It is interesting … some topics I stumble across again and again at different points in time – this probably means that I have not yet digested it or taken a stand on it for myself.
I think that some things just take times to evolve and grow and digest … in this hectic times we rarely have this time though. I need to have the time or more so take the time, there is no choice – because it is not in my control how long it takes me – my body, mind and spirit – to go through it.
I finally understood that I need to be patient with myself if I want to evolve, grow and develop into the me that I have in mind.
The topic of hard choices is in the center of my thought – again – here is how Ruth Chang’s talk caught and fired my thoughts:
Hard choices are hard because the alternatives are not equally good – one is not better than the other.
She clearly explains why: there are two worlds we all move around in.
A comparison of alternatives is usually based on numbers and logic – with scientific quantities.
In the world of values, quantification is not done by numbers.
We need to introduce new ways of measuring … Ruth proposes: … “that the alternatives are “on a par.”
When alternatives are on a par, it may matter very much which you choose, but one alternative isn’t better than the other. Rather, the alternatives are in the same neighborhood of value, in the same league of value, while at the same time being very different in kind of value. That’s why the choice is hard.”
There is no best alternative.
Knowing this alone makes the choice somehow easier, because you can not be wrong.
Are you are someone who fears to be wrong? You can not be wrong.
“Understanding hard choices in this way uncovers something about ourselves we didn’t know. Each of us has the power to create reasons.”
What reasons for choosing one or the other alternative do you make?
Or are you one of the people who don’t exercise their normative powers in hard choices? Are you a drifter?
“Drifters allow the world to write the story of their lives. They let mechanisms of reward and punishment — pats on the head, fear, the easiness of an option — to determine what they do.”
I choose to not be a drifter.
LINKS
Ruth Chang on how to make hard choices
3 timeless rules for making tough decisions
Actually time does play a role
From my favorite read Effortless Decision-Making
From the world of Numbers A former CIA executives advice on how to make hard decisions
Easy to spot that this is not the way 🙂
How Richard Branson makes decisions
A mix of both worlds
