What starts your day? There were many days growing up that the start of the day was the usual daily routines, breakfast and then shuttled off to school. In college, there wasn’t much change except I was shuffling across the campus.
What starts your day? Is it doing the daily routines, getting the kids ready for their destination if you are responsible to do that, taking an early call or meeting at work? Maybe it is a chat at the coffee machine.
“Today is the only time we have within our grasp, yet many people let it slip through their fingers. They recognize neither today’s value nor its potential.” Leadership expert John C. Maxwell noted this in his book, Today Matters. For me, it was the daily activities to which I gave attention. What was missing? Reflection and the time to do it. Daily. Simple little time. Simple little intentional activity to focus on how to make a difference in those we touch.
I had some days good. Others not as much. I couldn’t tell you why each occurred other than some innate feeble answer than this happened or that happened. I didn’t know. Simply didn’t know because I didn’t include a time to look what I did well yesterday, where I fell short, and what would be different today. One day I looked harder at myself in the bathroom mirror. I wondered how did time pass by so fast.
Choice is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. I was making decisions. I just ignored looking deeply at the results. I existed but did not grow. Choice does make a difference whether we want it or not. There are four results from choosing in our lives.
- Choice Builds Your Capacity
Capacity building has been defined as the process of equipping individuals with the understanding, skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enables them to perform effectively.
Having to choose requires us to take a stand. This stand is either for or against. There cannot be a middle ground. Being neither for nor against a choice means a person hasn’t done their homework. Being “on the fence”, being “neutral”, being a person having “no opinion” is not an option. No one gets to “pass” on a choice. In essence, people choose “against” but don’t have the courage to take a stand.
Tony Robbins noted ,“Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.” Capacity increases when we make the choice to focus. One result of this capacity growth is greater confidence to do more.
- Choice Optimizes Learning
Choice creates an environment where the participant is forced to learn effectively. Define the critical components required to understand the opportunities and make the choice.
Dr. Wayne Dyer focused on this when he said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Choice cannot linger to be effective. One of the traits of good leaders is the ability to choose quickly. That quickly does not come from sloppy choice. These leaders have defined the process to be efficient. Gather what is needed quickly and move forward.
A Chinese proverb teaches “Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking without learning is dangerous.” The two are required to optimize the experience process. In the classroom, I had several classes where the professor would deliver a topic non-stop for hours. There was no discussion. It was a commodity of words. Not wanting to miss anything that might be needed for later recall, many pages of notes were created. Test time came around to recant the notes received in a summarized fashion. There was no real learning from the choice to be in that class. As soon as the final exam was over, the notes were purged from memory.
- Choice Achieves Personal Growth
Long before we took our first steps, we were cast with an imprint. The imprint is what makes us who we are. Each choice leads us to a consequence. That consequence may take us toward our true self, toward uncovering our true potential, or may keep obscured our true self. Our true self is the potential we have been given. This ability to choose does not come cheap. It comes with accountability. It comes with a requirement to settle up for the choice made.
This settlement grows us. We experience positive or negative impacts to our daily life. We need to learn from both to growth. Growth has to be given the right conditions to happen. Reflection and learning are required. To uncover our potential, our true self, we need these conditions. We need to learn the lessons to move forward.
John C. Maxwell said, “You can’t control the length of your life—but you can control its width and depth.” The minute I moved from letting the days fly by and taking control was the minute that my life widened and deepened. Taking control through reflection and action to make a better today widened the trough to an ocean.
- Choice Leads to Self-Determination
Self-determination skills include ability to set goals, to solve problems and to make decisions. Each of these abilities are pursued wholeheartedly if the choice is embraced. People who have self-determination have gone within themselves and found their way forward from their point in life.
John C. Maxwell eyed self-determination, “Your attitude towards life is still under construction.” Your environment molds you. The things you do mold the environment. Dr. Henry Cloud noted that people create the environment and allow what happens within it. I decided to stop my wandering days. I choose to reflect daily. I made a choice. Today is about making choices to stop the wandering and begin anew. It has been said that successful people make right decisions early and then manage those decisions daily.
Choice is important to taking control of one’s life as long as it is balanced with review. The review then leads to what should be reinforced today and what additional value will you bring to those you meet and influence. An old soft drink commercial put the following to the consumer, “Choose wisely!”
