inexplicably dumb decision. Spitzer, who had targeted prostitution in his days as a prosecutor, not only arranged a hotel tryst with Kristen but even sent money to the Emperor’s Club VIP with a traceable transfer from his own bank account. He knew the scrutiny he was under as governor; he had seen firsthand the risks and legal dangers of prostitution. In his long quest to become governor, he’d built a reputation for political savvy, firm discipline, and moral righteousness. Why, once he got his dream job, did he lose his bearings? Did power so warp his judgment that he felt invincible, or was he a narcissist all along? Did he subconsciously want to sabotage his career? Deep down, did he feel unworthy? Or, after all the perks of power, did he simply feel entitled to whatever he wanted?
    Any of those answers might or might not be right, and we won’t try to sort them out or psychoanalyze Spitzer. But we can suggest one other factor that certainly contributed to his downfall—and to the mistakes that have wrecked the careers and families of so many other executives. When Spitzer hired a hooker, when the governor of South Carolina snuck off to Buenos Aires to see his girlfriend, when Bill Clinton took up with an intern, they were all subject to the occupational hazard that comes with being, as President George W. Bush once described himself, “the decider.” The problem of decision fatigue affects everything from the careers of CEOs to