Maximizing Choice = Happiness???

Courtesy of Balanced Weight Management

In the hustle of the economy of abundance that the world is adapting nowadays to get everybody satisfied and happy by creating a wide range of choices for all the tastes, making choices can be paralyzing, and contrary to what is thought, it can make you unhappy. How so? Well that is what I will try to explain.
For this purpose I will use an experience I had.

Abundance of Choice and Paralysis

There are so many choices on the market or in the media nowadays that it is sometimes so hard to choose. You are stuck there for a fair period of time and sometimes you just leave with empty hands. So choice can be paralyzing.

That is what I experienced when I was trying to choose a cable package and pick up the channels I want. Do I go for a fifteen-channel package or twenty? Custom or ready-made? Do I go for English or French channels? and so on... Having so many choices at hand was quite overwhelming so I just put it off for the next day. Surprise! The challenge was the same!

Non-satisfaction and Regret then Self-Blame

If ever you make up your mind and go for a particular choice, then you get to the non-satisfaction and regret stage where you only think about what you are missing out on the other choices. So even if what you have at hand is actually great you are not satisfied with it and you start regretting your choice. That eventually leads you to blaming yourself for having a multitude of choices but making the "wrong" one.

Back to my little anecdote with my cable package, once I made up my mind about the package and actually chose the channels, instead of actually enjoying TV I kept thinking about the other choices I could have made and about what I am missing out on because I didn't take this or that and I started being unsatisfied with my channels even though the programs were really great. When I wanted to change I was told that I had to keep my list for 30 days before being able to do so. That led me to regretting my choice and thinking that I am to blame for making the wrong choices from the start.

So now you see that contrary to what we think, having a multitude of choices in not necessarily a good thing. In fact, it can lead us to dissatisfaction, regret and unhappiness.