ARGUMENTS

 In Barry Schwartz’s TedTalk lecture, “The Paradox of Choice”, he talks about the trouble with choices, and the limits they create in our lives.  It sounds crazy to imagine any type of limits when you think of choices, because choices literally means variety and selection.  He used everyday examples that we all can relate to get a better understanding that choice does in fact hinder our decision making process, when there are too many.  For, “too many choices produces paralysis and not liberation, and that people find it very difficult to choose at all”.  It creates an “escalation of expectation”, as Schwartz notes.  Because once you come across those choices, your expectations rise where they might not have if you were never presented with the choice in the first place.  You can’t have growing expectations for anything that doesn’t exist to you.  Of which, I completely agree, as I look within my own life and choices, or better yet non-choices that I’ve made throughout my lifetime.  Many were due to indecisiveness when 

Whether it be purchasing items that come in a variety of choices, selecting matched investments with your employer, or deciding how exactly you want to live your life, pinpointing exactly what you want can be difficult when you have to choose just one out of a world of many.  And as Schwartz put it, when you look at the “official dogma” that we were all raised to live by, which is that more choice maximizes freedom, welfare and happiness”.  An unrealistic view.  And it’s that difficulty that can make people essentially give up.  Schwartz concluded that if you put yourself in a situation where everything is possible, “you don’t have freedom, you have paralysis.  You decrease satisfaction, you increase paralysis and decrease satisfaction”.  He goes on to explain that everyone needs limits, and without limits, “it’s a recipe for misery and disaster”.

But I tell ya, this lecture resonated with me and some of my own personal choices that I’ve had to make throughout my lifetime.  Situations like making certain choices with my finances, shopping, and where I want to direct my life, comes with such a variety of options that have stagnated my growth, in one way or another.  One good example is my educational journey back to college, after a very long hiatus.  Actually, it was this very issue that I mentioned in my “Reflections” essay in Blackboard as one of my primary roadblocks when it came to studying and research.  Choices.  Completing work on time can be tough dependent on what is needed.  If it’s an assignment that requires freewill research, I can get stuck.  With a strong desire to give a rich amount of examples to make my points crystal clear, I sometimes research everything.  And I mean everything within everything.  For example, say I found an article that hits the point I’m trying to make, but within that article, the author gives a case study or an expert’s point of view, and so, I’ll go and do a little research on the noted research within the article.  Once I see those examples, I want to learn more about the particular example noted in the research that was mentioned in the article that I was trying to use as an example to make my point and… WHEW!!!  It’s like I put myself in a rabbit hole that is as deep as an abyss. 

Having too many perfect choices available to me (because that’s how my mind would interpret them) to make that one perfect point, literally frustrates me to no end, put me in a state of panic, heighten my anxiety, which would then force me to weigh my weary skull on to my waiting palm as I try to pick which of the 75 different thoughts swirling in my head.  I guess you can say that I experienced that state of paralysis that Schwartz mentioned.  Schwartz concluded that “more choices don’t give you freedom,   he believes that the secret of happiness is to lower expectations”, and I couldn’t agree more.  Just imagine assignments only consisted of one source for every subject.  Oh, life would be a happy breeze, wouldn’t it?

 Even when it comes to the cost of living, your earnings can either determine your happiness, or increase your struggles with too many choices.  As you grow within your career and make more money, you’re presented with more options and choices.

So, how does one gain happiness in such circumstances?  Because, with so many more new prospects that can lead to happiness,   As you gain more money, the ability to obtain bigger and better things becomes accessible.  The thing is, how can you determine what’s bigger and better”?  And once obtained, can it ever be enough when there are so many versions of bigger and better?  Is it determined by your own circle of friends and family, and where they are in life?  Or by some standard of success drilled into your brain by societal expectations.  In the article, “From the ‘perfect’ salary to keeping up with the Joneses, here’s how money really affects you”, Corey Steig believes that a happiness can be found as you gain more money and success as you go through life.  Like Barry Schwartz, Steig believes that minimizing your expectations can help in this area as well.  But to add to that, instead of focusing on hard on what society considers success, or wanting to better than the ones you’re surrounded by, find ways to make your money rewarding and contributes to your own personal growth and health of mind.  For example, Steig suggested that, “If you spend money in ways that help others, or help you connect with others, whether it’s just like a dinner with friends or traveling, even if it’s not very far and very expensive, that would make you happy.”  Travel, donate, or invest.  Make your money work for in ways where it can last longer and mean more than material possessions.

Sure, salary can determine how well you live.  Being able to afford healthcare, a roof over your head, a good ole 401K plan and a stocked fridge can give comfort and less worry.  But once you grow financially, stay humble.  Realize that those preconceived notions are psychological and don’t really determine what happiness is.  Appreciate what you have, and invest in what makes you feel good, because feeling good makes you know what happiness really is… no matter what your salary.