“I know you! You’re in here once a quarter, right?”

I was at my favorite clothing store picking up a few new pieces for fall, when an attractive sales woman came up to me excitedly because she recognized me as one of her usual customers.

But like she mentioned, I was only in there once every 3 months. So what made me unforgettable?

It was then that I glanced down and noticed that I was dressed head to toe in that store’s clothes. Yep, even my shoes and necklace.

Ah, now I got it. 🙂

What can I say? When I find something I like, I stick to it like glue. But there’s another reason my closet is full of one brand’s clothes—it’s the quality.

I know that I can buy a blazer that’s so well-constructed and classic that it will still look amazing 3 years later. For me, I’d rather have a smaller wardrobe with high-quality items than a closet stuffed with cheapo things that will be in the trash a month later.

We’re faced with decisions between quality and quantity all the time, and not just when it comes to our clothes.

Your business/career, your relationships, your hobbies, and even the food you eat will make you question the importance of having the best or having the most.

Not Having It All is a Good Thing

If you’re like most women, you probably wish that you could have high-quality clothes and a ton of them (I know I do!). Or maybe you’d prefer Whole Foods quality veggies at Walmart prices.

But wishing doesn’t make things magically appear…unless you have a genie, in which case go for it and wish me new purse while you’re at it!

Not having it all is actually a good thing, really. By having to choose the features that you most value, you’ll be happier with your decisions and have a stronger sense of what’s important in your life. It’s empowering to make a choice and be in control.

Can you think of a time when you made a choice that reinforced your good judgment and sense of control?

Is Quality or Quantity Better?

The majority of people will argue that quality is better than quantity for most circumstances. Think about having a few close friends rather than a hundred random acquaintances.

I’m gonna break from the crowd here and say that quality doesn’t always beat quantity.

I write by hand more than anyone I know, which is saying a lot since I spend a chunk of time typing blog posts, emails to clients, and program content.

Writing by hand is important to me so I collect as many notebooks as I can. It doesn’t matter if they’re $70 designer planners or $5 journals—I love them all! For me, quantity is important when it comes to my writing obsession.

I have a client who prefers eating inexpensive chocolates from the drugstore once a day rather than a decadent chocolate cake from a fancy restaurant just once a year.

Can you think of something in your life where the quantity is more important than the quality?

How to Choose Without Settling

Just because you’re faced with a situation where you have to choose between quality or quantity DOESN’T mean you need to compromise your values or settle for “less than.”

Pause for a minute and look inside yourself. The right answer for you will rise to the surface.

Let’s say you chose 1 quality week-long vacation this year rather than 4 smaller weekend trips. How do you keep yourself from moping for months while you wait for your only vacation?

Make a gratitude game to celebrate your quality choice.

My husband and I have planned a ginormous vacation for later this year for our 15th anniversary (yay us!) so I’m having fun by gluing photos of our vacation spot on my vision board and doing a mental dress rehearsal exercise in the mornings where I imagine what it feels like to be on vacation.

When you soak up the anticipation while waiting for (or saving for) your quality choice, you’ll actually extend the good feelings for a longer time.

But what if you made a quantity choice like I did with my notebooks?

Use mindfulness to make each part of the quantity choice seem special.

As for me, I use my favorite pens to write in my notebooks, turn off all distractions like the TV or music, get a cup of tea, and be present when I write. It’s an experience.

So don’t just zone out with your quantity choice like a slacker eating a bag of potato chips on the couch. Really enjoy it!

The next time you’re faced with a quality or quantity decision, listen to what your gut is telling you.

Would you prefer one big burst of goodness or lots of goodness sprinkled around?

The choice is yours.

This post focuses on Step 4 of the Life Editing Process, Rearrange Everything Into a Perfect Flow. For more about life editing and what it can do for you, click here.