Virtus Blog #31 - Choice and Obligation.

duda • September 3, 2025

Here is an excerpt from Marketing genius Seth Godin?s Daily Email.

If it?s an obligation, then you don?t have a choice.

Pretending you do is simply a way to create frustration. Free yourself to simply do what you have to do.

On the other hand, if you do have a choice (and you probably do) then it doesn?t make sense to treat it as an obligation. Own the choice. SETH GODIN

I don?t have much more to add to this piece of gold. But what I?d like to talk about is the impact that this simple paragraph had on me shortly after I read it.

I realised that the majority of frustratrations I?ve been having are stemming from the obligations I?m labelling as choices.

These are things I know I should be doing but I?m either delaying them or letting them become bigger problems than they should be. Or I?m not taking action on them which leads to dissonance both internally and with those I let down by not sticking to my obligations.

The simple fix. Identify what needs to be done. What I?m obligated to do. What I?m expected to do. And to do it.

The wonderfully upsetting thing about simple fixes are that they are rarely easy. In this instance Simple and Easy are not synonyms. But obligations don?t need to be easy. They need to be done.

An exercise that I?ve attempted, has been to split my obligations and choices into two lists. Once your obligations are understood and executed, you have much more time for choices. If your obligations are uncertain, you?ll spend more time in purgatory, that is not actually getting anything done.

Give the lists a try for each part of your life. Work/Home/Relationships etc and see how you go.

I?d love to hear if this helps.

Lachie

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