Reduce opportunity-cost thinking

Stop calculating what every rejected option "costs" you — it amplifies regret for no gain.

Why it works

Every option chosen means options forgone. Maximizers mentally sum up the best features of all rejected options and hold them as the true cost of choosing — a comparison set that is guaranteed to make the chosen option look inferior. Deliberately focusing on the absolute quality of the chosen option, rather than its relative rank, removes that counterfactual drag.

How to do it

1. After a decision, write down what the chosen option gives you rather than what the unchosen options had.
2. When counterfactual comparisons arise ("the other one had…"), redirect to: "Does what I chose meet my criteria?" If yes, the comparison is noise.
3. Practice a brief "closing ritual": name three things the decision enables, then consider it closed.

Evidence

Schwartz’s research links maximizing orientation to heightened opportunity-cost thinking, which in turn predicts lower satisfaction. The mechanism is well characterized, though intervention trials for this specific reframe are limited. (mechanistic)

The reframe itself is clinical/coaching practice applied to a mechanistic understanding; direct RCTs on this specific technique are lacking.

Sources

• Schwartz et al. (2002), "Maximizing versus satisficing," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Common mistake

Reviewing the features of rejected options "just to confirm" the choice was right, which reliably surfaces features the chosen option lacks and re-opens regret.