It seems like multiplication isn’t the right model, because different ideas have different “work : profit” curves.
For example, the idea of “getting a job” will give you a relatively safe income with mediocre execution, but with the additional effort the profit scales logarithmically. On the other hand, if you sell something online, a good marketing campaign can increase your profit dramatically. Some jobs are about persistence, for example if people pay for your lectures, then the fact that you are already giving lectures for 20 years and have thousands of satisfied customers, becomes a sufficient reason for more people to pay you. Some jobs are about luck, like you produce Angry Birds, and maybe you make millions, but most likely no one will care.
So “choosing a better dish” could be realizing that in your current situation (your preferences, skills, resources), a different idea has a better curve than your current one.
It seems like multiplication isn’t the right model, because different ideas have different “work : profit” curves.
For example, the idea of “getting a job” will give you a relatively safe income with mediocre execution, but with the additional effort the profit scales logarithmically. On the other hand, if you sell something online, a good marketing campaign can increase your profit dramatically. Some jobs are about persistence, for example if people pay for your lectures, then the fact that you are already giving lectures for 20 years and have thousands of satisfied customers, becomes a sufficient reason for more people to pay you. Some jobs are about luck, like you produce Angry Birds, and maybe you make millions, but most likely no one will care.
So “choosing a better dish” could be realizing that in your current situation (your preferences, skills, resources), a different idea has a better curve than your current one.