“The secret to happiness is low expectations.” ~ Barry Schwartz

Sounds pessimistic, but is it?

Today I watched this TED Talk:  The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz, where he touches on how we have a bazillion choices from everything from salad dressings, to clothing, to cell phones. It’s hard NOT to be frozen when faced with so many choices because either;

a) our expectations are insanely high, or

b) we are going to feel disappointment & second guess what we do end up choosing

True right? Wasn’t it easier when we didn’t have the expectation of perfection? And weren’t we WAY less stressed out? I know I was. A few months ago we were looking for health benefits and the levels of different coverage presented to us made our heads spin. Husband wants to get the BEST and I just want us to not overpay. So what did we go with? Nothing…because it was overwhelming and seemed like we’d make the wrong choice. Give us 2 options? Easy peasy and less likely we’d put it off.

“The more options there are, the easier it is to regret anything at all that is disappointing about the option that you chose.”

Just under 20 minutes…grab a coffee and watch it. He’s entertaining too.