Good Enough

Do you know what is overwhelming? Cheese.

I stand at the cheese counter in my local grocery store. Endless cheese. Some wedges sit behind the glass, others you can easily grab. I ignore my lactose intolerance and I pick up a wedge of aged cheddar. Classic. Safe. But do I want safe?

I pick up something French and reach for my phone. Apparently it pairs well with fruit. But the manchego next to it is nutty and firm. Maybe texture matters more than flavor. I scan the labels. Organic. Grass-fed. Award-winning. Which award?

I am wired to seek the best choice. Best seat on the plane. Best mattress brand. Best neighborhood. This time is no different. I seek the best cheese in this grocery store.

Nicole walks up beside me. She scans for five seconds, grabs a piece and drops it in her basket. Smiles. I stare at her while holding four different wedges.

"Why that one?" I ask.

She looks almost confused. "Oh, it was under twenty dollars and yellow enough."

Do you choose the best or good enough?

Maximizer versus Satisficer. Two decision-making styles that shape everything from restaurant choices to romantic partners.

Psychologist Barry Schwartz identified people who seek the absolute best option in every decision as maximizers, while those content with good enough are satisficers.

Maximizers search exhaustively. Compare options. Read reviews. Cross-reference ratings. The process is thorough, sometimes compulsive. They cannot choose the first acceptable thing. Best must be found.

Satisficers establish criteria, then choose the first option meeting standards. They walk into the store knowing they need a vacuum under $200 that handles pet hair. They are home cleaning within the hour while the maximizer is still reading reviews.

The difference feels trivial until you measure what it costs.

Across seven studies, maximizers scored significantly higher on depression, perfectionism, and regret. They also reported less life satisfaction, optimism, self-esteem, and happiness. The correlation between maximizing and depression was substantial.

The driver is regret. Research shows regret strongly correlates with maximizing and mediates the relationship with depression. Every choice becomes haunted by unchosen alternatives. The restaurant you did not try. The career path you did not take. The person you did not date.

This haunting intensifies through comparison. Maximizers engage in more upward social comparison, measuring their choices against what others achieved. Their vacation was lovely until they saw someone else's Instagram feed.

Research on online dating captures this perfectly. Maximizers invest more time searching for romantic partners but report lower satisfaction with their final choices. More options did not lead to better outcomes. It led to decision paralysis and lingering doubt.

Satisficers avoid this trap. Decisions happen faster with less agonizing and second-guessing. Life moves forward. But they explore less, escaping regret by limiting awareness of alternatives. The comfort is genuine. So is the opportunity cost.

An adequate hotel when a better one was three clicks away. An acceptable salary when negotiation could have yielded 30% more. A good relationship when extraordinary might have been worth the wait.

Neither strategy wins cleanly. But our tendency remains stable over time.

Most people are not purely one or the other. You maximize career decisions but satisfice grocery shopping. Agonize over apartments but grab the first acceptable restaurant. The pattern reveals itself in how you allocate effort. Some decisions receive exhaustive energy. Others receive almost none.

And the distribution often has nothing to do with actual stakes.

I am a maximizer by default. The thought of buying the first "yellow enough" wedge of cheese terrifies me. But I have zero care which corner restaurant we pick, as long as it is new. You might be the opposite.

This is about choosing where you spend your precious energy. If it helps, I sort decisions into three buckets:

Keep in mind that what seems like a 5% decision for me might be a 100% decision for you. A graphic designer choosing fonts is not the same as me choosing fonts. Find your own 100%.

If you are a maximizer: Actively refuse to maximize low-stakes choices. Next time you catch yourself reading the fourth restaurant review, ask: is this a 100% decision? If not, close the tab. Go with the first acceptable option.

If you are a satisficer: Push yourself on decisions that actually matter. When apartment hunting or negotiating salary, resist the urge to accept the first acceptable option. Spend an extra week. Make three more calls. Commit to prolonged searching.

Here is a secret from a lifelong maximizer: something better does exist. Almost always. But the shift is not chasing excellence everywhere. It is maximizing high-stakes decisions and enjoying the freedom of low-stakes ones.

After all, cheese is just cheese. Or is it?

^{This publication is a space for exploration and reflection. Nothing in this email is medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice. These ideas are general insights on human behaviour, not treatment or diagnosis. Each reader’s situation is unique and deserves the right kind of support. If you are struggling or in crisis, please contact a licensed mental health professional.}