In a world where everything appears to be a constant go, go, go, do, do, do, and hustle, hustle, hustle, it pays to remember Thoreau’s words:
Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.
― Henry David Thoreau
Applying these words would make our lives easier, happier, and of better quality.
Going for quality over quantity will help you achieve better results, much more substance, and much more meaning in your life.
What is quality over quantity in life?
Quality over quantity entails preferring the option with the highest standards.
It is choosing things, activities, and pursuits that will provide more depth and substance to your life and relationships. Rather than chasing things solely to increase the quantity of what you already have.
To simplify further, it is placing more value on the intrinsic benefit rather than the count or volume. For example, having 1 or 2 items that make you feel great is preferable to having 10 or 20 items that leave you unsatisfied.
Focusing on quality over quantity entails getting to know yourself better in order to discover what truly matters to you. And knowing what you want is an essential key to finding happiness.
10 Reasons To Choose Quality Over Quantity
1. Quality assures better use of your energy
The 80/20 rule comes into play in this situation. By using the majority of your energy on 20% of your activities that affects 80% of your life. You can help make sure that the overall impact of the energy you spent is positive.
Whereas doing a million things that affect only 20% of your life drains your energy while providing nothing in return.
2. Quality saves you time
Choosing quality over quantity helps save you time because you have less stuff to clean, organize, and maintain. You also spend less time choosing what clothes to wear. Having fewer activities to attend to allows you to save time as well.
With all of this extra time, you can then actually spend it on things that are truly important to you. Things or activities that add value and meaning to your life.
3. You avoid overwhelm
When you are with things and activities that all need to be attended to at the same time. It is easy to feel defeated and paralyzed on the spot.
This is because your mind is so full of things vying for your attention that all you feel is dread. As well as being inundated. You feel tired all at once, despite not having begun with a single task.
However, if you practice prioritizing quality over quantity, you will avoid becoming overwhelmed.
This is because you will have fewer tasks and things to do and care for. You will be more productive. And will have the luxury of processing, deciding, or performing tasks with greater dedication and attention to detail.
4. Quality has more meaning
Focusing on quality will give you more meaning.
In the end, when we account for and reflect on our lives, it will not be measured by the number of friends we have.
It will also not be measured by the number of posts or likes we receive on social media. Certainly not our possessions, nor the plaques or certificates adorning our walls.
Rather, our lives will be measured by the lessons we learned, the people we have touched, and the laughter we shared. It will be about how we have enriched our lives and that of others.
5. Quality gives you focus
Choosing quality over quantity in your actions and activities allows you to focus. With fewer distractions in your mind, you can focus on the task at hand. You can devote your full attention to it, paying closer attention to the details.
This results in higher output and greater job, career, or business satisfaction. You also gain more pleasure and meaning from things on which you concentrate your attention.
6. You avoid decision-making fatigue
We are all aware that our brain’s energy supply is finite. And wasting precious brain resources on trivial matters like what to wear for the day. What to eat for breakfast or which route to take to work depletes that resource quickly. And your day has only just begun.
Limiting your daily choices to high-quality options will therefore help you save brain energy for more important tasks.
Choosing between high-quality items will no longer require active decision-making on your part. And with limited options, all of which are of high quality, you can avoid agonizing over what item to select. You can simply pick one and go.
Because your brain resources are intact and ready for use in important matters and evaluation. You avoid decision-making fatigue and ensure that each decision is well-thought-out. And has not been affected negatively by your previous decisions.
7. Quality gives you more satisfaction
Focusing on things that are more important in terms of the outcome that it will provide you, your lifestyle, or your relationships will give you more satisfaction in its accomplishment.
Quality things, activities, or tasks will bring out the best in you. It will challenge you and push you to improve. That when you achieve the goal you set for yourself, with quality in mind, you will feel more satisfaction and pride in yourself.
8. Helps improve your memory
Limiting your options to quality things will immensely reduce distractions in your life. This allows you to focus on the more important things which in turn will help improve your memory.
According to Harvard Business Review, researchers discovered that when there are fewer distractions, such as your phone being out of sight rather than just turned off, cognitive capacity improves significantly.
You are happier and more satisfied when you prioritize quality over quantity. And events or things associated with positive emotions are etched deeper into your brain, improving memory retention.
9. You will have better relationships
Relying on quantity rather than quality of people and relationships will only give you fake friends who may only do you harm or serve as a ball and chain that will only tie you down.
It is far more beneficial to cultivate relationships with people you love, care about, and respect than it is to interact with a large number of people in order to appear popular or likable.
10. Quality will help make you healthier
Opting for quality over quantity will significantly reduce your stress and result in better physical and mental health.
Choosing quality over quantity will also enable you to live a healthier lifestyle. This is because choosing quality means having more time to exercise. And better decision-making skills to choose healthy food options.
Which is more important, quantity or quality?
It has been long said that it is far better to choose quality over quantity. Wise men from long ago have emphasized the importance of quality in living a good life. Some of their quotes are as follows:
It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity
― Mahatma Gandhi
It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters
― Seneca
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts
― Marcus Aurelius
Why is it important to prioritize quality over quantity?
From activities, friendships, and relationships to material stuff, those that have time and thought put into them last longer.
The joy of quality comes from the time put into it and the satisfaction you feel when you know it was well spent.
Quality instills in you an instinctive concern for the things that are most important to you.
You will naturally devote time to cultivating and expanding your relationships. You will go for activities that will increase your value and happiness. And you will maintain and improve the material possessions you own because they bring you joy and satisfaction.
Finally, choosing quality will provide you with more advantages. You will feel less stressed and worried. Choosing quality means choosing your overall well-being, both for yourself and for those around you.
How do you choose quality over quantity?
Quality is not determined by the price of a product or service. Neither is it dependent on other people’s recommendations nor on marketing presentation.
Quality is a subjective concept, and only you can define it for yourself. It will definitely require a deep dive within yourself to determine what is important to you.
Ask yourself questions such as what do you want to spend more of your time on? What tasks get you into your flow state? Or who or what makes you happy?
These questions will lead you to understand exactly what things, experiences, and activities are the quality that you should have in life.
Everything else that does not meet your criteria is part of the quantity you must reduce in your life.
Why is it hard to choose quality over quantity?
Many of us are familiar with the concept of valuing quality over quantity. We might even acknowledge its value to us.
However, as with many human characteristics, we simply dislike change. It’s referred to as status quo bias in psychology. Where our brain perceives any deviation from the usual as a loss, even if there are genuine advantages to changing.
The exposure to the desire for more is another reason for the apparent resistance to quality over quantity. The more we are exposed to a concept, the more we believe it is beneficial to us.
This applies to everything we see, read, encounter, or create, whether on the internet or in person. Thus, even if it is in our best interests, we are less likely to give up something as a result of constant exposure.
Does quantity lead to quality?
The short answer to this question is a resounding YES! Because pursuing quantity will eventually lead to quality.
But the real question should be, where exactly do you apply this concept of going for quantity that will lead you to quality? Well, that question has an answer in creativity.
That is, the more ideas you generate, the more likely you are to come across a brilliant one.
The reasoning is that when considering solutions, you naturally begin with the most obvious and logical ideas. But the more you think about it and dig deeper, the more creative solutions you come up with.
Your ideas may appear bizarre or absurd at first, but sooner or later you will come across a creative solution or idea that will change your life, personally or professionally.
Another attestation to quantity leading to quality is that going for quantity allows you to learn from your mistakes.
Producing more while reflecting on your output will result in advancement. It transforms your normal thought patterns into pure genius.
The following quotes emphasize the importance of learning from your outputs:
One way to learn to do something right is to do something wrong. Failure must teach us, or surely success will not reward us.
― Jim Rohn
Being right keeps you in place. Being wrong forces you to explore.
― Steven Johnson
Can you strike a balance between quantity and quality?
Quantity is frequently associated with materialism or consumerism. Most likely because having more meant, albeit incorrectly, being slightly better off and displaying higher status and wealth.
However, people’s perceptions of satisfaction are gradually changing, and what is considered “the best” has reached a tipping point.
Nowadays, the value and worth of something are more important than the usual desire for more.
However, as with everything, moderation is key. This is true for both quantity and quality. Thus, we should strive to strike a balance of quantity and quality in various aspects of our lives.
How do you strike a balance between quantity and quality?
As previously stated, both quality and quantity can be highly subjective. It is determined by your personal values, principles, philosophies, and beliefs. Only you can decide what is more important to you in any given situation.
So, if having the freedom to choose from a variety of options is important to you, quantity is good. But if you value stability and durability, you should go for quality.
You can also make a list of your top qualities and values. To determine whether quality or quantity is more aligned with your values and personal needs.
Understand that sacrifices or actions must be made in order to achieve the desired quality or quantity. For instance, if you value quality and want to buy that expensive watch. You may need to save up or refrain from buying cheap watches until you have enough money.
Lastly, you can discover your life’s purpose and set goals. To assist you in determining whether quality or quantity is more important to you.
Summary
Our lives will be so much easier if we have less, as Henry David Thoreau preached when he said, “simplify, simplify, simplify.”
In life, choosing quality over quantity means selecting an option that is valuable and meaningful to you. Rather than simply having more of something with no additional benefit.
And here are the top ten reasons why you should prioritize quality over quantity:
- quality assures better use of your energy,
- quality saves you time,
- you can avoid overwhelm,
- quality has more meaning,
- quality gives you focus,
- you can avoid decision-making fatigue,
- quality gives you satisfaction,
- helps improve your memory,
- you will have better relationships, and
- it helps you become healthier.
For these reasons, famous philosophers frequently emphasize quality as being more important than quantity.
Importance of and difficulty in choosing quality, defending quantity, and finding the right balance between the two
The significance of quality cannot be overstated because it:
- cultivates in you a natural concern for what is most important to you,
- reduces your anxiety and stress, and
- encourages you to choose your overall well-being for yourself and those around you
Choosing quality over quantity, however, is a subjective concept that must be considered. Only you can define it for yourself, and it will require you to discover what is important to you within yourself.
Your journey of self-discovery and willingness for quality over quantity may not be easy. This is due to the fact that you will have to overcome human nature’s natural resistance to change.
Furthermore, the environment you are in may cause you to avoid pursuing quality. Again, because of the effect of your exposure to the concept that having more in terms of quantity is preferable.
However, the pursuit of quantity is not altogether a bad idea because quantity will eventually lead to quality. How? By forcing you to be more creative in your search for ideas and solutions, as well as by allowing you to learn from your mistakes.
Because both quality and quantity are subjective and have merits of their own. Finding a nice balance between the two might be the best option yet. You can accomplish this by:
- deciding what is more important to you in any given situation,
- listing your top qualities and values, and
- discovering your life’s purpose and then setting goals.
Please share your thoughts or ideas about the Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Choose Quality Over Quantity in the comments below.