Being decisive and finding meaning in your life and work

How will you create a life you love?

If you’re reading this, you are a part of a world of abundance.

Just having access to the internet offers SO much information and opportunity never before available and realized. 

You likely have your basic needs met - food, shelter, safety. 

So now you seek more meaning and purpose. 

That’s what we’ll explore today - how to be decisive about what you want and how to make that happen, and how to find increased meaning no matter your circumstances.

In today’s newsletter:

• The power of decisions

• Searching for meaning

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CAREER TIPS

Finding Clarity: Aligning Your Goals with What’s Important to You

In the age of unprecedented choices and opportunities, making decisions has become a formidable challenge. The sheer abundance of options, both in our personal lives and careers, often leaves us feeling overwhelmed and unsure about the paths we should choose.

Dealing with Analysis Paralysis

It's no secret that the modern world offers an astounding array of possibilities. While this freedom of choice is undoubtedly a privilege, it can paradoxically hinder our decision-making ability. Many of us have experienced standing at a crossroads, uncertain about which path to take. The result? Analysis paralysis is the state of being unable to move forward due to excessive choices.

The Power of Narrowing Choices

In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi offers profound insight into this phenomenon:

"The wealth of options we face today has extended personal freedom to an extent that would have been inconceivable even a hundred years ago. But the inevitable consequence of equally attractive choices is uncertainty of purpose; uncertainty, in turn, saps resolution, and lack of resolve ends up devaluing choice. Therefore freedom does not necessarily help develop meaning in life—on the contrary. If the rules of a game become too flexible, concentration flags, and it is more difficult to attain a flow experience. Commitment to a goal and to the rules it entails is much easier when the choices are few and clear."

Csikszentmihalyi's wisdom teaches us that instead of fixating on all the options, we must do the difficult task of narrowing them down.

Personally, I struggle with this. I am an options person. I like to keep options open, see all the possibilities, and consider alternatives. But doing so actually increases my indecisiveness! I'm working on this, and encourage you to do the same!

The Art of Cutting Off

Interestingly, the word "decision" has roots in Latin that mean "to cut off." This etymology reveals a profound truth about decision-making: we must cut off other possibilities when we decide. It's essential to acknowledge that every decision entails loss and potential grief. By committing to one path, we must let go of others, recognizing that not deciding is a decision to remain stagnant.

Embracing the Freedom to Choose

Embracing our freedom to choose while recognizing the necessity of decision-making is crucial. We must conquer the fear of missing out on alternative possibilities and accept that choosing one path means foregoing others. We must narrow our focus and make decisions intentionally to chart a purposeful course in our lives and careers. When we do so, we are more likely to design our lives with clarity and intention, finding meaning and satisfaction along the way.

Making decisions in a world teeming with choices and opportunities would be challenging. It is important to cut off alternatives and commit to a path. Decisiveness, rather than hesitation, is the key to designing a life and career that aligns with our deepest desires. While the freedom to choose is a remarkable gift, it is through choosing that we truly find our purpose and meaning by taking action.

📚 BOOK RECOMMENDATION

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

This book is timeless, and is one that I suggest everyone read. It’s one I have reread multiple times. 

Viktor Frankl’s riveting account of his time in the Nazi concentration camps, and his insightful exploration of the human will to find meaning despite the worst adversity, has offered solace and guidance to generations of readers since it was first published in 1946. At the heart of Frankl’s theory of logotherapy (from the Greek word for “meaning”) is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but rather the discovery and pursuit of what the individual finds meaningful.

Today, as new generations face new challenges and an ever more complex and uncertain world, Frankl’s classic work continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living, in spite of all obstacles.