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“Try to make it a habit to mentally notify yourself when you’re making a decision–no matter how mundane.”
The path to success is comprised of a sum of decisions. There are good decisions and bad decisions.
Of course, each decision is judged against a goal or an objective.
I’ll give you a health related example since it’s still January which means many people have their “washboard abs” and “Brazilian Butt Lift” New Years resolutions still in affect.
Let’s say the goal is to “be healthier”. (I’ll keep it vague — although specific goals are better and easier to measure against).
“Eat fried food for lunch” – bad decision
“Workout for 20 min” – good decision
“Smoke a cigarette” – bad decision
“Get a gym buddy” – good decision
“Lay in bed all day” – bad decision
When you look at it that way, it’s fairly simple, right? Well, what is it that makes this seemingly “easy” task so challenging for so many people then? There are a couple reasons.
Accountability
We don’t really make the time to evaluate our decisions and hold ourselves accountable. If you were to make a list of all the decisions you made throughout the day, first, you might find that you make a lot more decisions than you think in a day. Secondly, you’d find that many aren’t mapped back to any sort of goal. Third, if they are tied to a goal, you might have a 50/50, good/bad decision ratio going–which is not a particularly good way to make any significant progress.
Habits
People who are successful make it a habit of making more good decisions than bad ones. But it doesn’t come naturally. Naturally, we do what seems easy, unless we prompt ourselves to think otherwise. It’s becomes easy to fall into patterns where you’re making a lot of bad choices, and then you contrast them by trying to pile on the good ones.
Try to make it a habit to mentally notify yourself when you’re making a decision–no matter how mundane. That will help you to stop and think before you choose and hopefully help you make better choices.
Arrive at work. Stairs or elevator?
Grab a quick drink. Water or soda?
Etc.
If you’re having trouble deciding what to do to be healthier, wiser, more persistent, or more assertive, maybe just try to stop doing those things that are hindering you.
Don’t eat junk food. Don’t watch as much entertainment television. Don’t give up so easily. Don’t stay silent if you’ve got something to say.
Here’s a challenge for you:
- Choose a goal.
- Add one thing for the week that helps you reach that goal.
- Subtract one thing for the week preventing you reach from reaching that goal.
See how the good decisions start to add up.
Thanks for reading.
~Brent
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