The Paralyzer: Options

People like you and I that have what I like to call "The Burn." It's that deep burning desire in your gut that you can't quite explain to anyone. Often times we have so many ideas stirring in our heads that we are paralyzed by our own fear. The bottom line is, we create too many options!

Being a maximizer (a term developed by researcher Barry Schwartz) is our paralyzer. It's when we have so many decisions and choices to make that we loose site of which ones matter and which ones are an emotional distraction. Instead, he advises us to be "satisficers," a combo of being satisfied and sufficing. This means setting your minimum standard, making the decision and moving on.

Author Valorie Burton gave a great example of being a satisficer in her book Successful Women Think Differently. Lets say you need a new couch. You spend endless hours searching the internet, looking though sales papers and driving all over town to look at couches. What happens? Most of us get overwhelmed with the options, start over thinking the situation and end up not buying the couch. OR you get the couch just to keep looking to see if you may have missed a "good deal." This, ladies and gentlemen, is a maximizer.

(insert screeching tire sound here) STOP. Instead, be a satisficer! Set your minimum standards and move forward. They might look something like this:

"I need a couch and have set the following standards:
     • Color: Brown
     • Seats: 3
     • Budget: $500
     • Material: Suede"

 

Start your search and the minute you find a brown suede couch with 3 cushions for less that $500, BUY IT. Don't continue to look. Don't walk down the "what if" road. But the couch, take it home and enjoy it. And most importantly, let the decision go at that point. By being a satisficer, you don't need to continue researching. You've now cleared your mind for the next decision.

The best part about being a satisficer is being able to use it in life, business, love, spirituality, financially and in health. Imagine if you could free your mind of those paralyzing decisions that need to be made. You can! All it takes is a little mindset shift. What decisions will you make today?

"Studies show we fear an unknown outcome more than we fear a known bad outcome. But in order to try something new, we must overcome our fear of the unknown."  -Valorie Burton