Too Many Choices

Brian Holloway, a friend of mine and a great speaker, played football for the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Raiders. He was invited to the Pro Bowl for 5 years and won a Super Bowl ring. Recently, he asked me what I do to workout, especially given all of my traveling.

As a quadriplegic, I have a lot of advantages. For example, when only 20% of your body works, it takes 80% less time to workout! It is easier for me to focus on the few muscles that work, rather than having to workout my entire body. Naturally, it takes less time and the results are well documented (I set a world record in 1993 by racing in a 325 mile ultra marathon).

One of the challenges for many people today is that they have too many choices-good choices. When I was growing up we had about 5 TV channels to choose from; today I have more than 200. My first Internet connection in 1985 was at 300bps; now I fly around the web at 1.5 megabits. When my father grew up, occupation choices were limited and most of his peers worked at the same company for 40 years; today most people have 4 different careers in the life, let alone jobs. Years ago, choosing a mate for life was generally restricted to your hometown; today, with the Internet, inexpensive telecommunications, and frequent travel opportunities, our choices are unlimited. While having a lot of choices is a blessing, it can also be a challenge.

We have so many choices, sometimes we simply can't choose. People will spend hours flipping through their 200 digital channels via satellite and there is "nothing good to watch." The other problem with too many choices is that when we decide for something, we exclude other choices; sometimes we look longingly at what we have "given up" and wonder if we won't be better off with a different choice. It happens with jobs, TV channels and spouses.

One of the advantages for me as a quadriplegic has been that 16 years ago, as a result of my accident, many choices were taken away. You might be wondering how that could possibly be to my advantage? With fewer choices, I had fewer distractions. I didn't have to choose between whether I wanted to emphasis my thighs in my workout or my shoulders; my shoulders were all I had. I did have to choose between working for an industry giant or a small start-up dot.com company; only one company was offering me a job. I didn't have to choose how to use my discretionary time between golf and racquetball; I was barely mastering pushing myself down the street. With fewer choices, I was able to focus on what I was doing. I didn't have the luxury of second-guessing my choices or thinking that the "grass was greener on the other side of the fence." When you have fewer choices, you have no choice but to make the opportunities you have work. You'd be amazed what we can do when we have to focus. It's like cramming for a test the night before you take it, or completing your tax returns hours before midnight on April 15th. Your mind is sharper. Your motivation is more focused.

How can you get the same advantage without becoming a quadriplegic? How can you use the same focus without giving up all of your choices? 

• Avoid second-guessing all of your decisions. When you decide to do something, commit to a minimum amount of time and effort before abandoning it. Make sure you have fully invested yourself before your look toward different choices.

• Don't be distracted. Don't let your mind wander into "greener pastures." Focus on the task at hand. Convince yourself that there are no other choices other than the one you've made. You'd be surprised how much more you can do when you have "no other choices."

• Don't do too much. With so many choices, we become tempted to take on too much. We think we can do everything and be everywhere; we can't! There is only so much time in a day. To be "world-class" at anything requires time and focus. Doing too may things reduces us to mediocrity in a lot of little things.

The next time you're flipping through your 200 channels think about how many choices that compete for your time and attention. Reduce the distraction and increase your chances for success by focusing on the choices you've already made.