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Today we have a guest post from Kraken of Fireball Finances. He very graciously offered it to us because it aligns with the desire for freedom and the behavioral economics themes we focus on at Freedom Is Groovy. We hope you enjoy it.
We all want freedom right? However, everyone sees freedom differently. Some see freedom as the ability not to need to work for The Man. Others, like me, imagine freedom as the capacity to be able to pick up and go anywhere at any time. Some parents would consider freedom as always being able to attend their child’s sports game.
Freedom is valuable, worthwhile, and arguably essential to being human. It enables us to do our own thing, maximizing our utility. Having the ability to choose is also freedom—no one tells a free person what he has to do. It stands to follow that the more options we have, the freer we feel. After all, what’s more freeing than being able to choose from 31 different flavors of ice cream?
If this is true then why is it that every time I stare at a menu I feel overwhelmed with options? After all, don’t I have the freedom I so desired? Chances are you have been in a similar circumstance, potentially as recent as yesterday. Barry Schwartz answers this issue in his TED talk here and his book Paradox of Choice. Below I’ve distilled the concepts and solutions, along with addressing some of the issues I had with the original TED talk.
Choices are Limiting
Behavioral Economics has addressed this situation on many fronts. When we humans are faced with more options our chances of making a decision go down, drastically. Our survival brain wrestles with analysis paralysis, settlement regret, and decision fatigue. Each one of these takes away from our freedom and ability to enjoy life.
Analysis Paralysis
When we are overwhelmed with the number of choices a crazy thing happens. We tend to make no choice at all. We spend our limited energy trying to learn about the differences among our options. Or worse, we avoid the overwhelming task in general.
In the video above Dr. Schwartz mentions this study. It showed that the more retirement fund choices they presented to employees the less likely the employees were to invest. For every ten plans offered, engagement went down 2%. Due to a plethora of choices, people stopped investing in future freedom.
Settlement Regret
When you jump the hurdle of analysis paralysis, there is another hindrance waiting for you not much farther down the track. Once you make a decision, you’re left wondering “What could I have done instead?” This question is even more likely to happen if the choice you made doesn’t end up perfect.
You’ve settled on a decision, but was it the best one? If it wasn’t the best one how could changing your choice have made your future better? The worst part of all this is that you only have one person to blame: yourself. After all, you’re the one who made the wrong selection out of all those options!
Decision Fatigue
All these decisions eventually start wearing you down. The more choices you make, the more tired you are. For example, Costco is a draining experience for me because I’m surrounded by tons of items to choose from. By the end of my shopping trip I can tell that I’m an irritable man.
Throughout the day decisions pile up. If you’re not careful you can spend the first hour or so of your day making 5-10 decisions, potentially more. This only increases through the work day. By the time you get home from work, deciding what to eat for dinner can seem as exhausting as running a marathon.
Solutions
We now see the burden of choice in our daily life, so how do we address it? How do we gain the freedom we desire from the cacophony of selection out there? When navigating the rough waters of choice, I take three steps to alleviate myself from difficult decisions. These three phases systematize the decision-making process and free me to do better things with my limited time and energy.
Step #1: Eliminate Obviously Wrong Choices
Remember when you were taking tests in school and multiple choice tests always had one or two obviously wrong answers? By removing those, you enabled your mind to focus on the other options. There are various ways to let this flood into your daily life.
I eliminate most choices in my life by avoiding content heavy sites such as Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and sometimes even my email. When presented with so much content I find myself scrolling through and skipping most of it.
This superficial engagement is what I want to avoid. Instead, I have found a handful of blogs, websites, podcasts, and YouTubers that I enjoy and I can focus on diving deeper into their content. This system gives me a better connection to what I read and is much more fulfilling in the long run.
There are decisions we have to make every day, no matter what. What we eat, drink, wear, and do are a few. Habits or routines are a fantastic way to free yourself from having to reinvent the wheel every time you start a task. When I wake up, I know the next thing to happen. My day flows like this from journaling to breakfast to meditation, all the way until I find myself at my desk ready to write. None of these are choices that I make, they are ingrained habits that I follow without much thought. This rigorous system gets me focused and frees my creative mind from wondering what will happen next.
Step #2: Make a Choice, Any Choice
Even if you make the “wrong” choice, action will always trump inaction. Most decisions are negligible, and not every one of them needs to be Sophie’s Choice. Sitting there and fumbling between minutiae wastes time and energy, both of which are limited resources.
Imagine trying to pick between a dozen YouTube videos you could be watching on a Friday night. Weighing the difference between them and wondering which you might enjoy isn’t helping you experience them. Just click on one of them! You can even close your eyes if you think it will help. Then start enjoying it, after you open your eyes back up. If you do find that you’re not enjoying the video, then switch to one of the other options. A lot of decisions don’t have awful consequences by picking the “wrong” one.
Remember, “Blame is better to give than to receive.” Some of you might remember this from Freewill by Rush. In most cases, it is poor advice, but when it comes to decisions, it’s not. When settlement regret falls on your shoulders shrug it off by simply saying, “It’s their fault for giving me so many options.” You spent time making the best choice you could, given the information provided. If you are presented with new information and your choice no longer holds up, don’t beat yourself up about it.
Step #3: Recognize that Expectations Don’t Match Reality
In the video Dr. Schwartz says that “the secret to happiness is low expectations.” For the longest time I believed this, but I’ve found it’s a pessimistic view to have of the world. I now think of my expectations differently. I expect the best and when reality fails me, I adjust.
If a man walks into McDonald’s and orders a Filet Mignon, should he be upset when the teenage clerk replies, “Will a Big Mac work?” (some of the audience may note that you can now choose between 3 different kinds of Big Macs). The man’s expectation didn’t match the reality which is MickyD’s doesn’t serve steaks.
You should acknowledge that expectations don’t always match reality. If, like Dr. Schwartz, you expected to find perfectly fitting jeans and spent hours trying on different pairs without success, don’t feel bummed. Realize that your expectation of perfectly fitting jeans didn’t match reality. Then, buy the best jeans you tried on and be flippin’ happy about it! Don’t be disappointed about not having the ‘perfect’ pair of jeans, unless you’re going to go out and design them yourself.
The disconnect between expectations and reality is the root of most discomfort. When you can’t change the reality then change your expectations. A willingness to adjust expectations accordingly can lead to a much more pleasurable existence. As a result, you will have more energy. Use this energy on something that you have the ability to change such as earning more money or enjoying life more.
Parting Words
Some choices are better than none, but it doesn’t follow that the more choices we have, the better off we are. There is probably a magical number but I think it is different for everyone. Test yourself to find the point where you stop feeling Decision Fatigue, Settlement Regret, and Analysis Paralysis. Work to free yourself from the shackles of choice fatigue by eliminating as many choices as you can, buckling down to making a choice, and acknowledging that if it goes wrong, your expectations might have overshot reality.
Finally, when someone, usually a person in marketing, decides you need more options, ask yourself: “Was the original setup all that bad?” If so then embrace the choices, but use the steps above. If more selection doesn’t help, then you should default to the original option… assuming they didn’t eliminate it.
Let me know—what are some easy choices in your life that you can eliminate? Is there a decision that you’ve been over complicating, even though it’s not that perilous? How have your expectations not met reality? Did you adjust and find peace, or find you have the energy and ability to change it?
Kraken graduated college with an engineering degree and began working at a job he disdained. By age 23, he saved up $45,000 (he was lucky enough not to have any student loan debt) and was on the Mr. Money Mustache path to retiring by 30. He quit his job in May of 2016 to take a year-long break to focus on his writing, and to find work he loves. He has traveled to a Buddhist monastery in China, worked on and improved his blog, and written for 100+ consecutive days in a row. He also started several side hustles, including freelance writing and tutoring, which he hopes to make his living at to avoid returning to a job he dreads. He dreams of becoming an author of science fiction, fantasy, and self-improvement books, but he’s not just a dreamer—he’s a doer who takes steps towards his goals every day.
Kracken most enjoys writing about reaching goals, financial or otherwise, and living a life that is out of the ordinary. His two favorite posts on his blog are Not Want Cool Stuff and Reasons People Fail to Achieve Their Goals. Aside from reading and writing, he enjoys meditating (as he discusses in Lion Mind), and playing board/card games with friends.
Thanks for this information.
Everything that happens to us in life are often the results of our choice. we elect whether or to not visit the gym to hit the snooze button or to urge up, for a date night with our spouse.
Devansh Sharma recently posted…Life Choices | Importance Of Choices
Great post! I likewise geek out about the concept of choice because choice is a fundamental aspect of both individual liberty and economic liberty. I witness true beauty when your life choices align with your personal values (i.e. individual liberty) and when you voluntarily choose to trade with others to obtain the goods and services you deem valuable (i.e. economic liberty).
But as evidenced in this post, the concept of choice has been questioned by some in recent years. While there might be some validity to the paradox of choice (although its validity is questionable), I wonder how many people think about the alternative to abundant free choice.
I wrote a post a few weeks ago that dives into that exact subject. As I point out in the post:
“First, if there is such a thing as ‘too much choice,’ then how much choice is ‘the right amount’ of choice? And second – a question of utmost importance – who gets to decide the answer to the first question?
Ironically, the answer to that second question is limited to exactly two choices: either 1) the free marketplace will ‘decide’ how much choice is the right amount of choice by aggregating the diffuse, organic demands of we individual consumers, or 2) an agent of government will exercise concentrated power to arbitrarily decide how much choice is the right amount of choice and impose their decision onto society.”
(Here’s the link to the full post if you’re interested: https://livingthepursuit.com/civicliteracy/moral-case-abundant-free-choice-aka-liberty/)
Thanks again for writing about this! I just discovered this website after being referred here by a new friend (Jillian) — and I’m glad I did. I’m likewise interested in the concept of liberty, particularly as related to civics, economics, and personal initiative. I blog and podcast about the subjects at LivingThePursuit.com. I look forward to consuming more content from this site!
BTW, not surprisingly, I much prefer the first option when it comes to choice. Let We the People decide how much choice is the “right amount” of choice by means of the free market!
Thanks so much for your thoughtful contribution, Ross. I look forward to spending some time on your blog, and in particular, looking at the post you pointed out. But I wanted to answer you first, in a timely fashion.
Any friend of Jillian’s is a friend of ours. It’s nice to “meet” someone who’s passionate about freedom and liberty the way Mr. Groovy is. It’s taken me 15 years of marriage to understand where he’s coming from, sometimes. I’d love to see the two of your put your heads together. You sound just like him with your comment about “we the people” and the “free market”.
Thanks for saying hi Mrs. Groovy! I look forward to connecting with you all further. It seems that our interests very much align — it is exciting to connect with other liberty lovers!
I see that Mr. Groovy is on Twitter (I just followed him). Are you guys on social media anywhere else?
I hope today is just the first of many interactions to come! 🙂
Thanks, Ross. I look forward to connecting more with you too. Mr. Groovy set up a Pinterest account but we’re hardly active there and we’re not on FaceBook. Maybe one day, but right now we’re trying to keep an even keel on how many hours a week we put into blogging.
I also saw that you subscribed to our posts – thank you! I was reading some of the articles on your site last night and I’m going over right now to subscribe.
Ross thanks for the comprehensive and insightful comment!
When you mentioned the two options of who gets to decide how much choice is enough I thought of the difference between America and China.
China has blocked Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and almost all other social media platforms. If a Chinese citizen wants to follow the rules and participate on a social media platform, they have to use WeChat. From my experience, it’s a decent app, but it pales in comparison to Facebook.
Then I learned that the only search engines that the Great Firewall of China lets pass are Bing and Baidu. Baidu is almost exclusively in Chinese and Bing is… well it’s Bing. For my two month visit to China, I shelled out the extra dough for a VPN to have access to Google.
I think Google has become the powerhouse it is today for a lot of reasons. I think one of those reasons is because we the people let the free market choose who gets our internet traffic. Whereas in China the government has the final word on that choice.
Thanks again for your great post Kraken! I was not aware of such major restrictions in China — and yes, that’s a great example of where/how decisions are made when it comes to the concept of choice. Relying on the market to determine the amount of choice goes hand in hand with freedom — so, I suppose it’s no surprise that China restricts access. Despite huge advancements in industry, etc. made in that country, it’s certainly far from a “free” nation.
On a completely unrelated note, I see the photo of Catan in your Twitter feed… We were apparently destined to meet. Here’s my Instagram post of the same from the other day. https://www.instagram.com/p/BSotUIQg9BG
I look forward to connecting with you further! 🙂
Haha, this is why I always tell people how amazing In-N-Out Burger is. Their menu is SO SIMPLE. You only have three different options to choose from (they do have a “secret menu” though).
There are no salads, small bites, pies, different styles of fries, etc. It’s simple and straighforward.
LOL. Never been to IN-N-Out Burger! We don’t have them here in NC but we’ve heard family from CA rave about them. What’s the secret menu?
There are a handful of restaurants here that do it too Canes Chicken has a simple menu all they serve are chicken tenders. I like to order Animal Style from In-N-Out’s secret menu.
Mrs. Groovy you can find the “Not So Secret Menu” Here: http://www.in-n-out.com/menu/not-so-secret-menu.aspx
I love these kind of posts, as it speaks to the psychology (crime) degree that I am currently doing. I had not heard of settlement regret before though.
I try to simplify everything, automate everything, and I have a million lists which help me remain organised. The less decisions I have to make, the better.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Francesca!
I’m taking Kraken’s advice in a strange direction this week. I decided to implement a 5-day repetitive eating plan. Yup, same exact meals for the five weekdays. Remove the decision making/choices and see if I can shake up this diet rut I’m in.
Francesca, Settlement Regret was just the name I put to Dr. Schwartz’s description of being unhappy when the decision didn’t pan out. I’d never heard of it before he mentioned it either.
Mrs. Groovy how did your repetitive eating plan go? The flavor simplicity is one thing I like about Mexican food. It’s a formula of rice + beans + meat + tortilla. The size and presentation change, but it’s all effectively the same thing.
The repetitive eating plan is going pretty well! I’m sticking with bland stuff like yogurt, oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, plain chicken, salad, fruit, and sweet potatoes. I switch it up on the weekends and we’re going to add back in fresh fish this week so I only have 4 days of the same meals. I told Mr. Groovy I’d cook him whatever he wants but he’s sticking to my plan for dinners and eats a different lunch than I do.
I like the taste of Mexican food but I don’t like the way it makes me feel. There’s way too much salt and cheese and the portions are massive. I’m not what you would consider overweight so for me to trim even 5 pounds takes some effort. And I’m exercising but I’m a firm believer weight loss has more to do with diet.
Thanks for the link to the secret menu!
Nice post, Kraken and Groovys, thanks for sharing. I’ve been known to easily overthink things and want to change reality. Such a losing battle. 😉 What does helps me, is to remember my personal values. Aligning my decisions with them often eliminates many ‘wrong for me’ choices. Also, simplifying/minimizing wardrobes, diets, routines, house stuff, etc. helps too as it automatically reduces certain choices.
Thanks, Amy. I’m totally an over-thinker. It’s exhausting sometimes.
Mr. Groovy got so excited when he realized he was being “fashionable” by wearing many of the same clothes all the time. Now he just says he has a “capsule” wardrobe.
I agree, so exhausting. Sometimes more to others more than me 🙂
That’s so groovy!!
It’s great that you know what your personal values are Amy, that’s a quick way to eliminate wrong answers. Most people don’t even know what their values or priorities are and are like a ship without a rudder.
I took minimizing my wardrobe to the extreme. I was living out of a backpack while I was in China and only packed two t-shirts and a dress shirt. I now use that wardrobe in the states. In the morning the only question I have to ask myself is “Was yesterday a red shirt or a blue shirt day?”
I’m glad you enjoyed the article and are already minimizing choices!
Insightful post. I know I don’t want a boss even though I have a very good one today. That can change. Fi allows me to change too if that happens. I want freedom to explore my passions on my own time.
Exactly Dave! I agree with your mindset of FI allowing you to change. FI might be the greatest enabler of choice, I think most risks are reduced when we have money backing us up. Props on pursuing your passion on your terms!
FI provides the freedom to follow your passions, try something new, take chances – or sit on your butt if that’s what you feel like doing! Even a good boss is still the b-o-s-s.
Taking chances on trying something new makes life so much more interesting. You are right. A good boss is still a boss. A good boss can also move on and be replaced with a bad boss. It is a blessing to have options and to not be stuck in toxic situations when they arise.
Sometimes the choices presented to you depend on the resources that you have. Without a healthy retirement account, we have no choice but to keep working to find extra sources of income to reach financial freedom.
I love it, Ms. FAF. Your comment delivers a lot of wisdom. Could it be that multiple options in one area of life are a curse, while multiple options in another area are a blessing? After all, 50 shampoo options isn’t anything to rejoice. But having many options when it comes to work–retire, work part time, take a year off, or take a six-month gig in a glamorous city–has got to be infinitely better than having one option: work or starve. Thanks for stopping by, Ms. FAF. You really made me think.
This outlook tickles my brain a little. It seems that we are playing an odd game of trying to place ourselves in a position of optimum choices. We try to save enough money to have optimal career choices while at the sametime we put ourselves in positions where we have a limited selection of shampoo. I assume there’s a balance, but I’m still trying to find it for myself.
Great post – for anyone with YouTube Red I highly recommend checking out the episode Freedom of Choice of Vsauce’s Mind Field series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmI7NnMqwLQ
Personally I feel myself affected by analysis paralysis fairly often. Getting started investing was so difficult because of the plethora of choices, settling on a movie for movie night becomes too much of an affair (Netflix, Redbox, etc). I like choice but its also nice to have it limited somewhat, such as restaurants with small menus. I’m much more likely to choose something new when I’m not agonizing over all the options.
Haha! I forgot all about restaurant menus. I always want so many things–because everything looks great–that when it comes time to place my order, I invariably go with my default burger and fries. Aaarrrggghhh!!!
The abundance of choice is a gift and a curse. After I learned how stressful a menu can be I started doing my friends a favor. I pick out two things I think they might like and recommend them. They still have the whole menu to choose from but I’ve noticed that they will typically pick one of the choices I recomend. This also helps them alleviate the stress of abundance, and makes the whole restaurant experience more enjoyable. Now I just need to get them to do the same to me!
I remember when I was freelancing and working hard to get my blog off the ground, and going to FinCon where you were being taught a zillion ways to market your brand. I was so overwhelmed. But I think if you get quiet, you start to realize where your strengths are. Those are the avenues to pursue.
Nailed it, Tonya. Mrs. Groovy and I have stayed away from FinCon precisely for the reasons you mentioned. We still don’t even know what our blog is about, beyond sharing our FI journey and our twisted thoughts on personal finance. Perhaps in a year or so we’ll know what our strengths and mission are. Until then, the cornucopia of information provided by FinCon will be overwhelming (i.e. more or less useless). At this stage of the game, will still need quiet.
I would LOVE if you guys came to FinCon! I went for the first time last year. It was slightly overwhelming because, as you said, there were a hundred and one different ways to do things,
Nonetheless, it was still super fun to go to and I did learn a lot!
I’m glad I’m not the only one with the issue of being faced with a dozen things I could do in a day.
Determining which are important and which aren’t is a struggle but I’ve found that making a decision of what’s important and focusing on it is more powerful than anything. Most of the time it turns out to not be the right thing to focus on. However, I take that lesson and focus on something different!
“Make a decision, any decision” – I have such a problem with this! I love to ponder but it does nothing to help my time management. In recent months I have started to trick myself with a 5 second rule and it seems to be working. When I catch myself in that pondering cycle analyzing every bit of nothing/everything I give myself a 5 second countdown then grab whatever item I’m looking at or make whatever move I was contemplating. It’s helped to disrupt that never ending cycle in my head. 😅 Great post, Kraken, and thanks for the introduction, Groovys. I’ll have to go check out Fireball Finances. I’ve been thinking about taking a FI gap year to travel for a bit (or just rest). A Buddhist monastery sounds perfect right now…if only they would allow my dog! 😉
Hey, Miss M. I’m right there with you. The 5 second rule is a great way to overcome paralysis by analysis. And here’s another trick that has really helped me with my decision-making lately: The Derek Sivers approach–if it isn’t a f%#k yeah!, it’s a f%#k no.
For me I use the five second rule to beat procrastination, I’ve never thought about using it for making a decision. I’ll make sure to use it for that in the future.
As for the monastery there were tons of dogs, however they were mostly wild. It wasn’t relaxing in the way a beach is relaxing but more in the way getting hard work done is relaxing. It worked for me but it doesn’t work for everyone.
Thanks for checking out the post!
We’re on the cusp of a major upcoming change. I’ve been at my current employer for almost a decade. My wife is now a stay at home mom. I see the company I work for drifting towards being acquired, it’s only a matter of time. My current location also is struggling with a decrease in companies to work for. I’m faced with a decision. To quote an old song in deference to the Groovys , “should I stay or should I go now..”. In the super short term , the next six months I have made a decision… not to make a decision. The question is whether that’s analysis paralysis or the right decision. But either way the point is not making a decision is still a decision.
Props on being mindful that the act of not making a decision is a decision! I’m sure you’re doing a lot better than some of your co-workers who close their eyes to the signs of your company being acquired.
If you find yourself wanting to prolong the decision after the six months are over then, it might be analysis paralysis. But right now you’re making a conscious effort not to act and observe your surroundings, and I think that’s a worthwhile effort. Good luck to you and your family!
Hahahahahahahaha! Nice, FTF. “If I go, there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double.” Well, since you’re staying for the next six months, I hope your pay doubles.
It impacts our time too. The Analysis Paralysis part with some many choices and decision to be made we lose free time thinking, debating, sleeping, etc all of these. I like the process of eliminate the obvious bad ones and make a decision. Even if it’s bad, in the long run you’ll learn from it and get better at it over time.
My time is the most valuable resource to me, which I think is true for most financially savvy people. Eliminating choices, and other time-consuming tasks, is an effective way to get that time back, so I like your observation there Brian!
Focusing on the long-term is one great way to get over the initial fear of making a hard choice. Using it as a learning experience is also a great mentality to have!
So true, Brian. That’s the main reason I switched to my lame interpretation of a capsule wardrobe. For 99% of my fashion needs, a polo shirt and a pair of jeans will do. And now, because I don’t think about what going to wear, I have a little more time and energy for things that really matter.
Right now… this isn’t a small decision… but I want to do exactly like you did – QUIT MY JOB. I’m 24 and believe there is more out there for me than my 9-5.
We will see – I’m currently saving up cash in the bank and trying to eliminate PMI on my house to free up some cash flow!
I was in an INCREDIBLY unique situation, and I wouldn’t recommend my decision to most. I still haven’t found out if it was the right choice.
It sounds like you are planning a lot more than I did which is great! You’re financially savvy though so I’m sure it’s not a matter of if but when for you. Keep up the hard work towards quitting and remember that Action is always better than inaction. Thanks for reading!
At 24, just knowing there’s more to life than the 9 to 5 puts you way ahead, Erik. I hear you on the impatience, but slow and steady is the way to go. Get rid of the PMI, stash away money, and who knows, maybe you’ll stumble onto a lucrative side hustle.
Expectations Don’t Meet Reality is an altruism! I consider this the curse of optimists. This is doubly tue when betting on human actions.
Love the deep dive into the causes of our problems, but I really love the Solutions!
Expecatations Don’t Meet Reality is something that I apply to multiple areas of my life. Anytime I am annoyed, uncomfortable, or concerned I ask myself “Well, what did you expect?” and go from there.
I like “the curse of optimists” reading it put a smile on my face!
I’m glad you enjoyed the solutions. I hope you take some time and apply them when they need to be.
Ian, I’m happy you found the solutions helpful. Thanks for commenting!
I’ve started experiencing this lately. I think it’s easy to have paralysis by analysis when you don’t know EXACTLY what you want. Sometimes you have to do a process of elimination–it’s painful, but it’ll show you what you DON’T want, which is a start.
Elimination is painful and scary because there is a feeling of loss and humans are naturally loss-averse. However, most of the time decisions can be changed if it needs to be, knowing that helps me feel a little better.
Spending some time exploring what you want, without focusing on analyzing the options is an excellent way to enable yourself to eliminate some obvious answers.
I hope you can use some of these techniques to alleviate some of your recent experiences. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Often Mr. Groovy and I have more opinionated thoughts about what we don’t want. That does help us get to what we DO want.
I love social psychology and helping people make better decisions. Too many choices truly are overwhelming.
When deciding where to apply for residency programs, I couldn’t research and interview everywhere but knew I liked warm weather, so I decided to choose by latitude and eliminated the northern 2/3 of the country!
As for Costco, though, I find that shopping there is simpler than anywhere else because there is only one or two options for each type of item. One hair dryer, one air filter, two types of jelly. The main choice is to take it or leave it.
I like that you immediately eliminated the obviously bad choices for you. That’s awesome! I think that a lot of these philosophies get applied in daily life, but we take them for granted.
Hopefully, by reading and thinking about social psychology, we can make better decisions over time. I guess the part of Costco I dread is how much there is to take or leave. I’m glad you enjoyed the article!
I feel the same way about Costco and Sam’s Club. The enormity of the space and the volume of products become overwhelming to me.
Easy peasy how you eliminated 2/3 of the country, Julie!