How do you choose what to eat from an extensive menu? Some people find it very difficult to choose from an extensive range of dishes which all sound delicious, and I used to be among them. I was always worried that I was going to miss something really great, so I would weigh up the pros and cons for each choice and usually choose at the last moment just as the waiter was losing his or her patience. The trouble with this method was that, in spite of all the time I spent chosing, I often found that what my companions were eating seemed much nicer.
Then I had a period when I used to choose completely at random. I just jabbed my finger at the menu and ordered whatever it landed on. This led to several memorable experiences, but also to some dire ones!
But lately I’ve taken to much more intuitive method of choosing. I read down the list of possible dishes, then read through it again slowly until one of the dishes stands out and I select that one. It’s an easy way to choose and I’ve never yet regretted the choice I’ve made by doing it that way.
If you’re an AF aficionado this will remind you of the way in which we chose the next task in AF. Whether we’re in Forward or Reverse Mode, we are reading through a list of tasks until one feels ready to be done.
However there is one big difference - when chosing off a menu we intend to eat one dish and not eat the others. With the AF list we intend to do all the tasks sooner or later - so our choice is usually about what order to do the tasks in.
However it is quite possible to use AF to make choices of the menu type. Suppose we have decided to take our nearest and dearest out for a meal. Imagine there are three possible restaurants. To make the choice between them all you have to do is put three tasks on your list:
When one of these tasks stands out, book the table at that restaurant and delete the other two.
You can use the same method for almost any choice you have to make.