Why is Abundance of Choice Bad?
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The material effects of capitalism
Capitalism, despite its questionable policies, has brought us material choice.
🔺 As a result, the human brain, especially that of the Western citizen, must constantly think about making good decisions to make material choices.
Indeed, we live in a time where we have an abundance of choices. But is it so positive to have so much choice? 🤔
➡️Note! An excellent book on this topic. It is the book "paradox of choice", by Barry Schwartz1.
When does choice make you happy?
👉 In reality. Material choice only fulfills our happiness from the moment when:
- You can easily pay for whatever you want
- When the choice is very easy to make
- When the purchase matches what you want at 100%
🔺Note that from the moment one of these three options is not accomplished (or only half-accomplished). We human beings become frustrated quickly..
A long and complicated choice that seems very simple
For example, when you go to a shoe store, you will see 100 different pairs. At first glance, having that much choice is cool.
But in reality… It’s a super stressful exercise 😶
In this situation, it is very easy to make a bad decision. Indeed, you have to find 1 pair of shoes out of 100 that has:
- The right size for your feet
- The model that suits you
- Adapted to the weather according to your needs (example rain, snow)
- In your budget
- The right color
- Country of origin that respects workers' rights
In addition, there are surely other criteria that I have not noted but which are important to you 🤨
🔺 The truth is that the time spent analyzing so many criteria is very long and indecisive ⏲
The longer our choice takes, the more demanding we become.
⚠️ The more questions we ask ourselves about a purchase, the more stressful the choice, the more we expect a better result.
Indeed, we become demanding if the choice is abundant and if we spend a lot of time choosing an object or a service!
In a purchase, it is not always the ultra good VS ultra bad
In a Hollywood movie, there is a good guy that the audience supports versus a bad guy that the good guy must defeat.
In this case, it is very easy to choose what you want. There is no need to think.
On the other hand, when we are in a market with a lot of choice, each product or each service has advantages and disadvantages. For us, consumers, it becomes impossible to be 100% certain that the product we buy is the best.
Therefore, even if we think we are buying the best product, there will always be doubt in our mind, because we will wonder if our choice is the right decision 🤔
👉 It is important to note, The human brain has difficulty choosing time when there is no a great choice and a very bad choice !
Emotional stress
We find that shopping can cause emotional stress. In fact, the most anxious people suffer from "decision paralysis”
Indeed, when there are too many choices or when there is a choice that is not easy to make. The brain tends to no longer know what to choose for fear of making the wrong choice. Thus creating decisional stress. For example:
- For my work, should I take a shirt or a T-shirt?
- At a restaurant, should I order a set menu or a daily special?
- In order to save money, which supermarket should I go to?
In addition, more often than not, a quick decision has to be made.
👉 Note that our Western lifestyle. These are choices to be made constantly!
And all the daily choices to be made, even the most banal ones, accumulated throughout the day, automatically create emotional stress to be managed continuously 😶
An example of a choice requirement
🔺Unsurprisingly, the more choice we have, the more we want our consumption to be excellent ! For this reason, we are becoming ultra demanding!
It makes sense!
For example, to go back to the previous example. The one where you have to choose a pair from 100 pairs of shoes. Let's imagine that you finally chose a pair of shoes.
A few weeks later, we realize that despite optimal comfort, the pair purchased is not as “cool” as we thought before purchasing it.
Note that if there were no other pairs of shoes to choose from in the store, we would have simply accepted our current shoes and moved on without any regrets.
Why? Because when we have only one choice, we are forced to accept it and continue our lives.
But in this example, if we regret our first purchase, we say to ourselves ”damn, there were 99 other pairs of shoes to choose from that could have been better”.
As a result, we go and buy what was originally our 2nd choice of pair of shoes... A few weeks later, if the emotional result of the second purchase is comparable to the first, then we will buy... the third choice.
Thus creating an endless loop.
Important note ⚠ In this case, imagine a trivial choice like choosing shoes. Imagine the emotional stress of a more important choice, like choosing to buy a car? 😶
Influence in our choices
Not surprisingly, everything around us can influence our courage to make decisions.
For example:
- social networks
- Family and Friends' Opinion
- Fears
- Ego
- Comfort zone
- Culture of the country
- Marketing and advertising
- Religion
In reality, we are often in a dilemma in order to make the right decisions.
Note that sometimes influence leads to making difficult decisions according to our opinion. But according to the influence of other people, our decisions seem very simple to make.
In reality, we all have different consequences from the choices we make.
➡️ Solutions for the abundance of choice
Why is Abundance of Choice Bad?
Now, let's look at the solutions to this problem. Because basically, it's a daily problem to manage!
A choice is accepting that you can be wrong
Note that every bad choice will lead to frustrations because there are aspects that we can never catch up on. For example:
- Wasted time
- Lost money
- Lost Opportunities
👉 One solution to resolve these frustrations is to accept that we have made (and will make) mistakes in order to learn more. ❗
For example, it is possible to regret having bought an electronic object because we realize later that we did not need it.
We agree. Yes, it's money lost. Yes, it's time lost.
☝️ But the most important thing is to understand that we made a mistake.
▶ Be careful, I am the first to think that it is excellent to avoid making mistakes. Or, to think of tips to avoid repeating past mistakes. Indeed, making or repeating mistakes is always negative.
But on the other hand, if we want to progress, we have to accept that sometimes we will make mistakes. That is, we realize that our choices will not always be the best.
In addition, most of the time, our mistakes have less disastrous consequences than we imagine 😉
Accepting that we are dependent on the luck factor
👉 In reality, even if we anticipate all possible scenarios. There are always improbable scenarios that are dictated by the luck factor!
Indeed, most people have a hard time with this reality. But still, luck is present in our daily lives 😊
And yes, there are surprises in our life that we must accept and improvise.
And sometimes luck is with us. But sometimes it will be against us.
Accepting that you won't always win
👉 Sometimes it is possible to win only partially with a choice.
For example, if we have to choose between 2 jobs, it is quite possible that we will win in some aspects and lose in other aspects.
Therefore, making a choice does not necessarily mean that one will be 100% the winner. In reality, a choice only means that we have made a choice.
Besides, it is possible that sometimes we are forced to choose the least bad solution between 2 bad choices.
Our friend, minimalism
👉 If we want to have fewer choices to make in a day, why not start avoiding making decisions?
A good example for this case is the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.
In fact, in order to reduce the number of choices to be made in a day, he started by avoiding worrying about secondary aspects.
For example, all these T-shirts are the same color. That is, gray.
So, in the morning when he wakes up, he no longer hesitates about which T-shirt to choose. In fact, he opens his closet and takes any T-shirt. So, he has one less choice to make in his day 😄
⚠️ Note that this principle is also applicable to objects 🔺
For example, if you decide to stop wearing a watch. You automatically avoid making certain choices in your day. For example:
- Should I charge my smartwatch at work or at home?
- Should I leave my watch at home or risk it being stolen on vacation?
- If the watch is defective. Is it better to repair it or buy a new one?
👉 So, avoiding these side issues allows you to have more time for the important questions. Or, avoiding these side issues allows you to have more time to relax :)
Note that it is always the same sentence with minimalism ” Less is More ”. Yet, it is still just as effective 😉
Fewer choices to make = More emotional serenity 😊
Why is Abundance of Choice Bad?
Conclusion
The abundance of choices is a stressful exercise for the human brain.
Note that even though most of the choices we have to make are not a matter of life or death, each choice requires reflection.
In the West, we are overwhelmed with information and we are overwhelmed with choices to make during the day. As a result, we live in a constant state of stress.
➡️ In order to avoid stressing about choices to make, do not hesitate to:
- Reduce possessions to reduce the number of choices to be made
- Accepting that the choices we make will not always be the best ones
👉 Moreover, the choices we make also depend on the luck factor. And we tend to forget that this factor is uncontrollable.
Therefore, it is impossible to always make the right choice. Even if we have analyzed all the elements.
On the other hand, this does not mean that we should not think before making a choice. Like everything in life, there must be a happy medium 😊
Why is Abundance of Choice Bad?
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Compared to before, I was a person who consumed a lot until the day I realized that my consumption made me sadder and poorer 😑
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Without realizingI started to focus on saving and investing to depend on a boss for as little time as possible and to speed up my personal projects.
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Are you rather minimalist or frugal Jonny?
I am as minimalist as I am frugalist. However, there are situations where I lean more towards an art of life.
To conclude, I think the most important thing is to feel comfortable in your lifestyle 😊
Why is Abundance of Choice Bad?
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