Navigating Choice
Navigating Choice
Transcript
So we live in interesting times, right? Either we have so much choice, and we're surrounded by choices, and we're overwhelmed by those choices. Or we don't have enough choice. And the truth is that even when we have a lot of choice where we have a lot to pick from, that doesn't actually mean that we have a lot of choices. And I think that the skill that becomes really important for all of us whether we're managing really big choices in our life-- like career choices or romantic choices-- or whether we're managing really small choices-- like what do I want to eat today-- is learning how to best navigate these choices.
Because I think, the real power of choice does not come from the fact that we're able to pick. Because if you're going to spend your day picking, you're going to be picking from morning until night-- whether you're picking soda pops, or whether you're picking what school to send your child to. So one of the really important skills that each of us needs to be able to develop is something I call being choosy about choosing. And that means that you don't want to make every single choice-- that the first choice you make is what choices are worth my time to make.
And then, the second choice you want to make once you've decided you want to make a choice is ask yourself, what kind of choice is actually going to give me a value added? And once you understand the answer to that question, that's when you understand whether you need to pick or whether you need to create a choice and create a meaningful choice.
There's a very famous French polymath by the name of Henri Poincare who inspired, whose words actually inspired both Picasso and Einstein. And here's what he said. He said that "invention consists of avoiding the constructing of useless combinations and consists of the constructing of useful combinations which are an infinite minority. To invent is to discern, is to choose."
So here's what I think each of us needs to be doing in our own personal lives. It's our job to construct those most meaningful options that enable us to find and create our value added. That's our job-- each of us. And that comes from our ability to create those meaningful options.
Because I think, the real power of choice does not come from the fact that we're able to pick. Because if you're going to spend your day picking, you're going to be picking from morning until night-- whether you're picking soda pops, or whether you're picking what school to send your child to. So one of the really important skills that each of us needs to be able to develop is something I call being choosy about choosing. And that means that you don't want to make every single choice-- that the first choice you make is what choices are worth my time to make.
And then, the second choice you want to make once you've decided you want to make a choice is ask yourself, what kind of choice is actually going to give me a value added? And once you understand the answer to that question, that's when you understand whether you need to pick or whether you need to create a choice and create a meaningful choice.
There's a very famous French polymath by the name of Henri Poincare who inspired, whose words actually inspired both Picasso and Einstein. And here's what he said. He said that "invention consists of avoiding the constructing of useless combinations and consists of the constructing of useful combinations which are an infinite minority. To invent is to discern, is to choose."
So here's what I think each of us needs to be doing in our own personal lives. It's our job to construct those most meaningful options that enable us to find and create our value added. That's our job-- each of us. And that comes from our ability to create those meaningful options.