What sweet potato can teach us about decisions

Earlier today I thought to myself: “what have I become?!”

There were three trays of sweet potato in the oven, an egg, spinach and bacon frittata cooling on the bench and my tupperware containers at the ready, waiting to be filled.

I felt old, rigid, and yet strangely satisfied with having my breakfast and lunch prepped for the week.

You see, by nailing my food prep I know I won’t have to think about what’s for lunch or worry about whether I have time for breakfast throughout the week.

By saying yes to food prep, I say no to the mental chaos and worry of organising food.

I’m choosing to make future Pete’s life easier.

And this yes/no dichotomy is true of all decisions.

Every single time we say yes to something, we’re saying no to something else.

We say yes to staying back late at work, which means we say no to going to the gym.

We say yes to coffee with someone we’ve never met before, which means we say no to a coffee with a dear friend.

We say yes to another glass of wine, which means we say no to feeling fresh in the morning.

The opposite is also true.

By saying no to social media, we can say yes to reading a book.

By saying no to another pointless meeting, we can say yes to deep and meaningful work. 

By saying no to another late night, we can say yes to an early morning run. 

The point is there are always flow on effects worth considering. 

So before making a decision, before defaulting to a yes or no, consider:

What am I also saying yes/no to in this moment?

The alternative is to risk becoming Ron Burgundy.