{"id":5019,"date":"2022-01-21T09:23:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T09:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/21\/your-control-preference-seths-blog\/"},"modified":"2022-01-21T09:23:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T09:23:04","slug":"your-control-preference-seths-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/21\/your-control-preference-seths-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Your control preference | Seth’s Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Would you rather write the script, read the script, watch the movie or write the review?<\/p>\n

When someone commutes by train, they\u2019re giving up control over the journey. On one hand, that means that they can\u2019t actively impact how fast the train arrives. On the other hand, it means that they don\u2019t have to be fully present and in command of all the decisions involved.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a huge diversity of control preference, and it varies across the many areas of our lives. Perhaps you need to be in control over your work, but have no interest in controlling what you eat for dinner\u2013or vice versa.<\/p>\n

I remember a restaurant in the Bronx where the waiter would ask you one or two questions about which food you liked, and then walk away and bring you back a series of dishes that you didn\u2019t expect or choose. Some people really enjoy this, others are frustrated by the lack of control it requires.<\/p>\n

While it may be that each of us has an inherent bias away or toward control, it\u2019s pretty clear that it is also a skill that can be learned, and that different industries allocate control to people as part of their hierarchies. It\u2019s also true that different cultures have evolved to allocate and teach control preference in different ways. Sometimes it\u2019s based on gender and caste, but there are also cultural mores that have been fueled by industry, the patriarchy and governance.<\/p>\n

One of the things we certainly have control over is deciding whether we\u2019ll seek to spend our days in control or not. We might have make sacrifices along the way, but the feeling is up to us.<\/p>\n[part 1 of a series]\n<\/div>\n