The Rule of Settling

"Being your own worst critic," "Over-achieving," and "Never being satisfied are just some of the things that people answer when asked, "What is your worst character trait?"

These are all text-book answers to text-book questions that are asked in interviews for virtually anything. If you are answering truthfully, why not stay true to yourself when it comes to everything in life?

Settling on a mate for anything from a fling to a long term relationship is not something that anyone would recommend, but it is something that people do on a daily basis. The terrible choices that are made, are often made when nobody is watching, because we care what other people think so much. WHY DO PEOPLE CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK? People should be making better choices whether they are home alone or out in an amphitheater.

I have seen my friends become victims of their own bad judgment while also victimizing others. When I say "victimizing" I do not mean anything immoral or illegal I mean causing an unfortunate chain of events to unravel.

I might be on the theme of doing in what is best for one's self, but it is the most crucial theme in today's world. The economy has been destroyed by greed, but in a way that was not selfish. Now how is this possible? Isn't greed by definition selfish?

Greed is defined as excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves or avarice: reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins.)

While heads of companies were taking risks with other people's money in order to acquire more wealth. The greed was not selfish in the way that it was SOLELY for one person's benefit, it was for a group of upper management and potentially their shareholders' benefit.

BACK TO MY POINT OF SETTLING.

When someone settles on a mate for any amount of time, he or she is harming themselves and not performing an action that is enhancing one's life. I truly believe that everything that I choose to do is enhancing my life at that point in time (hopefully with as few consequences as possible). The bottom line is that if you sell yourself short, you not only have not given yourself a fair shot at success, but you are also lowering future expectations that can and should be high.

If a guy settles on a girl (it works both ways), he is lowering his total utility. Even if the girl is a vehicle for a means to an end, one would rather use a nice car instead of a crappy car to get from point A to point B.

When you find yourself about to settle on anything, think twice and ask yourself the interview question.

Hopefully you will get the right answer.

If the answer is