Work is often about eliminating other options

When I was in college I was always looking for the easy way through life.  I would avoid taking classes that were too challenging, I would work a minimal number of hours at my retail job, and I avoided anything that resembled hard work.  

I felt that I could simply think my way through life and avoid having to do the hard work everyone else had to do. 

Part of the reason was that I wasn’t passionate about anything.  There really wasn’t anything incredibly motivating to me. 

But the bigger problem was that I developed poor habits.  I became lazy because of my continued desire to avoid hard work.

After college I decided to start a business and that laziness seemed to instantly vanish.  I still had a lot of poor habits but suddenly the motivation was there to put in the long hours and do the hard work necessary to see it through. 

Through this process I started to realize that when we have too many options it could be hard to stay focused.  Whenever we narrow down our options, we can see a clearer path forward. 

Then, we can see the work necessary and begin doing that work.  We don’t have a million options, we only have two – to either do it or not do it.

When it comes to major life decisions this can be helpful but it can also be helpful in the smaller, daily decisions.  The more options we have, the more brainpower we use thinking about it.  We usually don’t choose the hardest option.  We choose an easier option. 

Take for instance a tough day at the office.  You arrive to a bunch of unread emails and memos about work changes that you have to address.  You have people barge into your office with the latest fire that needs your firefighting abilities. 

It can quickly become overwhelming.  Some people ultimately look for the easiest way out.  But to be successful we can’t just ignore the hard work.  We have to tackle it. 

Once we start eliminating options or making a list of tasks our brain suddenly starts to focus.  We start to temporarily ignore the small fires and instead focus solely on the task that is next on our list. 

It can help clear your mind.  It can help you avoid choosing the easiest option every time.  It can help you avoid becoming lazy and complacent. 

Most people view limited options as a bad thing.  But, in fact, having a smaller number of options can make it easier and quicker to get to the hard work necessary to succeed.  Instead of a bunch of easier paths to try, we focus in on the one that is most likely to take us to our goal.  Then we set off on it.