Decision-Making 101: The Paradox of Choice and Why Sometimes More is Actually Less...

in mindset •  6 years ago 

Hello, Steemians!

It might have occurred to you that it is difficult to make decisions sometimes. Despite our best efforts, we often find ourselves being overwhelmed by the mass of opportunities that we may have.

Imagine a person who is trying to find his career of choice. A thousand years before, he had but a handful of options depending on where he lived.

But nowadays, with this modernized world where everything is connected, we have more than a million options for our career, let alone other aspects of life that need decision-making!


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The reason behind this is that sometimes, the more options you have, the more difficult it will be for you to decide.

Many of our youth find it difficult to focus their attention on one thing in life. That is why a lot of them do something at some point, then forsake it to do another thing.

Their lives are unfulfilled, and that is because they cannot put their attention to a sole purpose in life.

It would be romantic to suggest that each and every one of us were born to do one particular thing; that destiny is awaiting us and we need only find what we were born to do and become.

But this is hardly the truth. A human mind is capable of admiring many things, and falling in love with many phenomena throughout this unlikely and unexpected life that we live.


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That is why it is so easy to lose focus. We are preoccupied by many occurrences throughout our life that implore us to pay attention to them. By paying attention to them, we begin to like and enjoy them.

Add that to the forgetful nature of us human beings; the tendency to lose touch of what we may have, for example, wanted a year ago. With that sensation lost in the deep maze of our minds, we are ready to embrace something new.

And we always do!

This is where the paradox of choice comes in. The idea that more is not usually better for our interest, and that if we had fewer options, life would be particularly easier.


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It is true that we need freedom of choice as a prerequisite for the health of our mentality, but one must not forget to mention that the same freedom of choice could drown us in a world of confusion.

Psychologists have proven that even though more choices in a matter seem to indicate more freedom, we do not benefit from it by a psychological standpoint.

When you overwhelm your mind with choices, you find it difficult to concentrate your efforts on a single thing that you may like. Your mind deceives you into thinking that you may like something better, and that you may find something more suitable were you to wait or procrastinate for a while longer!


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If you want to make decisions better, try to bring the technique of elimination to your thoughts.

When you eliminate the things that are not in your best interest, you will be left with fewer options and can make decisions in a more well-mannered and logical way.

The paradox of choice indicates that you need to narrow down the possibilities that you see for yourself. This does not mean that you should lose your ambition, it only means that you should stop dividing it.

By dividing your ambition, you are inherently making it impossible to make decisions and push your life forward in a direction.

Stop the overflow and eliminate the extras out of your life, and you will find that decision-making will is much easier than you think.

A BIG HUG!

@chbartist

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Important Note!

I have been working very hard on this blog since the beginning. I have a very busy life but I am giving my best and believe me I have shared experiences that I have been coaching thousands of people and I know that the change of the Mindset should be daily. I am already grateful to see you giving upvotes to each other and you can see this with the fact that many already have 8, 9, 10 upvotes. But I'm sure that with the effort of all of us we will see a community with, 40, 50 upvotes and for that everyone should get engaged so we can make it come true. I believe and we can! Resteem...

***Remember Community: Please, if you commented and upvote on a new post I did, please always go back to the previous one because if someone in the community commented lastly because of time zone differences it will be without your upvote and that would not be fair.

You all know the goal! We can reach: 50+ Upvotes each others!

Attention!!!

I'm reading all the meaningful comments from the posts.

I am here making a list of all of you who have helped build this community by voting for each other who write meaningful comments and soon I will respond to everyone with comment and thank you all because I can already see this spirit being built in this Positive Mindset community and help between all of you.

You will receive my upvote in all material and brief comments I will do this in all the posts I am following very closely and I can see what the people who are generous and contribute to this legacy that I am trying to build with all of you can become reality in a short time.

AND

First of all, I would like to thank all of you, who are the most active and proactive in this community, showing your generosity and always with meaningful comments. From now on I will always make a list of these incredible people who have helped to expand our goal of growing ever more.

But I ask that if you are new around here you read many of the previous posts because they make it clear that we are building a community with respect among all, generosity and this blog is for those who really want to start moving their Mindset to positive and moreover be part of the growth of all of us who contribute to this blog. Please do not ask to include you in the list if you are just wanting upvotes because we want here people genuinely attuned to growth and good attitudes and as I have always said with Respect as the basis of all, generosity and positivity!

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Thanks All of You!!!!

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You know sometimes we may find it more difficult when the battle of heart and mind arise. It makes it more difficult to make choices or decisions, sometimes it becomes so much difficult listen on either side.
That was my opinion , any suggestion will be appreciable. Great post by the way, keep up the great work.

This is true. There was a time i need to join a branch of class, i hated science because of the chemical names, i hated art because of the history years and government stuff, i hated commercial because of account calculation. So i was left confused which one to go with. It takes me weeks to finally made up my mind about it but surelyz it was confusing which one to go with

Unfortunately, in my country it is very difficult to get a profession that you like and where you can really make a contribution to society. Since there is only corruption in education. In order for a child to go to college, parents have to pay huge money. Often there is no such money and the child learns the profession for which the parents have enough money

Good tip although I will never understand why people find it difficult to make a decision. I think it has way more to do with character, being afraid, lack of courage and not wanting to be responsible for own deeds.

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Ya @chbartist more the opportunity we have more we confused in taking decisions.

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Greetings to you @chbartist, thanks once again for this spectacular post.

Nice post, more does sometimes cause confusion when making choices.

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Keep it up! And love your mindset! Voted because you have that drive to keep going!

I wish I had a superpower that would let me focus on everything at once.

Yes! Most of the times I'm very much confused in taking my decisions.

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A good topic. You are right now the choice is very large. And sometimes people do not have enough of a lifetime to find themselves, to find an occupation that they really like.

It's really hard to decide when there are many choices to choose from. But one should make a choice to the things that make him fulfilled in life. For me, I should weigh the value of things for the elimination of good things that could divert your focus.

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Dear @chbartist
Whether in the business field, in the field of study or in the field of jobs, the more options we have, the more difficult it is to choose those options. The miserable situation arises when we try to keep the feet together on many boats. In this situation, we are not able to focus on our actual goals and go astray from the goal and are deprived of real benefits. Unless our brain is focused on a goal, we will have to face such kind of famous ones. Any goal achieved with hard work always provides satisfaction. To make a strong decision, the brain should always be prepared and able to overcome the dilemma of choosing the option.
Thank you spreading positive mindset

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This singular post, if you are able to buy out time to exhaust it, may touch you.

Though it says 'i need help', if you listen to its undertone, it may inspire you.

I am very much behind the scenes. in due time however, I will contact you. I would like to talk about my projects. There will be three, ulogs.org, steemgigs.org and macrohard and there will be the teardrops smt. I have to patiently have the interfaces get to certain level so the vimission is explained. I will also need to have its 'paper' published and in that due time, reach out to you to explain its beauty.

also one more. just buy out time and complete the earlier post and this one:
https://steemit.com/mainstreem/@surpassinggoogle/whatsup-asks-can-we-use-the-steem-blockchain-directly-to-onboard-mainstream-users-to-crypto-my-answers-as-a-legit-illiterate

it will turn out one long read cos each post links to others in history but you would have already helped me from where you located just doing so. the videos as well

That happens to me a lot ... when I have many options it's hard for me to make the decision ... and sometimes I think ... if I had only 2 or 3 options ... sometimes we want to cover everything and that also makes it more difficult.

@chbartist, The point of Elemination is vital because in my opinion there is an Human Tendency where people try to do everything both productive and non-productive, i think that people fear to eliminate non-productive things because may be it feels like they are less or like failures if they something leave behind.

But in reality we have to leave non-productive aspects behind to pursue those things which are fulfilling the life's purpose. Stay blessed.

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My decisions were previously based on the needs of others.
Work, husband, children, mother, sisters, mother-in-law, etc., etc.
Until I started making my own decisions.
Many do not like it.
But I felt extremely calm and peaceful.
I have broken the vicious circles and beliefs that have been imposed on what should or should not be done in life so that everything goes well.
For me it is easy, I always analyze when I see that in the future I can regret the decision I make, I try to improve it or I simply throw it away. I do not like regrets.
In the end, I always leave you the opportunity to improve the decision.
And a degree of flexibility to make changes.

We are beings of choice and it often leads to analysis paralysis as I often comment given the implications that behavior has on our decisions. If not properly filtered, inefficiencies will lead to poor decisions and results.

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Hello @chbartist I am delighted with this post, since I have identified in a way with this material, You know that I share the same idea as you, the more opportunities we have so we want to do and the more we want to grow, in this present time we want to learn everything a little, be a whole people. Dedicating yourself to various trades, and it is good until certain as always the factor of time, fatigue and stress, and focusing on several things at once affects health.

A human mind is capable of admiring many things, and falling in love with many phenomena throughout this unlikely and unexpected life that we live.

Totally agree with this, We have a fairly broad thinking and has been developing little by little, in an original way, one day we want this and another day we want this, but that, and we have more and more that ambition for those goals that we propose Sometimes the problem is time, and it is possible that many times, not being clear, or not being determined by what you want more, is affecting your peace of mind.

In these last days I have been going through those decision problems, when you perform several activities every day and all important you want to stay successful in everything, sometimes it costs a lot, When you fail, you stop and start thinking that it is the best of everything. What are you doing. And the problem begins to decide what you think is best for you.

Excellent material, has identified me a lot, I hope to continue to find good material like this, I as a young man say that this is worth reading, It is little time I've been reading your posts, but I'm sure it's just the beginning of success.

Greetings from Venezuela.

I liked your post a lot, during the heart-minded war, you never know that it can become even more difficult. It makes choices or decisions even more difficult, sometimes it's heard so hard on both sides.
That was my opinion, no suggestion would be commendable. This post will be done successfully by the post.Thank you

When our minds coordinate with our hearts, then its the right decision.
And most importantly if the peace within is present.
If you feel uncomfortable or you have a bad feeling or certain fear, its not the right decision to make. Be at peace first before deciding certain things especially big decisions.

On the other hand, if we have much in ourselves, much stuffs, much work, much things to think of, most likely we're in trouble with our decisions.

I think it has to do with a bit of everything, the character of the person (personally I was always insecure and thought that I'm not capable of doing good at school for example, even when I had great grades; doubting myself) as well as the overwhelming amount of choices that we have. I'm not sure how it is on the other parts of the world, but here, kids are expected to choose their careers at 15, and it puts a lot of stress on them. Of course nothing is set in stone, so if you change your mind in your mid 20's, you still have an option to go study and do something else. The problem is of course picking that one right thing that you will enjoy doing in your life.
This post reminded me of the 5/25 rule. Writing down a list of 25 of your goals and interests and picking the top 5 that mean the most to you to focus on at all times, while ignoring the other 20 on your list, until you have achieved your top 5. That has helped me a lot and it guides me on what I should be spending my time on.

I like your work very well.Hope you do more such things.Which will inspire us.You really do very well.Do more such work.
Thank you very much.

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Yes sir @chbartist I don't know why is mostly person don't want decision.
That's easier way it right choice.

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You got a 73.74% upvote from @joeparys! Thank you for your support of our services. To continue your support, please follow and delegate Steem power to @joeparys for daily steem and steem dollar payouts!

Hi, I read your post, this is great, you are an excellent person with a desire to conquer the world.
I joined steemit today and I read that you have to be honest, well, soon I will be a father and they talked to me very well about steemit. I would like your help. I know nothing. In your letter you said that if you wanted to belong to the community that commented asking to belong to the community, but that I had to be a serious and responsible person, and I want to be and give my best. you help me?

I like your post, I really thing you have reason about it.

Congrat, and go ahead friend..

Hola amigo me llamo Samuel Gonzalez , tengo 19 años de edad, lo felicito por este blog que ha realizado es muy importante y útil porque nos enseña a todos la toma de decisiones para crear nuevos conocimientos y provechos de la vida eliminando todo aquello que nos hace una piedra de tropiezo para un futuro mas adelante. me encanta ya que habla de nosotros como jóvenes que debemos tomar conciencia, ya a un nivel psicológico los jóvenes hoy en día en nuestras mayoría la toma de decisiones es muy terrible debido que hay muchas cosas que nos enreda . pero poco son los jóvenes que pasan la prueba. Felicidades desde Venezuela. <3

Yes, decision making is indeed difficult, we need to think about all the possibilities, and yes you are right after elimination of certain things, it becomes much lighter and easier to make decisions.
Keep inspiring us!

I think though human mind is full of possibilities, but not everyone is capable of handling these possibilities.

With few possibilities you could live in peace but then you will have very little to explore the grand phenomena that is life. So it is kind of a trade off either you chose peace or truth.

@chbartist focus is putting attention on great things leaving good things behind which depends on choices

Steve Jobs quote

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Nice writeup, it actually ties in pretty well with my article.

I don't make the most ethical decisions, but by making the right decisions at the right time it's pretty incredible how far you can go.

https://steemit.com/life/@gary-newman/how-i-went-from-being-a-lifer-at-mcdonald-s-to-making-6-figures-at-an-investment-firm-overnight

Due to the diversity of options that compete for your attention, at one point in my life I find it difficult to know which way to go, and I think the important thing is to do what we really love.

This does not mean that you should lose your ambition, it only means that you should stop dividing it.

Source: @chbartist

The most important thing is that you can find yourself and you can enjoy the choice we make, in my case I like to read (and although within the platform I am a bit limited to comment on this type of content), but I also like the programming and in the process of learning I have realized that it may be necessary to learn in the same branch more than one programming language, where do I want to go ?, that we should not limit our capabilities, we can certainly learn more than one subject, only that it must be done in a responsible and organized manner.

Thanks for the great article @chbartist

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un factor fundamental al tomar una decisión es no dejarse llevar por los demás la gente vive mucho de las opiniones de otros y se dejan llevar por estas así sean malas , lo mejor en una toma de decisión es estar solo, eliminar las cosas que realmente sabes que no te convienen y al momento de decir que es lo que quieras no dudar y mantenerte firme , es muy difícil saber cual es la opción correcta siempre pero uno es un ser humano y se equivoca solo tienes que afrontar tus problemas y seguir adelante

Much truth in this article, many people tend to be very distracted by seeing so many options, reducing these options helps direct that attention to specific options and thus dedicate more time and effort.
I love this post, it can give a change of mentality of great positive impact on anyone.
you are big @chbartist

somehow you are akways writing the most useful thing to me. thanks mate it mean a lot

@chbartist you are very correct... "When you overwhelm your mind with choices, you find it difficult to concentrate your efforts on a single thing that you may like".

Atimes i here people say we should like how to multi task. How effective is this when it comes to focus?

We have to make several decisions every day in our home and work sphere. Every decision taken by us as a manager, supervisor, or as a housewife becomes a measurement of our merit.

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The more options you have, the more difficult it will be for you to decide. Exquisitely true!

This is something that's been swimming in my head for quite a while now. Making decisions that will impact your life and where you want to be. Maybe it's fear of taking full control of my life and the outcome. I admire those that go full steam ahead despite unfavorable situations. Everyday is always an opportunity to move forward. Thanks!

I have run across many posts and comments with just the sentiment you describe lately here on steem. Full steem ahead is what I say! It is better to make the "wrong" decision and give it your best attempt than not to try at all. I am old and have gone in many directions in my life. The few regrets I have are for the times I could have taken some action and did nothing instead.

I think you are right in surmising that fear of taking control is the problem. But you are the captain of your own ship and I know taking action will help you even if later you need to change course.

Procrastination is a challenge we have all faced at one point or another. For as long as humans have been around, we have been struggling with delaying, avoiding, and procrastinating on issues that matter to us.
We need stop dividing ambitions of our life and focus on one main thing till we reach and accomplish our desire.
@chbartist you are a great leader and superior mentor thank you for those wise articles and there is always so much value in it.
and I would like to be included on your community list.
Thank you have a blessed day !

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Nice post and also, think it has way more to do with character, being afraid, lack of courage and not wanting to be responsible for own deeds.

Great blog! But i also think that each one of us born with a mission in particular in this life. The problem is to find it!!! Greetings... 👏👏👏