Giving your best, being disciplined and being brave.
What do they all have in common?
They are all choices that we make, day in and day out. Often subconsciously, and there perhaps is the rub.
Because this – of course – is about awareness.
“Why am I doing what I am doing?”
That is the question I most often encourage clients to ask of themselves. This can be a useful on-the-spot self check in as to immediate consequences of our actions in the moment. It can also be a useful reflective tool to help assess motivation, and realign our choices with our values and our priorities.
This links to a blog series on Good Choices.
How and why we choose what we do, and the kinds of choices we make are themes that we are revisiting this week and next.
And perhaps this is just what you need in this season of transition.
We cannot tell the future, and there are many uncertainties and unknowns. If hindsight could be sold in bottles, to be drunk in advance with caution or abandon, chances are our choices might be very different. But all we are left with instead is the sometimes-poisoned chalice of regret after the event is over.
I wrote these words four years ago, and I read them now with renewed clarity. More on this theme of not living with regret but making proactive choices here.
Perhaps for you, there is a brave choice you are needing to make as we move into this new, and strange season. More on choosing to be brave here.
There are thoughts and pointers here about choosing to be disciplined and doing what you say you are going to do, and here about being clear about what you are saying yes to and WHY.
And finally for this week, perhaps what most need is encouragement to choose not to be too proud.
What do I mean by choosing not to be too proud?
This is about saying – I need help…or I got it wrong….or I have limited resources and this isn’t working as I hoped. Young children don’t give up trying to walk the first time they fall over. They try, fail, learn, and try again. How much do we need this approach to our lives! Read more on this here.
Next week, we will revisit themes of choosing to say sorry, choosing to forgive and choosing to take imperfect action, so do join me for that.
And this week, recognise that pretty much everything you do throughout the course of a day is a choice, and challenge yourself to make good choices.