The key to getting the most from choice is to be choosy about choosing. Sheena Iyengar More Quotes by Sheena Iyengar More Quotes From Sheena Iyengar When we speak of choice, what we mean is the ability to exercise control over ourselves and our environment. In order to choose, we must first perceive that control is possible. Sheena Iyengar exercise order mean Choice is more than picking 'x' over 'y.' It is a responsibility to separate the meaningful and the uplifting from the trivial and the disheartening. It is the only tool we have that enables us to go from who we are today to who we want to be tomorrow. Sheena Iyengar uplifting responsibility meaningful We have the ability to create choice by altering our interpretations of the world. Sheena Iyengar interpretation choices world When I do have choice I try to be very picky about... or shall I say choosey about when I choose. I don't automatically decide that I must be the one to choose or that it's important for me to make every choice in my life. Sheena Iyengar important choices trying What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing. —Archibald MacLeish Sheena Iyengar freedom choices men Balancing hopes, desires and an appreciating of the possibilities with a clear-eyed assessment of the limitations: that is the art of choosing. Sheena Iyengar assessment appreciate art When I was in Russia I found that I thought I was going to give these people that I was interviewing a whole bunch of choice in terms of what they could drink while we were chatting. Sheena Iyengar russia giving people The typical American reports making about 70 [choices] in a typical day. Sheena Iyengar reports typical choices Choice is the only tool we have that enables us to go from who we are today to who we want to be tomorrow. Sheena Iyengar tools choices want What leads us astray is confusing more choices with more control. Because it is not clear that the more choices you have the more in control you feel. We have more choices than we've ever had before. Sheena Iyengar clear confusing choices About 60% of the people stopped when we had 24 jams on display and then at the times when we had 6 different flavors of jam out on display only 40% of the people actually stopped, so more people were clearly attracted to the larger varieties of options, but then when it came down to buying, so the second thing we looked at is in what case were people more likely to buy a jar of jam. What we found was that of the people who stopped when there were 24 different flavors of jam out on display only 3% of them actually bought a jar of jam whereas of the people who stopped when there were 6 different flavors of jam 30% of them actually bought a jar of jam. Sheena Iyengar different jam people I pick what are my priorities and I limit those priorities to less than five in my life and really in those particular areas put in the energy to try to make good choices. Sheena Iyengar priorities choices trying Choosing is a creative process, one through which we construct our environment, our lives, ourselves. Sheena Iyengar environment creative process In order to 'hold fast' to something, one must allow oneself to be held to something. That commitment may be one of the hardest things to practice in a world of so much choice. Sheena Iyengar practice order commitment People were actually 6 times more likely to buy a jar of jam if they had encountered 6 than if they encountered 24, so what we learned from this study was that while people were more attracted to having more options, that's what sort of got them in the door or got them to think about jam, when it came to choosing time they were actually less likely to make a choice if they had more to choose from than if they had fewer to choose from. Sheena Iyengar doors people thinking [Americans] think that choice, as seen through the American lens, best fulfills an innate and universal desire for choice in all humans. Unfortunately, these beliefs are based on assumptions that don't always hold true in many countries, in many cultures. Sheena Iyengar motivation inspiration country If we ask for more and more material for the construction, i.e. more and more choice, we're likely to end up with a lot of combinations that don't do much for us or are far more complex than they need to be. Sheena Iyengar construction choices needs What's interesting is that the way we go about finding our marriage partners today is quite different from the way it used to be in this culture. Sheena Iyengar different culture interesting We began to look at "Why is that?" And a large part of that has to do with the fact that when people have a lot of options to choose from they don't know how to tell them apart. They don't know how to keep track of them. Sheena Iyengar track people looks In reality, many choices are between things that are not that much different. The value of choice depends on our ability to perceive differences between the options. Sheena Iyengar differences choices reality
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