“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.”
— William James
Most of us eventually face a moment when we must choose a profession without knowing whether we will truly excel at it.
Some children start playing tennis at the age of five and go on to become internationally acclaimed athletes. Others begin just as early, work just as hard — and never reach that level.
Then there are those who keep searching for the right profession for too long, only to realize that the opportunity quietly passed them by.
Both excelling and failing often stem from the timing of our decisions — choosing too early or waiting too long.
The 37% Rule, developed in the field of decision science, attempts to reduce the regret associated with such choices. It suggests that the best decisions are rarely perfect — they are balanced.
According to this rule, when you have access to multiple options, you should spend the first 37% of your available time or options exploring without committing. After this phase, you commit to the first option that is better than all those you have previously encountered.
For instance, if we assume that career-related decisions span roughly from the age of 16 to about 45, then exploring different paths until the mid-twenties may provide a reasonable understanding of which profession is worth committing to.
In the Indian context, this can be observed among aspirants preparing for competitive examinations, where prolonged attempts without measurable progress sometimes come at the cost of early career stability.
This strategy does not guarantee the best possible outcome. Instead, it minimizes regret and increases long-term satisfaction by preventing both premature commitment and endless searching.
However, many real-life situations do not offer abundant options or complete information. In such cases, decision-making often follows what is known as the Threshold Rule. Rather than comparing endlessly, we define a minimum acceptable standard — a threshold — based on our values or constraints. Any option that meets this threshold becomes acceptable, and commitment follows once that standard is crossed.
Cultural practices, personal heuristics, or predefined criteria often act as such thresholds. While imperfect, they help individuals move forward when exhaustive comparison is neither practical nor possible.
That said, these rules are not universal solutions. They tend to fail in deeply emotional decisions, such as ending relationships, or in situations where the consequences are irreversible and the cost of regret is exceptionally high.
In the end, choosing earlier means accepting imperfection. But waiting forever is also a decision — often the costliest one.
Peace rarely comes from finding the best possible choice; it comes from committing to a balanced one and standing by it.
