Comments on: The Secrets of Wellbeing Series – Part 4: Does More Choice Make us Happier?

By: Trent M.

Trent M. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:38:40 +0000

@ Mrs. Jaksch

Ah, thank you for your tips.
The second one appeals to me most. It also amuses me that there was always such a simple solution like that, yet I never thought about it!

By: Mary Jaksch

Mary Jaksch — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:44:12 +0000

@ Trent
Making choices can be difficult. There are two things I suggest.

1. Practice making wrong choices.
Most times any action is better than dithering. If you get used to making imperfect choices – that’ll make you less uptight about getting it ‘right’.

2. If you have two options and can’t decide, flip a coin and stick with that choice. It will take away the dither

By: Trent M.

Trent M. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:35:21 +0000

… Wow. Just wow.
All of your articles are beneficial to me. In fact, some are about learning to do such and such or be more such and such which are major problems I have.
But this one probably resonates more with me than any others I have read.
I suppose that would be because choice and decision-making IS becoming a major problem for me.
It’s ridiculous, really. I find that I am terrible at decision-making.
Of course I choose the right choice in a right or wrong situation without hesitation, but that’s not what I mean.
I’m talking about little choices. Simple choices.
I have such a wide variety of choices in my life, and I find it so incredibly overwhelming that I choose or do nothing.
For example, groceries. When choosing stuff when I go shopping with my mom for the family. I feel so stressed. I shouldn’t feel this way. There is absolutely no reason to. Yet, I do.
I am obsessed with making lists. I have a To-Do List which is general but refers to sub-lists which are much more extensive. Such as…

To-Do List
-Art Projects (see Art Project List)

Art Project List
-Blah
-Blah
-Blah (blah)
-Blah

I get out of school at 12:00 PM every day and have quite a healthy chunk of the day ahead of me. Yet there are so many things I want to do, so many ideas I have about doing something, that I stress for about an hour trying to decide but then end up doing nothing or just watching TV.

This is a great article. I’ll definitely come back to it again in the future.

By: The Apartment Consultant EBook. | 7Wins.eu

The Apartment Consultant EBook. | 7Wins.eu — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:42:43 +0000

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By: karen

karen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:52:03 +0000

I always have been an idecisive person.. because life shows me multiple options everywhere… its really difficult for me… why is it so?

By: Retirement

Retirement — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:56:12 +0000

Your post makes one think! Great article. Thanks for allowing me to comment!

By: Mary Jaksch

Mary Jaksch — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:13:56 +0000

@Eleanor
My apologies for not being clear enough about this. It’s a good idea to include an Amazon link. I’ll take your suggestion to heart.

By: Eleanor

Eleanor — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:00:03 +0000

Ineresting post. But it seems to me that if you are going to summarize the ideas in a fellow’s book, you ought to cite the book and the author upfront—I didn’t see the author’s name or the name of the book at the beginning of the article and didn’t know you were summarizing his latest book!

By: Eleanor

Eleanor — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:54:09 +0000

Interesting post. But it seems to me that if you are going to summarize the ideas in a fellow’s book, you ought to cite the book and the author upfront (i.e., these ideas are from Barry Schwartz’ book The Paradox of Choice) and maybe give a direct link to Amazon.com or other seller so the author can derive benefit from his ideas.

By: Mary Jaksch

Mary Jaksch — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:21:46 +0000

@Amazingness
I resonate with your point about creativity.
When I’m writing, I wear two hats: I’m the Writer, as well as the Editor. I try and keep the two very separate, because when I’m looking at a piece of writing with the eyes of the Editor, my creativity goes out the window. Whereas, when my Writer is in charge, I fall in love with each idea and sentence. Not a millimetre of objective distance!

Your post reminded me that both parts of my spilt personality – the Writer and the Editor – are part of the whole creative process.

My Editor is brutal: All she says is, “Kill that!” or, “No, not like that!”, “Oh gawd – won’t you ever learn to spell?!”

When I’m in the Writer, I’m elated and LOVE life.
When I’m in the Editor, I drag my tail and plod.