There are reasons that you might not be making the obvious choice. Read the post to find out what those reasons are.

One of my readers shared one of my posts on Facebook. Someone commented that my advice was obvious but so true. This comment got me thinking. I’m the first to admit that sometimes my advice is obvious. The amazing thing is the obvious is sometimes what we most need to hear.

Despite what we know to be true, sometimes we do exactly the opposite of what is going to make our lives better or easier. We do the opposite of obvious.

Take these examples.

Want to have more time to work on your passions and dreams? Then stop watching so much streaming. Easy enough, right? Yet many people struggle with this.

Don’t want your love life to be complicated? Then don’t have an affair with someone married. Piece of cake, yet many people have affairs.

Many of us (including myself) fail to see the most obvious solution or simply choose not to act on the most obvious course of action.

So why exactly do we do this?

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Here are my thoughts on the 11 top reasons you might not be making the obvious choice.

We’re bored

We’re at work and supposed to be working on a spreadsheet for the boss. An incredibly boring but important spreadsheet.

Instead, we decide to pop into Facebook for a while and then read through the latest online news. Before we know it, we are working back late to get the report done.

Related post – How to Overcome Boredom

We crave excitement

We know we shouldn’t do something, but it seems exciting, so we do it anyway. Then we wonder why our lives get so complicated.

I am certainly not saying you shouldn’t do anything exciting; quite the opposite; life should be filled with excitement, just not the type that gets us into serious trouble and screws up our lives.

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We’re being lazy

We can come up with all types of excuses for not doing something.

We tell ourselves we are too busy, we don’t have time – blah blah blah. A lot of the time, they may be valid excuses.

Other times we are just being lazy. When we find ourselves in this position, it helps to be honest with ourselves.

If you want to be less lazy, work on your habits. Making actions automatic makes it a lot easier to get tasks done.

Habits can change our lives. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear is an excellent book on habits. There is a reason it has sold millions of copies. Make sure you grab yourself a copy.

It’s too hard

This one is very common. It’s too hard.  

We can’t be bothered putting in the effort and hard work to get it done. This one usually comes with a truckload of excuses that don’t seem to include the words ‘It’s too hard’.

People don’t want to admit it’s too hard because they think people will judge them for it.

Related post – 6 Ways to Ditch Your Excuses

We think too big picture

I had a case of this the other day. I had been thinking about something on my blog. I’d been trying to work out a way to make a connection with someone.

I had all of these complicated scenarios in my head when it dawned on me there was a very simple way of getting the task done.

While I was thinking big picture, I completely missed the most obvious simple step.

We think with our heart and body, not our head

Sometimes reason, logic, and the most obvious thing to do- the smart choice- flies out the window.

We meet someone we fancy, sparks fly, and all hell breaks loose.

Bad choices all around.

We lack focus

We start something, and our minds drift off to something else.

We flick from one task to another (which is not a problem by itself) but never finish anything (therein lies the problem).

We don’t care

Come on, be honest. How often have you not done something or acted a certain way because you just don’t care?

This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it is something we all have to own up to at some point.

We don’t want to

This one doesn’t need any explanation, though it can sometimes be closely related to we don’t care.

Let’s face it, if we really don’t want to do something, we just don’t do it.

We lack confidence

Everyone lacks confidence from time to time. This is quite normal and something all of us can work on. If you need to boost your confidence, the books below can help.

We are afraid

As we all know, fear can overshadow everything. We often use all of the above points as excuses for not moving forward because we are scared. Fear is normal; moving through the fear is the key.

Please don’t think that I am being judgmental with the above list. I’m not. I’m guilty of all of the above myself.

This is more about identifying the obstacles that stop us from making the obvious choice. This is about identifying the obstacles that stop us from doing what we know is right.

The above points are not necessarily good or bad. Naturally, it depends on the circumstances.

At times we have to own up to what is holding us back or causing tension in our lives. We have to own it and work through it, being honest with ourselves along the way.

Next time you get stuck or need to take action, seek out the obvious choice that is right for you.

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Read Next – 12 Ways to Show Up For Yourself