How You Decide, Decides your Happiness

When you make decisions, do you decide based on the best possible outcome or the first good outcome you come across?

Your answer to this question significantly affects your success and happiness in every aspect of your life. Awareness of how this is true can help you push for success and happiness, and it's all in your decisions.

See, psychologists categorize people into two different types of decision-makers. Maximimizers and satisficers.

Maximizers:

Usually, maximizers want the absolute best option available. They will constantly try to optimize every aspect of their decisions.

They tend to get the best jobs and career opportunities because they constantly seek better opportunities.

They often make excellent decisions but end up feeling crappy about them because they can't examine every possible option available.

Satisficers:

Satisficers don't worry too much about having the best possible option. They just want something good enough. Satisficers tend to settle more in life, their careers, and their relationships.

They don't care about foregoing a better opportunity or option. Satisficers make good decisions and usually feel good about them.

Who is happier?

Generally speaking, research has shown that although maximizers tend to be more successful, satisficers tend to be happier.

Yet, we all know that neither of us are extreme Maximizers or Satisficers. We usually fall somewhere in between but lean more to one side than the other.

How do we use this Knowledge?

We must become aware of which end of the spectrum we lean more towards and consider this when making decisions. We must try to find balance, especially in more significant life-altering choices.

The Challenge
Take this short quiz this week to determine where you lie on the spectrum. Then, be mindful of at least three decisions this week and see if balance is needed based on the side you lean more towards.