Paralysed By Choice.
Stop Obsessing Over Opportunity Cost—Just Pick a Route.
I’ve always struggled with this.
The endless weighing up of options, the mental loop of what ifs, the fear that I might not be choosing the best path.
Whether it’s big life decisions—career moves, business ideas, where to live—or small things like picking a restaurant, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit stuck in indecision.
And if you’ve ever felt this way, you’re not alone.
We live in a world of infinite choices.
More than ever, we have access to career paths, investment strategies, places to travel, people to date, and hobbies to explore.
Logically, this should be a good thing. But instead of making life easier, too much choice can leave us paralysed.
This is the trap of opportunity cost obsession—and it keeps us stuck.
Why More Choices Make Decisions Harder
There’s a famous study in psychology called the jam experiment (Iyengar & Lepper, 2000).
Researchers set up a tasting table at a supermarket, offering either 6 or 24 different flavours of jam.
With 24 jams, more people stopped to look, but fewer actually made a purchase.
When only 6 jams were available, more people made a decision and bought something.
Why? Because too many choices create decision fatigue.
Our brains struggle to compare multiple options, and instead of picking one, we hesitate—or worse, walk away entirely.
This plays out in real life all the time:
You scroll endlessly on Netflix, unable to choose what to watch.
You spend weeks debating job offers, fearing one might be better than the other.
You overanalyse different business ideas, never actually starting anything.
We don’t want to make a bad choice, so we make no choice at all.
And yet, the irony is that no decision is often worse than a suboptimal one.
Opportunity Cost vs. Action: What Really Matters?
Opportunity cost—the idea that choosing one thing means missing out on another—is useful in economics. But in day-to-day life, obsessing over opportunity cost can turn into avoidance.
When we fixate on what we might be missing, we lose sight of what we’re gaining.
We fear making a mistake. What if we regret our choice?
We assume there’s a perfect option. What if there’s a better alternative just out of reach?
We mistake thinking for progress. Analysing our choices feels productive, but at some point, it becomes an excuse not to act.
And the longer we wait, the more we lose: time, momentum, and the lessons that only come from taking action.
The Sweet Spot: Why Fewer (But Not Too Few) Choices Work Best
Studies show that a medium number of choices is ideal—not too many, not too few.
Barry Schwartz, in The Paradox of Choice, explains that having too few choices makes us feel trapped, but having too many makes us anxious.
The trick is to limit options to a reasonable number, make a decision, and move forward.
A few ways to apply this in real life:
Limit your choices upfront.
Job hunting? Pick 3-5 companies to apply to, not 20.
Picking a gym? Visit 2-3, then decide.
Choosing what to eat? Give yourself a few go-to meals instead of scanning endless delivery apps.
Set a time limit for decisions.
Instead of overanalysing for weeks, give yourself a deadline: I’ll decide by Friday.
When time’s up, make the best choice you can with the information available.
Trust that action creates clarity.
Most choices are not permanent. You can switch careers, pivot businesses, or adjust your routine.
You won’t know if a path is right until you start walking it.
The Real Cost of Overthinking
I’ve wasted too much time trying to find the “perfect” choice. And looking back, I don’t remember the choices themselves—I remember the frustration of being stuck.
But when I finally decided? Even if it wasn’t the best option, I was moving. Learning. Adjusting.
The biggest opportunity cost isn’t choosing the wrong path—it’s standing still.
So pick a route. Walk it fully. If it’s not right, you’ll adjust. But the worst thing you can do is nothing.