Life Actually Is Full Of Easy Choices!

Life actually is full of easy choices. There are so many easy options available to us on a daily basis. In fact, most of the time it seems that it is easier to find the easy choices than the hard ones. All we have to do is think about what we want right now and make a choice.

That is where it gets tricky. Easy choices are more often the ones that align with our current emotional state or our current belief about our identity. They create an avenue that allows us to avoid a potential stressor in favor of immediate pleasure. And sometimes that might actually be the right call. The tricky part, is that the immediate does affect the future.

When I was in the Navy we had what was called the “two foot rule.” What I did was very detailed oriented and required close focus more often than not. As a result of that close focus the majority of things discovered by a secondary quality assurance person was typically not the thing being immediately worked on but it was still something of importance. The 2-ft rule trained us that after we completed the one immediate task, we had to remember to broaden our perspective to take in more of the situation as a whole to see if anything else had been missed.

The two foot rule also tends to hold it’s value when making choices. When we make an immediate easy choice we may not be looking at what will actually create an easier experience for us. We might be sacrificing our overall fulfillment and well-being by making that choice. We may take a nap instead of exercise or skip out on that phone call from a bill collector rather than take it. But where does that actually get us? Does it actually get us closer to our fitness goal or to improving our finances or credit score?

Obviously, it does not. That’s why talking about “doing the hard thing” is so common. I know I have mentioned it a number of times in my IG videos. But the truth is there’s another way to look at the “hard thing.” Perhaps that hard thing is actually the real easy choice. Not easy in the moment, but in terms of creating a life of less stress and more ease. A life from which you can derive pride and pleasure from not only the present or the future, but in the reflection as well.

Next time you consider the easy choice, the question should be not what is easy or effort avoidant now but, what will make the experience of reflection easier in the future and what will bring your closer to a joyful life?