Accepting the Reality of Trade-Off’s

Whether we want to accept it or not –  every choice we make, every option we’re presented with,  and opportunity that calls our name comes with accompanying  trade-offs.  Sometimes the trade-offs are significant and sometimes they’re simply an inconvenience.  But we can’t allow ourselves to make the mistake that I, the eternal optimist, too often make – believe that there are choices with no trade-offs.

Even the best options have trade-off’s.  For example, a good friend asks me to spend an afternoon fishing with him.  Great option,  there are not many other things in the world I’d rather do on an afternoon. But choosing to go fishing comes with a myriad of potential trade-off’s.  Fishing might set me back a half of day at my job requiring me to work on the weekend, or keep me from getting a project completed at home, or miss an outing with my wife.  So, as you can see, even the best choices have trade-off’s.

And since every choice has trade-off’s the question is – how do we eliminate or minimize  them? How do we get closer to the optimist’s happy place – choices with no trade-off’s? There are 3 steps I’ve learned that help me minimize these pesky trade-off’s:

• Name each major trade-off, including those involved, by writing them down.
• Create a plan to deal with each trade-off.  When possible, try to turn a  trade-off into an advantage (the optimist’s approach to trade-off’s). For example – if I go fishing it’ll lead me to work at the office on Saturday.  But Saturday’s when the office is quiet, so I’ll be able to better concentrate on that project I’ve been struggling with.
• Communicate the trade-off’s as soon as possible with those impacted by them.  Better to be upfront with my wife about the trade-off and work out a different option for our outing, then to catch her at the last-minute and simply cancel out.

Taking these three steps has helped me live with my optimistic side while making choices that are more realistic.