Optimizer syndrome: best choice ≠ more happiness

Barry Schwartz’s research (“Paradox of Choice”): maximizers (those who seek the best option) objectively find better outcomes but experience less happiness and satisfaction than satisficers (those who choose “good enough”).

For an optimizer-entrepreneur, this is a trap: the same skill that helps optimize systems destroys satisfaction with decisions. Signs: endless search for alternatives, inability to accept “good enough,” comparing with better options after deciding.

Antidotes:

1. Set limits upfront: “I’ll evaluate 3 options, not 30”
2. Satisfice for low-stakes decisions (which restaurant, which framework for a prototype)
3. Irreversibility reduces doubt — burn bridges deliberately
4. Ban upward comparison after making a decision

Links to decision-framework-5-steps — the framework is structured satisficing: completed 5 steps → decided → move on. Links to ikigai-micro-joys — searching for the “perfect ikigai” = optimizer syndrome in action.