Blueprint >> False Choice

Disclaimer: This document is in raw form as I process and distill 4 years-worth of my personal development notes. Expect some typos and cryptic language for now. I will be updating frequently and polishing up.

Prescription: Learn to spot false choices.
Related Concepts:

What is Commonplace Book?

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Why is it Important?

Committing this fallacy and not knowing it will get you stuck in life and limit you. Take the pressure off yourself by realizing that your decisions aren't as final and black-and-white as they seem.

Commonplace Book Videos

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Commonplace Book: Key Points

AKA: fallacy of either-or, false dichotomy

The either-or fallacy tends to creep into your life and limit your thinking about your future: Should I have kids or advance my career? Should I be a CEO or launch my own business? Should I major in biology or chemistry? Should I write a book about X or a book about Y? The answer is, you can do both. Your life is long enough that you will do many big things, far more than you realize right now. You have time to have kids, and advance your job, and double-major, and start a business, and write several books, and much more. Stop framing it in your mind as an either-or decision. Some decisions truly are either-or, but very few them. Because you put so much value on the immediate future, your mind tricks you into not seeing how much room and time you have to do everything you want to do.

The question you should really be asking yourself is, Which one first? ¹

Most important decisions seem like they are final: if you choose option A over option B, then option B is gone forever. But this is rarely the case. Even big decisions, like marriage, starting a business, or moving over seas, can be reversed or play themselves out and come to a natural end, giving you another chance to pursue the second option. Example: if you decide to major in Engineering, you will still have the option 10 years later to go back to school and major in Chemistry, after Engineering has played itself out.

If you want two things badly enough that you are having a hard time deciding between them, perhaps you should do both. In which case, your decision now becomes about which one to do first. This is an easier decision because you aren't mentally killing off the other possibility, you are just prioritizing it.

References

1. High Performance Academy, Brendon Burchard