Telling it like it is

Have you ever asked yourself how many decisions you make every day?

Okay, that’s a trick question. Let’s narrow it down. How many conscious decisions you make each day?

A quick search has led me to this answer: at least 35,000 for an “average adult American.” What about Filipinos? Let’s assume we make at least half of that since we have less complicated lives, haha. But kidding aside, that’s a lot of decision-making everyday.

Funny that in today’s age where information is overflowing, we make less decisions–even end up making bad decisions. This is so because we have several options. We have too many! This article states that “with too much information, people make less decisions.”

Imagine this: in a big store of too many shoe choices, you often end up buying nothing. But in a botique where there are 3 to 4 choices, you often decide quickly. Barry Schwartz on TedTalks called this the “paradox of choice.” With too much choice, we often become undecided.

Now,  how can you keep your life a little less complicated–which means you make decisions quickly since you are able to focus on what’s important.  But before I jumped into the next point, watch this first:

So if you believe Mr. Schwartz, modern Western life has made our lives more complicated. We’re surrounded with information. And we’re always under pressure to make sense of it. Now, if you’re job involves making sense of these things and deciding which ones to throw out and which ones to retain, then most likely, you often find yourself  stuck, or worse, paralyzed. Thus you are most likely unhappy, anxious and frustrated.

Last week, I bought this book called “The Decision Book,” which is an international bestseller. It features 50 known models for “strategic thinking.” 50! Wow. We need at least 50 best-known models for decision-making to make good decisions. Now, where do I start?

So there. As they say, life is about making choices (more good than bad, I suppose). To keep things very simple, you may choose between these two options whenever your stuck: will it make you happy or will it make you sad. If a certain decision does make you happy, then stay with it. If it does not, then scrap it. But, if it makes people sad, but makes you happy, then, that’s another complicated question that requires another round of decision-making.

Wait, scrap that.

Just keep it simple! And decide.