Frozen By So Many Options
Human beings have more options today than we’ve ever had in the history of our world. On the surface, this is a great thing. It means we can sort through all kinds of options before we land on the few we want to commit our lives to. But what this has led to is something less than what we would call great.
There are so many things we could do, which has led to us being afraid of choosing the wrong thing. It reminds me of what would happen when I would take one of our kids to the candy store when he was 5 or 6 years old. I noticed he would be in so much anguish when it came time to choose which candy bar he wanted me to buy him. I’m thinking, “Just choose one. They’re basically all the same. They all have chocolate; some have peanut butter, while others have caramel. But all in all, it’s just a candy bar.” But he was thinking, “If I choose Snickers, it means I won’t get those Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Or if I go with something simple like the 3 Musketeers bar, I won’t be able to get something as colorful as M&M’s.”
How are you doing with all of the options you have in this season? An hour ago, I was telling my wife Shauna, “There are a hundred things I could do and all of them would be considered part of my ‘job’. But which ones should I say ‘yes’ to or ‘no’ to?”
3 Ways to not be Frozen by So Many Options
Set a limit on how long you weigh the various options. While underthinking is a problem for some people, most of us struggle with overthinking. Do the research. Engage the people seated at your wisdom table (see the section in Bring It Out for more on this one). Enter a time of prayerful discernment. The bigger the decision, the more time you should allow…but still bound the time you’ll spend weighing all of your options.
Eliminate any options that would actually pull you away from what you claim to be the vision for your life. It’s easy for us to get excited when someone presents us with an interesting opportunity. But just because something seems like it would be cool to do doesn’t mean it’s something we’re supposed to do. If you don’t have an overarching vision for your whole life, spend some time creating this. It doesn’t have to be overly detailed, but narrow in on the kind of life you feel called to live. And once you have clarity on the vision for your life, get rid of all the options that aren’t really in aligned with that vision.
Go ahead and take a step, even if it ends up being the wrong one. While we all have seasons when we need to wait for greater clarity, I see some of us waiting forever before we even take the first step. We don’t want to get it wrong, so we often stay frozen in place. What if it’s actually faster to take a wrong step and correct it than it is to take no step at all? Just do SOMETHING.
I’d love for you to email me (ben@benpilgreen.com) the answer to this question: What is one step you can take today that will keep you from being frozen by so many options?
And one more thing I want to ask you to do - if you’ve read Bring It Out, would you be willing to take a couple of minutes to leave a review? This is one of the best ways we can get this message out to more people.
Thanks so much,
