Our days are full of decisions. Hundreds of choices, big and small.
- From the mundane of what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, which route to take to work…
- To the potentially life-altering of whether to change careers, go to counseling or get a divorce, start exercising, make time for creativity…
Every single choice has consequences. There are results and effects. Ramifications and repercussions.
Consequences vary
Of course, those consequences vary. Some are neither here nor there. Others, a very big deal.
If I make a choice to sleep an extra hour on Sunday, the consequences are I feel more rested, but have an hour less to do what I’d planned for the day.
If I decide to sleep an extra hour on a day when I have a morning coaching session, I may altogether miss the meeting, lose the client, and damage my reputation, etc.
So, consequences vary.
Choices: Closer to or farther away
Either way, there’s always a choice and a consequence that goes along with it. Every choice either moves you closer to or farther from something.
And so the question is, Where are your choices leading your life?
Expecting different results
Another truism about consequences is this: If you want what you have, keep doing what you’re doing. Which means if you want something different, start making different choices.
There’s that saying: Insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result. It’s time to stop this particular form of insanity.
- If you want to get out of credit card debt, but continue to spend beyond your means, there will not be a different—or desired—result. You will remain in debt.
- If you want to make a career change, but just complain about your current job and procrastinate when it comes to exploring other options, you’d better get used to the status quo.
- If you’re sick and tired of feeling overwhelmed and having no margin in your life, but refuse to set boundaries and say “no”, then your tomorrow won’t be much different than yesterday.
When you’re making all those big and small choices, ask yourself, “Is this going to bring me closer to or farther from what I want?” Then depending on your answer, choose wisely.
