Why Choices are Exhausting

Many are put off by the endless variety on offer for pretty much every item out there. The variety forces you to make a choice, pick one item over the others. That requires a comparative analysis which in turn means gathering information about each option. Even with Google at your fingertips, that’s not easy. And therefore, we feel pressurized, writes Seth Godin:

“We feel the failure of a bad choice in advance, long before we discover whether or not it was actually bad.”

If you’re rational about it, getting so stressed by such choices is, well, irrational. After all, most of the time, the choice doesn’t really matter all that much, in terms of money, or time, or the finer details of what one option offered over the other.

And therein lies the rub: we are not rational beings. We are ruled by emotions more often than we care to admit. To make matters worse, when it comes to making choices, multiple emotions are involved, as Godin points out:

• -      Fear (of missing out on something better);
• -       Greed, which is often fueled by fear (see above point);
• -       A clash between going with what you are familiar and comfortable with (an added benefit is it takes less effort) v/s curiosity, the desire to know what else is out there and if it’s better suited for your needs;
• -       A desire to connect with others, often based on shared tastes, products and experiences.

 As Godin says, “the five are in an eternal dance”, with different emotions ruling at different times and on different topics. No wonder many find all of this so exhausting.