The trap of keeping our options open

Introduction

I was discussing his plan for the future with someone who has joined the workforce. We were discussing what it is that he would like to do. He mentioned that his goal was to make money. He felt that once he had money, he would have many choices. 

This led me to reflect on having options and what it meant.

I started to look at my life.

Examples from my own life

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I keep aside some days for hiking. I realized that I usually become very anxious on hiking days. I struggle to decide where I should go.   Specific trails have high elevation gain and give excellent exercise. However, they are not so pretty. I think it would be nice to go to a park where we have a lake. But this will not give me any workout.

I have another factor. I have 5 hours and want to spend a reasonable amount of time hiking. The problem is the place I want to go to will take a long drive. 

I end up getting stressed. I then choose a park and hike. Once I reach there – I see it is not so beautiful. I very often feel it would have been more fun going to the another park which I was considering earlier. 

My childhood

We barely had a few radio or TV channels in our younger days. 

Today, we have 100s of channels with almost endless shows. What has now happened to me is that if I do not like a show in five minutes, I go to the next one. It has become a difficult decision to choose the show for me.

More examples

People end up overeating when there are multiple options like in buffet. I hear ladies complaining that they cannot decide what to wear when their wardrobes are lined with endless options. 

What is going on

Keeping our options open implies we are deferring decision-making.

The decision means sacrificing all other options. Since making a decision means that we have to face the consequences. We avoid this by keeping options open.

Having money to have options open

I feel that we think we will have a lot of options when we have money; it is a recipe for unhappiness. We often think that when we have money, we can go anywhere and buy anything we want. We believe that we can get the best. I feel that having a lot of money is allowing our greed to have free rein. They can start indulging in habits that are not healthy.

Some start living extravagantly. Since our needs are limited, riches leave people unhappy.

Conclusion

We need to focus on what we want to accomplish and not do anything to keep options open.

When you are in a dilemma and thinking of options open – you may need to question what is preventing you from making the decision. The question is whether this is a way to defer our choices.

Let us not think of options – focus on your goal. Develop clarity about what you want to accomplish. Decide quickly. Commit, plan, and execute. 

Do not keep options open. Go for a good enough option, and do not wait for the perfect one. 

Decide quickly, commit, and start taking action. If it does not work – change course.

Further reading

Here is an excellent article on choices that will give you more insight into options.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stretching-theory/201810/too-much-choice