Your first option may not be the best

So many times in life we delude ourselves to the default option. For whatever reason, we confuse convenience with excellence and it is waging a war on our creativity. 

Supermarkets take advantage of this by placing items they can’t sell in the front, because we think the first option we see is the best.

Think about the times you had the opportunity to choose your own topic for a speech or research assignment, but instead of thinking about what you found fascinating, you chose the topic that has plenty of information about it. 

I get it though, we just want to get through our class work, so I’ll give you that one. 

But what about the times you were deciding where to travel, what outfit to buy or any life decision in general? Was there any thinking behind the process, or did you just go with the first idea that came across your mind? 

We see it all the time around us at CSC. Ask anyone why they love this school and you’ll get the same answer of “I just love the small-town atmosphere along with the community. It’s awesome having small classes where you can get to know your professor really well”. 

I don’t deny that lots of students feel this way, but it’s hard to believe every single person who attends this school thinks like this. 

Maybe when they are in an interview, they feel pressured to give an answer that matches a certain brand, thus giving an unauthentic answer.

Your mind is full of what you desire, which is why you should always take the extra 30 seconds when deciding. 

The default ideas of what we want may just be impulses socially programmed in us all. The average attention span is only 12 seconds, so it makes sense that we conform to the default.

By going with the first option that comes your way, you are not only ignoring possibly better options, but also making your life boring. 

Give yourself the benefit of doubt in a decision-making scenario and use your mind. Don’t trust someone else’s idea of what you want over your own. Chances are, they created that default choice for their own benefit.

Imagine if we stuck to the first choice suggested to us throughout history. Rosa Parks said no to the default idea of black people sitting in the back of buses and it created a significant movement. 

Had she said yes, then we are still at step one and have no control over what we do.

I say screw the standard, it makes us boring and gets in the way of greatness. To think your life is a straight path full of quick decisions is silly.

There is no time like the present to stray from the default. Instead, start questioning what you really want or like. A simple “I’ve seen that option before, there has got to be better alternatives” is the mental configuration we could all use.

The next time someone asks how your day was, don’t automatically say “Good, you?”. Instead, tell them something compelling about your day. I am willing to bet this will throw them off and cause a different reaction. Who knows, you may add life to someone’s day.

The minute you entered the world, everyone had a plan for you. Fortunately, you are human and capable of making your own decisions. 

Choosing an alternative will not only strip society’s expectations of what they want you to do, but it also gives you a sense of control over your life.

Your life is better when you make your own decisions, not the suggestions made by people or machines who think they understand what you want. 

There is no rule in life that states you must choose the first recommendation that comes your way.

Plenty of people’s creative work is going unnoticed because we automatically choose the first thing in front of us. Give them a chance with an alternative choice.