Be aware of that large choices may in reality be small choices, and small choices may in reality be large choices.
Buying a car is a small choice that just seems like a large choice.
Some people take weeks to decide which car they will purchase. They check the reports, they do test drives, they compare features, they do price checking. The decision involves style, size, price, domestic or foreign, colours, options, and manufacturer. Complex choices include deciding to move from one style to another, such as a car to a van, or a SUV to small car. The other consideration is a new car versus a used car. And a lease versus a full purchase versus financing. These are the “logical” parts of the decision – add in the emotional part such as “How does the car make you look?” and you have what seems like a large choice.
Now lets consider if buying a car is a big choice or a small choice. The choice of a particular car wasn’t the real choice, the real choice Were they selecting the particular car or were they deciding what you wanted out of a car and then selecting from the choices that were available.
It certainly has the feel of a big choice- its a large amount of money. It will effect your lifestyle. When you use the car, its an irritant or an place of privacy. These are immediate choices. And everybody “says” its an important choice.
When time and risk are added to our decision making the importance of the choice becomes smaller and smaller. For the majority of people, the purchase lasts three to seven years . When buying a new car, most of the features, pricing, warranties, quality are similar enough that there is little practical difference. The shorter the average time you keep the car, the less warranties and quality impact you. Even if you are like me and keep cars a long time, (mine is 10 years old) – warranties make a slight difference.
If you know what you want in a car, a small amount of effort will ensure you end with a car that you are happy with. And if you make a mistake, its probably not going to be large and even if its large, it won’t last very long, and there are many ways to get out of it.
The choice of a car is really just a large number of small choices that reflect what you like, what will make you feel good, and what will meet the majority of your practical needs.
Buying a care is an example of a small choice that looks like a large choice.
Staying with a particular job is a large choice that looks like a small choice.
I have a young friend (25 years old) who is doing the practical work prior to receiving his professional designation. Lawyers, accountants, engineers, ect. all have to do this kind of thing. He likes the company that he works for. Unlike other companies, they pay him for every hour that he works, they give a free membership to a gym that is on site, they provide coffee, soda, etc. for all the employees. They pay him well and he is good money, but works long hours.
He is making a big choice that looks like a small choice. The challenging part is that [until he talked to me] my young friend didn’t even know he was making a big choice about his future without even knowing it.
The fact he had made choices came out when I asked him what his life goals were. It turns out he isn’t passionate working in his profession. To leverage what his education and efforts to date, he has a new goal to get an MBA on a part time basis and then run a division of a company. This would allow him to leverage his professional training, while at the same allow him to do something he thinks he will be passionate about. A mature and well thought through concept.
Where was his big choice that he didn’t know he was making?
He was choosing to continue working at this company.
Working for this company doing under his current contract was not helping him meet his long term goals. The long hours, the gym, and being comfortable meant he had no time to do his MBA. With out going into his personal details, the rest of his life was in a perfect position to do start the MBA immediately and start moving closer to long term goals.
Let’s look at what it was costing him. (These numbers are approximate reality and were chosen for easy math – the actual numbers are even worse).
Working at this company, doing what he is doing now, plus all the benefits, he makes $60,000/year. Working at a different company, he would make 10,000. Therefore this company is worth $10,000 extra a year.
At worst case it takes about 4 years part time to do an MBA. So switching companies for the length of time it will take him to do the MBA, will cost him (4×10,000) = $40,000
Once he gets his MBA, his first year salary will immediately jump to $100,000.
Therefore, after year 5, he is $10,000 positive, and after year 6, he is $50,000 in the positive.
The bottom line, every year he delays is costing him $50,000 and a greater risk that he won’t be able to do the MBA because he won’t be in such a good place in his personal life for the MBA.
Once we had that discussion, being paid the hourly wage, the gym membership and all the other nice things the company provided him didn’t seem as important.
This is an example of a big choice masquerading as a small choice.
What was different about my conversation?
I just asked a two simple questions.
How does what you are doing impact these goals?
These two questions will help you decide if the choices you are making are big choices or little choices.
Selecting a car choice normally has little to do with your life goals but a lot to do with enjoying life.
Where you work and what you do when you work has a lot to do with your life goals.
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