It is exhilarating to find out that life is a product of your choices. Think about the alternative. How disheartening would it be to find out life is the product of other people’s choices? You would be tempted to give up on the whole journey if you had no say in the direction. Lucky for you, that is not the case.
Your assignment is to look back on the last seven days of your life. Write down all the choices you made over the last week in your journal. That’s a pretty daunting task, isn’t it? You most likely made thousands of choices, but just come up with the highlights. Next to each choice write a few words about the direction you took as a result of that choice. Now sit back and examine the results of your week. How does it look as a whole? Did you make good choices for the most part? If your plotted your direction on a chart, would it be all over the place, would it be all downhill, or would you be steadily climbing toward success? Your life is a product of your choices. Take them seriously.
180
It is extremely liberating to know that you always get to choose the direction you take in life. You are in complete control. Unfortunately, that also comes with some responsibility. If you want to accept the glory when you achieve success, you also must be willing to accept the consequences when you screw up.
Do you believe there are consequences to every deed, word, and thought you have throughout your lifetime? Write in your journal for at least fifteen minutes to answer to that question. Are there always consequences, or do you feel like you probably get away with some things in life unscathed? Can there be consequences to your thoughts if you don’t follow through and act on them?
Consider this brain teaser: if you really can’t stand someone at work, but you never say anything mean to them or do anything harmful to that person, are there any consequences to your thoughts?
Do you think about consequences much? It can be debilitating to worry too much about consequences and never have the guts to move forward and take action. But it can also be damaging if you forge ahead without regard to the potential penalties. There must be a balance. Your choices can bring you success, but there will be good or bad consequences to all of your actions. You have to take responsibility for it all if you want to take credit for any of it.
181
Uncertainty doesn’t have a very good connotation, especially when you think about it in relation to your life. It brings up thoughts of doubt, mistrust, and skepticism. You would probably rather have guarantees. If you use uncertainty to describe your situation, it sounds like you don’t believe in yourself.
Your assignment on Day 181 is to consider an alternate definition of uncertainty. What if uncertainty means that there are no limits to the possibilities before you? Your future is uncertain, because it hasn’t been decided yet whether it’s going to be really good, great, or over-the-top fantastic. The sky is the limit to what you can achieve if your future is uncertain. If it’s guaranteed, then you’re stuck with what you’ve got.
Write down in your journal all of the things that have not yet been determined in your life. What is uncertain? Make a list of everything you can think of that’s still up for grabs.
What you have just done is create a list of opportunities. You can do anything you want with that list. Go for it, because nothing is set in stone. You can be wildly successful in any of those areas if you choose to chase the opportunities.
What steps can you take to turn even one uncertainty on that list into a huge opportunity for success? You can use the ambiguity it represents to break all the rules and go for it. Uncertainty is the refuge of hope. The fact that the future is yet to be decided means that you still have an opportunity to shape your success.
182
