We live in an age that affords us more choices than ever before. So much so, says Swarthmore College psychology professor Barry Schwartz, that we’re in danger of choice overload.
To help make his point, Schwartz went to his local supermarket.
Traversing the store aisles, he counted 285 varieties of cookies, 230 soup offerings, 40 options of toothpaste, 360 types of shampoos, conditioners, gels and mousse, 90 different cold remedies and anti-congestants, 275 varieties of cereals, 64 kinds of barbecue sauce, 175 types of tea bags, and at least 15 assorted flavors of bottled water.
Research into the choices we have and why we make the choices we do has led Schwartz and other academics to question whether having so many choices is really a good thing after all.
“It’s just been accepted that since choice is good, more choice is better, but … this perfectly reasonable assumption turns out to be false,” said Schwartz, who examines in his book “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less” ($13.95) how having so many choices can create stress, disappointment and depression.
“You can reach a point where you’ve got so many choices that it produces paralysis rather than liberation,” he said.
So how do we make a choice, from the mundane to the monumental, and then stick with it?
Whether shopping for a DVD player, deciding on your career path or making major life decisions, some say doing research is a good place to start. Look at it from all possible angles. Examine the risks and benefits.
But it’s also important to weigh research against your value system, said Bob Clemen, an associate professor of decision sciences at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
“If you want to see clearly through all this morass of choices that you’ve got, you have to stop and say, ‘What do I care about? What really matters to me?’”
“That gets back to things that are fundamental,” he said.
Your intuition can pick up where research and analysis leave off, said Lynn Robinson, author of “Divine Intuition: Your Guide to Creating a Life You Love” ($14).
Say a company makes you a job offer. You research the company’s history, track record and earnings, but then what?
“It might be taking a step back and saying, ‘I’ve done all my analysis, I’ve got all the facts on this, and what choice feels right to me?’” Robinson said. “I really do think that intuition is our inner compass, and when we pay attention to it, it points us to success.”
When faced with a choice, Robinson suggests jotting down ideas and images.
If you want another opinion, seek help from a few trusted advisers, such as parents, close friends, lovers or clergy members.
But you may need to be choosy with this, too, some caution.
“Avoid pressure from anyone that tells you what you ought to do. They’re not the ones who have to live with the consequences,” said Norman Klein, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Westport, Conn. “Some people are more interested in announcing their philosophy of life than with the task you’re approaching them for, which is to get advice.”
Sometimes we put undue pressure on ourselves to make choices, said Maya Talisman Frost, publisher of the e-zine Friday Mind Massage on her company’s Web site, Real-WorldMindfulness.com.
“You don’t have to view your car as the car you’re going to have the next few years. What’s good for you for the next year?” said Frost, who recently took her own advice and made the choice to move with her husband and children from Oregon to Mexico.
Instead, she said, make a habit of making choices every day – and have fun with it. For instance, stray off your usual path to work and go a different way. Wear your hair or scarf a different way.
Fear of failure can immobilize some from making a choice to tackle something they want to accomplish. When that happens, lessen the anxiety by starting small, said Al Secunda, author of “The 15-Second Principle: Short, Simple Steps to Achieving Long-Term Goals” ($13.99).
“Think big, but act small,” Secunda said.
Want to build more muscle? Start with one push-up, he said.
Want to write a novel? Sit down and write the first three words.
“Going from zero to one is the most important yet difficult part of any task,” said Secunda, who is a Los Angeles-based personal and business consultant.
Sometimes it may be better to hold off making a choice or decide not to choose at all.
“If you can’t choose, it means you’re not ready,” said Lisa Earle McLeod, an Atlanta-based syndicated columnist and author of “Forget Perfect: Finding Joy, Meaning and Satisfaction in the Life You’ve Already Got and the You You Already Are” ($13.95).
In that case, she said, your choices are to decide not to choose, abdicate your responsibility and ask someone else to choose for you or revisit it later. And if you cannot make a choice, McLeod said, “it might also mean it’s not something worth wasting time over.”
But when you finally do decide, give over to your decision fully, McLeod said.
“Focus every bit of your energy on loving it and cease re-evaluating your options. The challenge for this century is learning to live in the moment and the whole ability to say, ‘I’ve made a choice and now I’m going to relish it.’”
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