How To Navigate The Paradox Of Choice

Earlier this week, my wife and I had the arduous task of helping our son pick his sports for the upcoming winter season. 

I say arduous because the little guy just wanted to sign up for everything. Hah!

No matter how long we sat there playing with different combinations of what he could actually fit into his schedule, there was no getting around the fact that he just didn’t want to miss out on anything.

Eventually, we had to flip a coin.

Of course, this entire experience was super triggering for me, as it’s probably my biggest weak point, too.

See, I can make decisions if it’s more of a yes/no kinda thing.

But throw several options into the mix and I freeze.

Side note: This is actually a big reason why I’m a fan of minimalism, simplifying our lives and removing distractions. It eliminates the number of decisions that we need to make in a day. Oh hey, black t-shirt…

For example…

That same day, my wife was out picking up a cringe-worthy shirt for me from a thrift shop for a dress-up party we’re going to tonight.

Throw in a bunch of options, the fact that I couldn’t see every shirt myself, and some other personal triggers I won’t go into here, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Again, kids are the best mirrors!

Now, this might seem like a funny story, but it’s actually a pretty big deal.

See, the ability to make decisions, and more specifically fast decisions, is one of the greatest skills you can develop.

In fact, in his talk at the Perfect Life Retreat which I attended in San Diego in November, Bedros Keuilian was asked what he believes is the most important skill for new entrepreneurs to possess in today’s world.

His answer?

Make faster decisions. 

Choose, act, potentially screw up, course correct, repeat.

That doesn’t mean every decision is going to work out.

But I can say from experience that making the wrong decision and then course correcting afterward provides a lot more feedback than trying to sit and think about which decision to make in the first place.