Tag: Decision Making

The Decisions We Make

Achieving Goals, Happiness, Health, Leadership, Relationships, Success

The other evening, I was getting ready for bed and was about to wash my face and brush my teeth when in the bathroom I saw a bee sat on the windowsil. My first reaction was fear, and my mind started racing with imaginings of the bee stinging me. At this point, I was presented with a choice: be scared or be curious.

I chose the latter and moved in closer to have a look at the bee. It was alive, and it seemed to be sleeping. I noticed it was a honeybee, and my mind became filled with compassion. The bee must have been flying around all day looking for pollen to make honey and was exhausted. I left the bee there to rest, and in the morning, I opened the window, and after a while, it woke up and flew out to head home.

The point is that when we are faced with making a decision we can decide what to do based on fear, anger and other negative states, or we can make it based on curiosity, empathy and other positive states. The choice before we make the decision is whether we react or respond to circumstances. Do we step back or attack, or do we lean forward or empathise? Whichever we choose can become a habit, so choose carefully.

The Law Of Authenticity

The Pathway To Fulfilment

The fourth Law of Stratospheric Success for the book The Go-Giver is The Law of Authenticity.

“The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.”

The Go-Giver

Often in the world we see other people that we would like to be, people we envy or look up to. Often people use social media to present a better version of themselves, a more collated life. This has a lot to do with self esteem and comparing our lives with the lives that others present on social media that seem so much better than our lives because people only share the best bits.

The irony is that when we are more authentically ourselves we are the more likely to be successful. This is because when we live and act authentically we focus on what brings us joy and what we are naturally good at. When we are joyful and doing what we are naturally good at we thrive and achieve great things. People will also trust us more because we are being ourselves all the time. Trust is a big element of success, because we cannot be successful alone. And your authentic You is a gift to the world that you should not hide your awesomeness.

The Meaning Matters

Happiness, Success, The Pathway To Fulfilment

What meaning do you put on the experiences you have? I heard a story recently of two American brothers who were wrongfully imprisoned for 25 years. When they were released they went to get their driving licences back at the American DMV they waited in line for over two hours, but to them it was a wonderful experience. The meaning they placed on the situation was that they were free. The next person in the line might have felt trapped.

A lot of the meaning we put onto the experiences we have come from our upbringing and our beliefs, but, to a degree, we can choose what situations mean to us. For example we can be grateful for a challenging situation because we learn what we are capable of or we can feel like a victim, which removes our ability to take ownership of what we then do moving forward. Choose the meaning carefully, as it can uplift you or bring you down.

Sometimes it is what you don’t do that matters 

Success

In one of my previous jobs I inadvertently had a very positive effect on a colleague by not doing something. While chatting for a few minutes one day at work they made an unkind comment about a Director of the company. I didn’t agree with what they said or join in talking about the Director, I just didn’t respond and changed the topic of conversation.

After the brief chat I forgot about it and got on with my day. Months later on a works social night out the same colleague told me that this same conversation, that I had forgotten about, had a profound effect on them. My decision not to join in making comments caused my colleague to rethink how they talk about other people, it has encouraged them to be more kind and to participate less in negative gossip. Sometimes what you don’t do is as important as what you do.

At any time you can be seen by others as a role model, so we should try to live up to this in everything we do and don’t do in our lives.