decisions vs choices: what's the diff?

spag mol essay idea. something instinctive tells me they’re not the same thing, but it’s going to need further investigation.

Molly Simpson

Autonomy, as they see it, is different from independence. It’s not the rugged, go-it-alone, rely-on-nobody individualism of the American cowboy. It means acting with choice - which means we can be both autonomous and happily interdependent with others. And while the idea of independence has national and political reverberations, autonomy appears to... See more

Daniel H. Pink • Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

optimise for autonomy versus freedom/independence (we all exist within a context)

First, become able to feel conviction even in the face of high uncertainty. Second, learn how to weigh your options so hard that by the time you've picked the best available action, no part of you has an urge to go back into "deliberation mode" until you encounter new evidence or ideas that would have changed the result of your deliberation. Third,... See more

Nate Soares • Dive in

I've been thinking a lot about whether there is a difference between 'choices' and 'decisions'. We use them interchangeably, but I wonder if there's a distinction. Choices feel more instinctive, maybe even emotional; decisions seem more deliberate and agentic. In the context of your reflection, that might look like DECIDING how we show up, but only

I want to be on the hook for you.

I guess that’s what I’m saying.

The Horizontal Cult

“I think about decisions in three ways: hats, haircuts, and tattoos.

Most decisions are like hats. Try one and if you don’t like it, put it back and try another. The cost of a mistake is low, so move quickly and try a bunch of hats.

Some decisions are like haircuts. You can fix a bad one, but it won’t be quick and you might feel foolish for awhile.... See more

James Clear • 3-2-1: On hats, haircuts, and tattoos

Freedom to feel and experience the full spectrum of human experience. I don’t want to be arbitrarily chained down in anything I didn’t choose — ever.

(Molly Mielke on Audience of One)

A mistake repeated more than once is a decision. —Paulo Coelho

Benjamin Hardy • Personality Isn't Permanent

Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space we have the power to choose. In that choice is our growth and transformation.

(Victor Frankl)

where we trip ourselves up is thinking that choices are something that can be “put off” to some future time — an imaginary place where we have all the information and the circumstances have aligned to make that choice the most obvious; the best, the only one. but choices exist here and now and believe it or not you’re making one right this minute.