Monday, June 16, 2014

Options, Choices, Personal Power

“When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.”
William James
 

Choices:
You are always making life choices – conscious choices that move you forward toward what is most important to you in life and less than conscious choices that serve to keep you stuck in an undesired reality. Your choices empower you when they are in alignment with your highest values - what you hold most dear in life; they define the quality of your present life and the richness of future options. Although you may feel powerless in a particular situation or moment to take action, as Victor Frankl eloquently detailed in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” even in situations when our human rights and freedom are taken away, we still maintain the power and freedom to choose our thoughts.
 
Empowered Choices:
When feeling particularly challenged via life/work demands, it is not unusual to allow external factors to dictate our choices. I refer to this as choosing by default, rather than by intention. Each choice we confront contains the opportunity for our growth and expansion. Consciously choosing to create and live a life that embodies what truly matters is the most important choice you can make in life. The path to empowered choices requires taking the time to regularly step back, articulate your highest values and ask: “Is this choice that I am about to make in alignment with what I hold most dear and want to create in my life?” I am not suggesting by any means that this is an easy process. I intentionally struggle with the questions that I raise in this and other posts on an ongoing basis; a sense of humor and self-kindness are quite helpful in this journey.

Every day presents new opportunities to choose. Do you want to create and live a life that aligns with what is most important to you? Or, do you want to live a life designed by default – determined by what is important to others? What will you choose today – something that empowers you to create what truly matters to you, or something else?

Janet
 
For related posts, check out the following links:

Optimal Performance Fundamentals
Courage Revisited

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