The Power of Choices

Are you one of the many who think it's impossible to make choices? Do you find yourself consistently making excuses and explanations for the choices you choose? Are those choices that you make starting to erode your self confidence and self worth? If you are tired of dodging questions about why you chose a certain action or thought, or why you didn't, you are not alone. Most people believe it is impossible to make choices.


Most of the time we make choices based on what we think other people expect of us. We look to those who seem to have all the answers and success. We trust our ideas and concepts to the 'experts,' and we rely on the promise that life will be easy if we follow this path. While this may seem like the logical path to take, most of the time, it is not.

When we begin to get comfortable with our circumstances, we often begin to make excuses for the things in our life. This can become so damaging to our self-confidence and our sense of happiness that we start to believe it is all-sides-for-us. Yet, how does life get more complicated with little decisions? Life gets more complicated when we make poor decisions that have long-lasting effects. Life also gets more complicated when we make decisions that give rise to a ripple effect and we have to deal with unintended consequences. As a result, we'll wind up with more choices we need to make, but where do we turn for help?

The reality is, you don't have to sit by and watch your choices go down the drain. You can take back control of your life and make choices that bring about the changes you want in your life. Instead of being paralyzed by fear of making choices, you should take full advantage of all information available to you. There is always a better way to make decisions, no matter how small the decision may seem.

If you know the outcome you want, you'll be less willing to make sacrifices or to tolerate pain. With all the choices in the world today, you should be able to find a better way to live your life than the one you're currently living. You'll have more peace of mind, you'll feel empowered, and you'll even enjoy the process of making choices rather than dreading them.

One important step you need to take to make the right decision is to recognize all possible outcomes. For example, if you get married and then have a child, you must realize how all of this will affect your financial future, your health care needs, and other aspects of your life. The same thing goes for your career. If you get a promotion, you need to fully assess the job and all the factors involved in that job before you decide to accept the job offer. Otherwise, you might end up regretting the decision later on.

You must realize you don't always have all the information you need to make decisions. It's okay to admit that you don't know everything, but you must learn to trust your gut when it tells you something is wrong. If you listen to your feelings and stop to consider all of the variables, you'll be much better off. Choosing to stay in a bad relationship will have serious consequences in the long run. On the other hand, making a decision based on logic and fact will allow you to make good choices in the future.


Regardless of whether you are making decisions that affect your career, your health, and your happiness, you should always remember to set some boundaries. Once you start making decisions based on emotion and not logic, sooner or later those choices will backfire. For example, if you jump into a relationship with someone you barely know and then you fall in love, you'll probably end up with an unhappy relationship. However, if you take the time to build a relationship first, then you'll have a better chance at finding the person who is right for you. In other words, you need to learn to say no sometimes, and you also need to let your head rule your heart.