A decision journal that lives where you think
An Obsidian vault template that turns the Clear Thinking framework into a structured system. Record decisions, check for biases, review outcomes, and spot patterns over time.
Everything you need, nothing you don't
Each template maps to a stage of the decision lifecycle. Use them together for a complete system, or pick the ones that fit your workflow.
Decision Journal
The core template. Walks you through the full process: define the problem, explore options, evaluate trade-offs, make the call, and check for biases before you commit.
Pre-Decision Checklist
A quick 2-minute check before any decision. Screens for the four defaults that hijack thinking: emotion, ego, social pressure, and inertia. Fast enough to actually use.
Post-Decision Review
When the outcome is known, come back and classify it. Uses the process-outcome matrix to separate skill from luck. Links back to the original decision for a complete picture.
Weekly Reflection
End-of-week aggregation. Lists every notable decision, surfaces which default showed up most, and asks the one question that drives improvement: what will I focus on next week?
Built on the book's core ideas
Every field in these templates connects to a specific concept from Shane Parrish's Clear Thinking. Here's how the system maps to the book.
Part 1: The Defaults
The Pre-Decision Checklist and the "Default Check" section in the Decision Journal come directly from Part 1. Four biases—emotion, ego, social, and inertia—that operate below conscious awareness. The templates make them visible.
Part 2: Self-Mastery
The Weekly Reflection template builds the habits from Part 2: self-accountability (tracking every decision), self-knowledge (spotting your personal patterns), and setting standards (defining what "good process" means for you).
Part 3: Safeguards
The entire template system is a safeguard. Part 3 teaches that knowing your weaknesses isn't enough—you need systems that protect you when willpower fails. These templates are that system.
Part 4: The Decision Process
The Decision Journal template follows the book's four-step process exactly: Define the problem, Explore options, Evaluate trade-offs, Execute with clarity. The Post-Decision Review comes from section 4.6: learning from your decisions using the process-outcome matrix.
Organized and ready to use
The vault comes pre-organized with templates, example decisions, and example reviews so you can see the system in action before using it yourself.
├── Templates/
│ ├── Decision Journal.md — full decision process
│ ├── Pre-Decision Checklist.md — quick bias screen
│ ├── Post-Decision Review.md — outcome analysis
│ └── Weekly Reflection.md — pattern spotting
├── Decisions/
│ ├── 2024-01-15 - Accept new role or stay.md
│ └── 2024-03-10 - Rebuild API or patch existing.md
├── Reviews/
│ ├── 2024-04-15 - Review - Accept new role.md
│ └── 2024-03-31 - Weekly Reflection.md
└── README.md
Templates/
Four Obsidian templates with YAML frontmatter for status tracking, confidence levels, tags, and review dates. Set this as your template folder in Obsidian's core plugin settings.
Decisions/
Where your decision entries live. Includes two worked examples—a career decision and a technical architecture decision—showing the templates filled out with real reasoning.
Reviews/
Post-decision reviews and weekly reflections go here. The examples show how to classify outcomes using the process-outcome matrix and how weekly patterns emerge over time.
Up and running in under a minute
Download and unzip
Download the vault zip and extract it anywhere on your computer. You'll get a folder called obsidian-vault with everything inside.
Open as an Obsidian vault
In Obsidian, click "Open folder as vault" and select the extracted folder. All templates, examples, and folder structure will be ready to go.
Configure the Templates plugin
Go to Settings → Core plugins → Templates and set the template folder to Templates/. Now you can insert any template into a new note with a keyboard shortcut.
Make your first decision entry
Create a new note in the Decisions/ folder, insert the Decision Journal template, and start writing. Set a review date in the frontmatter so you remember to come back and evaluate the outcome.
See the Decision Journal template
Here's the core template. Every section has a purpose—no filler prompts, just the questions that produce clear thinking.