Life appears to be an endless plethora of choices. Making these choices can cause overwhelming stress depending on the time and energy we put into making them. It is thus easy to fall victim to the stress of making endless choices.
These choices may fall into categories of life choices, daily choices, brand choices or peculiar choices.
Life Choices
LIfe choices have a major impact on our lives. They include the following:
- What subjects to study at school.
- Whether or not to get higher education, such as going to college.
- What job to do.
- Whether or not to marry.
- Who to marry.
- Whether or not to have kids.
- How many kids to have.
- Where to live.
- Whether or not to buy/build a house or to rent a house.
- Whether or not to buy a car/motorcycle.
Making a wrong choice here can lead to a lot of distress. For instance, marrying the wrong person can cause a lot of heartache and unfulfilment, leading to infidelity. A subsequent divorce would result in a broken home which usually affects the children involved.
A person may choose not to have children in order to reduce the world’s carbon footprint. Another person may also not want to have children because that person wants to enjoy their freedom and does not want to be obliged to take care of another human being. On the other hand, for another person, having a child may be the most important achievement in life. That child could be the very centre of that person’s existence. These are very personal choices that we must make.
We must take our core values into account when making life choices. Since life choices have a profound impact on our lives, we must put in a lot of thought, effort and time when making such choices. We should not make such choices merely to please others, which leads to distress and disillusionment.
Daily Choices
Daily choices affect our daily schedules. Some of these choices may affect our productivity and well-being. They include the following:
- What to eat for breakfast/lunch/supper
- Whether to eat in or out
- Whether to commute to work by car/bus/train/motorcycle/bicycle
- How to spend free time after work
When we have a good nutritious diet daily and we avoid junk food, we improve our health and well-being. Also, as we choose a faster means of commuting to work, we save time which in turn increases our productivity at the work place.
With regard to how to spend our free time daily, it has been said that we need hobbies to enrich our lives. We need to choose the right kind of hobby for optimum results. As said by Fahri Karakas in “Four Types of Hobbies and Why You Need Them”, a hobby may either sharpen our minds (reading, watching documentaries), unleash our creativity (artwork, music, cooking), keep us fit and healthy (jogging, cycling, gardening) or make us money by creating multiple income streams (starting a side hustle, creating digital products and services).
We should therefore endeavour to choose our hobbies wisely and not to waste our time. As said by the American professional basketball coach, Mike Dunlap, “Your success will be in direct proportion to how you spend your ‘free’ time.”
Thus, we must give a lot of consideration to the daily choices that we make as they have a long-term effect on our lives as a whole.
Brand Choices
Brand choices involve a specific brand of a product or service. They are usually a matter of our tastes and preference. We may choose a brand based on our ego and on how we want to be perceived by the public. They include the following:
- What kind of car to drive such as a Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Lexus, Toyota or Hyundai.
- What kind of clothing and accessories to buy, such as clothing and accessories from Georgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger or Gucci.
- What kind of music to listen to such as pop, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, highlife, gospel music or classical music and what musician to listen to such as Beethoven, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Kojo Antwi, Joe Mettle or Shatta Wale.
- The genre of literature to read such as fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry and folktale and the various authors to read from such as Shakespeare, John Grisham, Nelson Mandela or Mensa-Otabil.
When we drive a luxury car such as a Mercedes-Benz, it may give us a sense of accomplishment, boost our ego and give the public the impression that we are successful. Similarly, wearing designer clothing makes us feel sophisticated and contributes to our social status.
We should however not be preoccupied with brand choices and spend so much time and energy making them. I acknowledge that buying designer clothing and accessories can increase our self-esteem. However, when we ponder for months on whether or not to buy that Gucci footwear, we increase our stress levels and reduce our levels of productivity. Spending a lot of time and energy on making that choice will not add any value to our lives.
Peculiar Choices
Peculiar choices are made based on our idiosyncrasies. A person may be very picky and make peculiar choices such as the following:
- Drinking a certain kind of coffee at a specific time in the morning in a particular mug
- Having bread toasted to a certain specifications so that it is not too golden or too brown
- Only eating fresh food and not food which has been refrigerated
- Insisting on a preferred seat at church or on a particular table at a restaurant
These choices are usually made by people who are very fussy and who want things to be done in a precise way. We should not spend too much time and energy on making these choices. This is because being obsessed with such choices will make us stressed out and even result in us appearing eccentric to others.
For instance, the world will not come to an end if our bread is slightly over-toasted or if someone else sits on our preferred seat in church. To insist on making these peculiar choices will only cause us unnecessary stress and result in absurdity.
Conclusion
To conclude, knowing the category of choice that we are making and its significance on our lives may inform us as to the amount of thought, time and energy to put into making that choice. This will, in turn, reduce our levels of stress as we will know what to focus on out of the endless choices that we have to make.
Whereas life choices and daily choices should be made with circumspection because of their long-term effect on our lives, brand choices and peculiar choices may conveniently be overlooked as they do not add any real value to our lives. We should therefore focus our time and energy on making life choices and daily choices.
Therefore, to avoid falling victim to the stress of making endless choices, we should endeavour to know the category of choice that we are making and the importance to attach to it. By focusing on the very important choices and forgoing the less important ones, we will reduce our levels of stress.
So, what choice are you making today?
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Beautiful
Thanks 😊
Hey Heidi.. intriguing article, thanks for sharing. I’ve done a great deal to minimize the stresses involved in daily and brand choices, and lately am not as peculiar, I gotten really flexible. However Life choices? Not so much. I know I’ll get a hang of it sometime though.
Hi Shadia, I’m glad you found it useful. I’m sure you’ll get around to making great life choices, too! Let’s continue to do our best. ☺️
Great advice!
Thanks!
I agree we need to be more thoughtful about what choices we make. I liked the quote by Mike Dunlap, indicating your success = free time usage.
Thanks so much!
I totally agree. The category of choice goes a long way in determining the amount of time required to be devoted in making the choice. Making a life choice may be time- consuming and stressful but worth while. Thanks for another thought-provoking write-up.
You’re most welcome! Thanks for your comments.
There’s one important choice that defines all the options listed in today’s topic. The religious/spiritual choice to a very large extent defines your life choices, interests, motivation and destiny. Your values and ethics are borne in spirituality and that must not be overlooked. For instance, I chose as a sinner to be saved by grace through Jesus Christ and that has influenced my choices in life till date.
That is very true. Thanks so much for your comments!
Splendid!
Thanks 😊
I really enjoyed reading the article. Life is full of choices and decision making at every given time. Each of these choices have stress levels.
The bottom line is being content and not being greedy.
Thought provoking article. Well done.
Yes, each choice has a different stress level. Thanks for your comments!
It’s funny how there are a lot of choices in life, but then we often hear the sentence, “I have no choice!” 😁
That’s so true! Thanks for your comments.
Very insightful and thought-provoking. I love the part about the impact that your hobbies can have on your life.
Thanks. 😊
Yes, hobbies have such a great impact on our lives.
Interesting read
Thank you!
Life is full of choices and opportunities. The right choices will enhance your opportunities and success in life.
I enjoyed reading this article,
Yes it is. Thanks so much for your comments!
We are lucky to live in places or countries where we have freedom of choice!
That’s so true, we are indeed!
Thank you for reminding us about how complicated we can make our lives, when it could be led much much simpler….knowing your race (not another person’s) and running it to the best of your ability (not borrowed ability) makes life less stressful but more meaningful.
That’s true! You’re most welcome. Thanks for your comments.
Great, Thank you
Most welcome.
Great article. Choices define us !!!
Thanks. Yes, they do!
Another great piece!!! ❤
Thanks so much William!
Although we are free to make our own choices, we are not free to choose the consequences. I appreciate your contributions to knowledge, Madam. Extremely englighting!
That is so true, we bear the consequences of our choices! Thanks for your comments.