There are plenty of times in our lives when we’re in need of something new. We try finding something that can add more happiness and significance to our day to day lives. But how exactly do we find what we’re looking for?
Do you push yourself to make better decisions or do you remain satisfied with the mundane? If you’re just trudging forward in your daily activities, you’ll never get where you want to be. The choice is yours.
Make Your Own Decisions
When the choice is yours and yours alone, you control the results, the outcome, and so many different aspects of that decision.
Look back on all the things that have been valuable, productive, or successful for you in life – whether it’s school, family, friends, being a good son or daughter, or being a good father or mother. All the good things that have happened in your life are a result of your positive choices.
Choices are so important. They have the power to change our lives for the better – so it’s very sad to see people feeling like they’re stuck with the hand that’s been dealt to them. They feel like they’re bound to it, that it’s a crutch they can’t stop leaning on, and that it’s not in their control.
When a choice is presented to you, how do you respond? Do you feel stuck in your situation, comfort zone, or in what feels just “okay”? Or do you focus on how you can be better and improve your life?
You Control Your Own Path
If you have a goal in mind, it’s really important to remind yourself that the choice to do better is yours. If you choose to do something, the results that need work to be achieved fall to you. For example, if you want more in your marriage, the choice is yours. Will you choose to actively put in the effort, time and energy needed into your marriage?
Several years ago, I made a change and started my own company. I made a choice to venture out of my safe environment into something completely different – and started something new. I changed my own path, I chose that route – and while it wasn’t an easy path, I knew it was my choice and under my control.
The reality is, if you make a choice, you take on the responsibility and make it your own. You’re actually putting something that you can control into your own hands. The choices you make in life put you on a path that might not be the easiest path to take, but it’s all under your control.
Choose How You Accept Criticism
We live in a world where words are so powerful. They have the ability to praise or offend others. But, when you’re presented with criticism, you yourself choose whether to be offended or to take it as a compliment.
Somebody could say, “Hey, nice hair, Scott!” – and I could either choose to be offended or to take that as a compliment. In that split moment when someone says something to you, how you receive it is your own choice.
In Victor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he talks about being in a concentration camp in the Holocaust – when everything, including his clothing, is stripped away from his life. Standing there in that exact moment, he realized that he could choose to be strong or to give up ever feeling joy. That split second of choice was the only thing he could control in that moment, and that empowered him.
If we recognize that the choice is ours, it has the ability to empower all of us as well.
Are You Choosing the Best Choice – Or the Easier One?
When it comes to work, so many people go through life hating what they do. Something I hear about all the time is people trying to get through their job so that maybe one day they’ll be in a better spot financially. Is that the best choice? Is it really what makes you happy? Or is it just easier to stay the path you’re on?
After COVID lockdown, we’ve seen a lot of people forced to change the whole dynamic of their lives – but even when everything else is taken away, and we are forced to change, there’s still choices we have to make – that are all under our own control.
- How do we view each day?
- What do we feed our brains?
- Are we learning?
- Are we growing?
- Are we watching the right things?
- Are we spending time with the right people and choosing the right friends?
Choose to Think Bigger
When people ask me to talk about money and life successes, I always end up talking about choosing the path they want to take in life. It’s important to understand that if you can swim in a pool, you can swim in a pond; if you can swim in a pond, you can swim in the ocean. There’s always bigger things to think about – and when you choose to think bigger, you’ll be on a path for a successful life.
Sometimes, you might actually be stuck in the wrong pond. If you’re choosing to just be in that pond because you think it’s more comfortable than a different one, get out of it. Don’t stay stuck in what seems like an easier situation.
If you’re choosing relationships with coworkers, friends, or potential spouses but you don’t like what you’re seeing or you don’t like who you are, do something about it. Don’t stay stuck in that pond. Get out of it and choose to do something different. Choose to think bigger so that you don’t miss out on the other available opportunities that life has to offer.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to choosing, there are plenty of paths we can take – and it’s truly a great blessing to know that it’s your own decision. You’ll always have those choices to make in life, and no one can take them away. Even in moments of frustration, we can choose how we respond.
- Choose the life you want.
- Choose the wealth you want.
- Choose the path that you want for your future.
Show your children and grandchildren what it means to live life through choice and action. That’s something that will empower them to make their own futures better. The choice is yours.
