The Paradox of Choice

- framing

- anchoring

- diminishin marginal utility

1. Comparing experience you hoped it would be

2. Comparing exp you expected it to be

3. Comp.exp to other experiences in past

4. Comparing experiences with experiences from others

- counterfactuals upward vs downward

- up and downward social comparisons

- Maximimizres vs satisficers

- prospect theory, daniel kahneman

- concept of adaption

- social comparison

- regret

- concern about status

- reasons people use for failure: global, chronic, specific, transient, personal, universal. Pessimist of use personal, global and chronical reasons

- rise in expectations of control

- maximizers more likely to be depressive

What to do:

1. Choose when to choose

E.g. Say you go to not more then 2 stores to select 2 televisions

2. Be a chooser not a picker

Choices take more time and energy, focus on important ones

3. Satisfice more and maximze less

Learn to -accept " good is enough" then "only the best"

Embrace and appreciate satisficing

Develop clear goals, aspirations and standas for good enough

4. Think about opportunit cost of opportunity costs

Limit effort of features of options we reject, move away from attraCtiveness of unchosen

Let "new and improved" find you, do not endlessly hunt for it

5. Make your decisions non reversible

Grass is always greener

6. Practice and attitude of grattitude

Pay attention what is good in your live now!

7. Regret less

8. Anticipate adaption

Comfort vs pleasure

Hedonic treadmill and satisfaction treadmill

9. Control expectations

Reduce number of options considered

Allow for serendiptiy

10. Curtail Social Comparison

Stop paying so much attention to how others around you are doing

Focus on what makes YOU happy and gives meaning to YOUR life

11. Learn to love constraints

Set easy rules to follow: always wear seatbelt, not drink more then 2 glasses of wine

Choice within constraints, freedom within limits.

See fish bowl example. You can be anything you want to be - no limits.

the New Yorker collection 2001, Peter Steiner from cartoonbank.com