Loading ...Whenever I confess to people that I don’t work a regular job, their response is always the same.
“You’re so lucky.”
I cringe a little every time they say it although I […]
Original post: Too Much Choice is Pure Hell
Whenever I confess to people that I don’t work a regular job, their response is always the same.
“You’re so lucky.”
I cringe a little every time they say it although I […]
Original post: Too Much Choice is Pure Hell
Go read “the paradox of choice” by Barry Schwartz. Very relevant to this post.
First, buy a dart board
Second, assign random things to spots on the dart board
Third, throw darts
Fourth, actually try to hit the board this time=)
This is one of the horrible realities of not ‘having’ to work … I can go for weeks and weeks and weeks doing nothing until time for the kids to get home … then I kick myself in the ass and do some freelance work for a while until the endless days of not ‘having’ to be anywhere catch up with me.
‘Having’ to be somewhere is a good thing.
Vee, get over yourself, pick a fucking goal and do it. Count yourself lucky for such liberty and stop this mumbo jumbo philosophy about the trouble with choice. This post pisses me off because the solution is so simple.
I usually avoid this talk back site like the plague because it’s of little substance but if you’re reading this right now, you’re a lucky person to be young and be in your position. Pick something selfless and incorporate one of your passions (real estate, architecture whatever the fuck) and just map it out and do it.
Fuck dude…
This woman is b.r.i.l.l.i.a.n.t
It sounds like VA needs a vacation.
All work and no play makes VA crazy it seems.
You’re so right! I need a routine, and despite having developed interests and a volunteer assignment, I still miss that regular job routine. I end up wasting a lot of time. Perhaps I have too much of everything, including choices.
This is probably the talk you saw, http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/93
This is the other talk you should see
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/97
Being happy is a state of mind. In high school two of my closest friends simply told me to “smile more”… and it took a concious effort on my part because I’ve never been very emotive. It did however work and I smile all the time now and I remain calm when stressed (I feel it, I just view it as exciting stress instead of ‘the world is going to end stress’).
For choice, something I’ve found helps me is picking a top 2 things to do and then flipping a coin. I don’t believe in luck, so I always put the winning choice as tails… because I dislike heads… anyways, then I decide which one would improve me as tails and which one I would enjoy more or is more frivolous as heads.
I have an inordinate number of tails returned to me… but I occasionally disagree with random decisions and choose the other anyways. It’s easier to disagree with a decision sometimes than to make it in the first place.
I also have very long-term goals about my life to help me decide which choices will move me towards those goals, which will move me away and which ones are insignificant.
Ok, I think this is waaaay too much of an issue for the human species, this is the answer to this (agh, rather simple if only people knew) problem:
Before even THINKING about your choices about anything (but especially those 1000 choice problems), stop, and close your eyes.
Now, in your head, imagine what would be the best, most perfect solution for the problem at hand. Give yourself the widest possible margin, this is your friggin imagination we’re talking about here! Seriously consider even the wildest most extravagant coffee table/college/breakfast/day of your life.
Good news: that’s the hard part done. Now open your eyes and pick out the choice that best matches what your absolute best ideal is. Heck, now that you know what the perfect decision is, you can actively search or work for that dream retirement plan/car/spouse/pet/whatever you want. It’s as easy as that, no more stressing out about what university to go to, or what job to take.
For example, imagine the perfect job, for you. For me it would be high paid for minimum work/time, with plenty of time in the year for long vacations. Sure, hopefully it won’t be too dull or boring, but that’s not the most decisive factor. And sure, there are very few jobs or occupations like this, but I could easily look at thousands and thousands of job offers and end up with my dream job anyway, or something close to it, no regrets whatsoever.
Good post.
Wasn’t really clear why V was complaining at first, made sense near the end.
Something to chew on.
I agree with this 100%!
Western Cencorship works better than any other mankind has tried. Multiple choices makes us blind.
This topic is one of my regular rants about modern (western) society.
Hey V, the antidote for indecision is a To Do list. Item #1 should be scheduling that photo shoot because the gauntlet has been thrown.
Guess who just got her shapely mug printed on the front page of 200,000 copies of Redeye, the free daily rag published by the Chicago Tribune?
http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/media/thumbnails/blurb/2008-02/35841649-19213449.jpg
http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/red-022008-fat-main,0,1963256.story
That’s a TON of free exposure. Literally.
Here’s something I haven’t seen in a while, A VA post not dealing with mommybloggers!
I disagree that too many choices is hell. Too many choices is hell when you don’t know what it is you want. I’m a cheapskate, so I always make decisions based on how much something costs, unless it’s food. I think you just need to figure out which parameters are most important to you (and slightly less important) and mess with them until you’re bored or frustrated, and pick the one with the coolest name.
And that’s how babies are made.
V - what a pathetic whiner you are lately. If any mommy blogger wrote this, you’d have a field day makng fun of them.
IF you are lucky enough to be engaged in hobbies, volunteer work, investing in real estate - then good for you. Coming from humble begingings, I’d think you’d appreciate what you have and shut the fuck up with the whining.
V so nailed this one. I can’t tell you how many times I have stood in front of the toothpaste display, frustrated because there were so damn many choices!! I mean, after all - if I chose the wrong one, my teeth would stop being white, or they would get soft, or - horrors - rot and fall out!! I HAD to make the right choice! Finally, after a lifetime of pinching pennies, I had to good luck to be able to afford a cruise and what happens? Which cruise to go on!! If I didn’t pick the right one, I might not have as good a time, and who knows when I would be able to go again!! ARRRGGHHH! It was making me crazy.
Do humans have a certain amount of downer drugs built into their brains, because it seems the more fulfilled a person is most of the time the weaker stuff they find to angst about.
Not that I’m doing a good job making choices.
this was a bad post - basically V was whining about life being tough while managing to show off all the things she’s doing. most people narrow down choices on their own.
sami, what do you mean by western censorship?
I’m sorry Vee my feedback was maybe a little harsh or I might just be jealous.
Could be worse yo, I think the girl in the cubicle right next to me farted a nasty silent killer…….aiye I wish I had my own business and office.
#17 sunny: If you are interested, there is a long rant about it on my blog. (3rd post from the top.)
Point being:
Who is the singer who has drug issues and is fighting for the custody of her children?
Who is Heath Ledger and why is he hot news right now?
Who is Ivan Vujačić and why is he hot news right now?
Can you answer more than 2/3?