How to Embrace the Terrifying Joy of Choice
Abstract:
If there's one thing we're not short of these days, it's choice. We're surrounded by options.
Want to get fit? Have a club for every type of sport there is and 15 gyms within a ten-mile radius. Want to alleviate your anxiety? Here are 150 online courses on relaxation and meditation, as well as trauma treatment, therapy, counselling and self-help books.
Choice is a great thing, but there are dangers as well. We're often tempted to do everything, only to find that we get nothing (much) done. Done right, however, there is power in our ability to choose.
Your mission today is to learn how to handle and embrace the terrifying joy of choice.
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Task 1: More is less
I'm a classic multi-passionate. My interests are so varied, I struggle to list them all. If there's a poster child of wanting to do a zillion different things and then failing to follow through, that would be me.
To an extent, there's nothing wrong with this either. I'm always in favour of trying new things, daring to suck at something new, and "done is better than perfect". Half-assing your housework won't kill anybody.
There are parts of our lives though that are worth prioritising: ourselves, our loved ones, our health, our passions. Half-assing any of those for too long is bound to cost us both lifetime and happiness.
Task 2: The joy of choice
The whole premise of Oliver Burkeman's "4000 Weeks" is that life is too short to waste it. And rather than rushing around trying to squeeze as much as possible into our limited time, he recommends making intentional choices.
This means saying No to a lot of things we'd probably enjoy. That's pretty scary. However, doing this makes the things we say Yes to, all the more meaningful. There's a lot of power, and happiness, in fully dedicating our time to our own choices, and the joy gained calms the anxiety of "missing out".