Near my hometown was a bean factory.

Its purpose was to package beans in a can, then ship them out to companies who would then put their label on it. From there, it would make its way to the grocery aisle.

Growing up, we knew the only difference between the different brands was the label itself.

Enter a grocery store now and you are bombarded with unlimited choices for the most inane products. Bread crumbs, for instance.

There are more than ten different choices for bread crumbs. I’m not sure about you, but the last thing I need to expend any mental capacity on is making a decision about crumbs.

This is the world we live in today—one completely punctuated by a vast array of choice.

It’s not enough to do your due diligence and research the best of what you need because you will get overwhelmed with the comparisons.

Even trying to test them will result in a loss because there’s always a fear of missing out.

However, when you pull back the marketing, you discover the variations are minor and sometimes, inconsequential. We waste a ton of energy always looking, deciding and trying.

You can make life a lot easier by finding what works for you and leaving it that choice.

• I have one pen I really love and just buy refills for it. If I ever lose the pen, I’ll buy its replacement.
• I only have one notebook for all my notes and random thoughts.
• My wife and I budget together with the same program we’ve been using for the past six years.
• My outfit for work has been whittled down to a rotation of five dress pants and five dress shirts with matching ties.
• I only use two cleaning products for the entire house.
• I’ve settled on using Scrivener for all my writing needs.
• And yes, I pick the cheapest brand of bread crumb in the aisle because most of them are all processed at the same place.

Keep it simple, ignore the hype and save your energy for where it’s really needed.