The couch problem

When you’re buying a couch, you want three things. Your couch should be:

• Comfortable
• Stylish
• Affordable

Pick two.

The point is that buying a couch involves tradeoffs. It’s like Halloween, where you want a costume that’s:

• Clever
• Easy
• Flattering

Again, tradeoffs.

Tradeoffs are everywhere. It’s one of those mental models that is absolutely everywhere once in your head. Nearly every decision you make, however small, trades one thing for another. Flying versus driving presents tradeoffs. Flying saves time, but driving saves money. I can read on the plane, but I can bring more books in the car to read during the week. And on and on.

Then there are higher level tradeoffs that make up a sort of personal philosophy or way of living. Like trading ambition for presence.