Picking the Right Thing, Not Anything
With the rise of technology, new opportunities are in abundance. We now live in a world of infinite possibilities and unlimited choices. But what do we actually choose, and how can we get better at selecting the right thing to focus our energy, attention and time on?
The Paradox of Choice
We all think that having more to choose from will make our choice easier and generally make us happier. However, having too many options is actually worse for us. Choices can paralyse us and make us unhappy instead of setting us free.
When we’re overloaded with opportunities and options, we suffer from what psychologists refer to as the paradox of choice. Basically, the more options we’re given, the less satisfied we become with whatever we choose, because we’re aware of all the other options we are potentially forfeiting.
We live in a world with more choices than ever before so no wonder why we feel overloaded by the number of options. Life has overwhelmed us with an exponential increase in the number of possibilities, making the choice that much harder.
For example:
Open YouTube and search for any video on any topic
Open Spotify and listen to every song ever recorded
Open Netflix and have a choice of thousands of entertainment options
Open LinkedIn and search for any job opportunity
Open Instagram and find anyone in the world to follow and message
Open Tinder and search for any single person
Unlike previous generations where simply doing something was a worthwhile exercise, it is now a case of doing the right thing.
Developing Self-Awareness
The first step in selecting the right thing to do, is to develop an unbelievable amount of self-awareness. This involves deeply and fully understanding ourselves. This includes how we react to certain emotions, thinking about what makes us feel good, which skills we think our most suited to our skill set. To ultimately get to the point where you can effectively work out what areas of life you want to spend your precious time, energy and focus on.
This is a never-ending, continuous process. We live in a dynamic environment with changes and shifts occurring frequently. But it starts with just you and your thoughts.
Judgement is Everything
Naval Ravikant advocates about the importance of judgement and how your judgement is now essentially leveraged through the internet.
Previously, you may have had one choice out of a possible ten. Therefore giving you around a 10% chance of picking the right one for you. However now we have thousands upon thousands of options and choices. Your judgement in picking the right one counts for so much more.
Naval explains how wisdom is knowing the long-term consequences of your actions. Wisdom applied to external problems is judgment. They’re highly linked; knowing the long-term consequences of your actions and then making the right decision to capitalise on that.
"In an age of leverage, one correct decision can win everything." - Naval Ravikant
Judgement is built through creating an accurate and reflective worldview. A few simple ways to improve yours is to speak to lots of people, read lots of books, listen to podcasts, build up experience - with the aim of understanding the world more truthfully. Then debate, question and deconstruct those thoughts and make sure they are robust and thorough.
The decision you make needs to cut through the noise of all other opportunities.
Picking The Right Thing
There are so many possibilities, so much we can do. But the trick to a meaningful life and interesting opportunities relies on us picking the best one for us, the right one. Many options need to be turned down, and said no too, more than ever in history. But through building self-awareness and judgement we can get better at selecting what we choose to do.
Because if we can, then huge greatness will lie ahead. As through matching your skills, experience, interests and passion with the best cause, opportunity and choice - is the start of reaching what you were made to do.
