binary switch

i’ve taken to flipping a coin to make inconsequential decisions lately. it really cuts down on time. plus, at its worse use, the coin flip points me to a more desired outcome when i might not have been able to determine my own feelings. wavering over where to go for dinner, what to eat for dinner or which pencil to buy usually takes up far more time and energy than it should, so a simple coin flip makes the decision. or, in measuring my disappointment in the outcome, points me toward the more desired outcome. so if i’m deciding between pizza and sushi, and i’m not sure which one i want, but i’m getting more and more hungry by the minute, a simple flip expedites the process. if it comes up sushi and i’m fine, then sushi it is. but if the toss comes out pizza, and i feel a little pang of regret, then i know i really wanted the sushi. . . so again, sushi it is.

fine for the simple decisions, right? but what about the bigger ones.

well, usually i employ a sophisticated formula of pro and con lists, dream interpretation, advice gleaned from family and friends, and my own graph-able percentage of contentment over time. you know, sort of a timeline showing the simple idea of how much i like the state of my life vs. how much i don’t.

a good read out is 70%/ 30%. that is to say that 70% of the time i like what’s going on around me, in life and work and 30% of it is less desirable. i think i’m pretty comfortable in a 70%/ 30% environment. it feels stable with a decent amount of adversity. i start to get really anxious and worried when things drop into the 60%/ 40% region, especially for a long period of time. a full month of 60%/ 40% will keep me up at night. so why am i here weighing a 70%/ 30% around? because i want an 80%/ 20%. don’t get my wrong. . . from day to day i can have an 80%/ 20% or even a 90%/ 10%, but over the course of a couple of weeks or couple of months there will be a 50%/ 50%, 40%/ 60% or worse that will knock the sunshine right out of the 90%/ 10%’s.

i’d like to think that most of my bigger moves have had a significant improvement on the contentment percentage over time equation, with a couple of hiccups. so here i am, with a 70%/ 30% and weighing my options because it’s time to make more decisions. . . and i am just kinda getting sick of writing pro and con lists. . . so how about something more binary.

off or on. heads or tails with a little less chance of a coin toss. what if i just weigh the difficulty levels of two things and see which one outweighs the other.

is staying* more difficult than leaving, or is leaving** more difficult than staying?


*- taking into account: a loss of novelty of living in a new area/ problems that have been addressed before have never been fixed and continue to be problems and therefore will become more annoying with time/ the fact that i feel stagnant etc.

**- taking into account: i have made no future plans/ job insecurity in the US/ i really hate packing/ my desire to have an 80%/ 20% life is largely fueled by the idea that the grass always seems greener elsewhere

ok, so i guess the binary switch is still pretty heavily laden with all the ideas from my previous formula, but somehow i felt the “0” or “1” of ‘which is more difficult’ made it easier in my own brain.

now. . . in following the path of least resistance, like electricity and the wu wei.. . . is that really the better path?

damn. . . guess it’s time to break out the graph paper again.