Tossing a coin enables you to lead a better life

How can you make the right decision? There probably cannot be a tougher question than this. Indeed, it can be and, to many, is an agonising process when it comes to decision making. On a grand scale, a bad decision got the world involved in two world wars and millions died; a good decision got the world back to its sense and a great era of prosperity and peace made human civilisation flourish. On a personal level, a good decision may have landed you a great fulfilling career whereas a bad decision may have put you through hell with the wrong job and the wrong people you have to associate with.

There are tomes of books and tons of advice from really smart people on how to make decisions. You are sure to find loads on TED talks. But, they are mostly useless not least because there are no such things as “really smart people”; just because the guy is the richest person in the world or the most renowned scientist or psychologist or orator does not necessarily mean that they are really smart or that their advice is the best that, if followed, would result in you achieving the same sort of success. True, their advice may be great, but it is only great to themselves in their personal circumstances; and may be totally inapplicable to your situation. That may be why TED talks are always inspiring while you listen to it, but they are quickly forgotten shortly. The same is true of advice from books or parents or friends. Does that girl make a suitable wife for me? No one knows, but you know the best after you take that girl as your wife, just as you know what shoes make you comfortable after you wear them. Should I quit my job? Again, no one knows; anyone claiming to know better than you is a sham; you know the best, and will only know whether your decision is good or bad after you have made the initial decision to quit the job. Don’t be disheartened and I am not saying that you can never make a perfectly correct decision. On many an occasion, if your purpose is definite and clear, then the decision is easy and chances are that you will find your initial decision to be correct later on. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates fell within this category; they knew what they wanted and they had passion and purpose; they quitted universities and, looking back, they smiled at their correct decisions. But there are many occasions where one is not sure about their passion, which is perfectly normal; neither is one sure about their purpose for now, which is again perfectly normal. Jobs advised people to find their passion and that Stanford commencement speech was truly empowering and uplifting, and yet, many followed that advice and still have not found their passion — that is perfectly normal because this passion thing was applicable to Steve Jobs with regard to computers; it may not apply to others; in any event, before that passion is found, one still needs to make important decisions. So, the question is how?

Well, we all remember Alice’s sweet encounter with the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

So, who would be so nasty as to accuse Alice of anything bad and indeed who would be so vile as to term Alice as a useless individual with no passion or purpose in life?! At that moment, she has no purpose in life at all, so what? Isn’t that what life is all about: sometimes, the purpose and passion is clear whereas other times it is unclear. To follow Steve Jobs’s passion finding advice would’ve landed Alice nowhere at all. Fortunately, the Cheshire Cat told it all; and, Alice ended up somewhere and had a great adventure in wonderland.

As for us, on those occasions when the decision is really important and really hard, we may step back and ask why it is hard; maybe we have no clear purpose and no clear passion or maybe it is just hard for no reason. In that case, just be an Alice and follow the Cheshire Cat’s advice. Just toss a coin and follow the head or the tail as you set down in advance.

We do not know what we are and how we the human beings got started on this planet, so, sometimes, we should let go and just trust the universe. It is not fatalism or negativity; rather, it is the natural order of the world and we just respect it. You may have heard of Professor Steven Levitt from the University of Chicago who advocates coin tossing as the decision making mechanism and his research finds that that mechanism enables one to lead a happier life. I feel that it is powerful research and it proves the common sense and the order of nature.

We walk a dog in a forest; any way we could take, and no one knows which way we should do; once the coin is tossed and the decision made for us, we have a purpose already and the next thing is go ahead, follow that route and uncover the amazing life being unfolded to us. No time wasted in debating or soliciting advice from the wise people; no time wasted in theorising or prospecting; rather, adventure immediately commenced and life lived to the full.

Keep or quit the job? The theory of procrastination along with other theories and advice would make one bang his head against the wall but still one would go nowhere. But, once the coin is tossed and decision made, then, the sky is clear and the northern star shines and one happily traverses the road ahead, unfolding all the potential and great things that decision brings, no regrets but all fun!

Alice simply has no clue about what she wants to do, but she does not want to sit tight and do nothing. She wants to go somewhere to find wonder, purpose, passion, and whatsoever her adventure would bring. She simply tosses a coin, as it were, and has a great adventure.

So, Be an Alice, toss a coin, and enjoy the great unfoldment of the beauty of life.