Day 3: Make Up Your Mind
"Nothing happens until you decide. Make a decision and watch your life move forward" - Oprah Winfrey
In 2011, on my twenty-second birthday, after experiencing failure and feeling disappointed with myself and with life - I made the decision to take responsibility for my life. It dawned on me that while I could not deny that there were a lot of unfair things that had happened in my life, those things were not in my control and there was nothing I could do to change them. However, I had the power to take responsibility for how I reacted to those events and circumstances and whether I would allow them to shape my life positively or negatively. I decided to use them to forge a new positive path for myself. I developed a 20-vision for my life and committed to live every single day in honour of that vision instead of allowing life to sabotage it. See the video below for a more detailed version of the lesson I learned.
When I look back at that decision I took ten years ago, I realise how much it empowered me and set me on a path of self-development, overcoming fear and taking ownership of every aspect of my life instead of leaving it to chance or to the control of other people.
Having the ability to make a decision and to stick by it is one of the foundations for resilience, which is a trait that every single one of us needs to achieve our life goals. People that stick to their decisions are able to navigate difficulties that are bound to come as they pursue their goals. Rather than quitting when faced with challenges, those people that have made a decision are inspired to be creative in coming up with solutions to those challenges in order to see their goals realised. Furthermore, when you make a decisive commitment to pursue a specific goal, you open up your mind to see opportunities related to that goal everywhere you go. All your energy and mental resources are directed at attaining that goal and all other options become invisible.
As we get ready to set our goals in the different dimensions of our lives, I would like to challenge all of us to think about what specific decisions we have to take and commit to, to set ourselves up for success. My first decision as I started the year was that I am going to commit to putting out a blog post on goal-setting for 21 days consecutively and that's how this challenge was born. I know that I will have setbacks in seeing this challenge through but I am committed to making it happen and therefore will do every single thing in my power to make sure I do it consistently. What decisions do you have to make for your life? What things do you need to commit to?
"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" - James 1:8
In his book, The Seven Decisions - Andy Andrews describes seven key decisions that each one of us has to make to set ourselves up on the path of success.
The first and most powerful decision is The Responsible Decision. This is the decision where one chooses to accept responsibility for their past and resolves to take ownership to determine their future. This is the decision I took on 11 July 2011 that helped transform my life.
Do you feel responsible for your life or are you still waiting for someone else - your parents, your spouse / partner, the government or any other external person to determine your life for you or to make your dreams come true?
The six other decisions according to Andy Andrews are as follows:
The Guided Decision: I choose to actively seek wisdom to craft a life of extraordinary achievement.
The Active Decision: When I am faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something. I will always choose to act.
The Certain Decision: I choose to have a decided heart that is unwavering in the face of continual challenges and setbacks to ensure victory and a lifetime of greater fulfillment.
The Joyful Decision: I choose to be happy regardless of my circumstances. My happiness will not depend on what happens externally.
The Compassionate Decision: I choose to forgive in order to free myself and open myself up to the possibilities of a better future. I understand that holding on to anger is like drinking poison and hoping someone else will die.
The Persistent Decision: I choose to persist without exception. I know the outcome I desire, I hold fast to my dreams, I stay the course, I do not quit. I will continue despite exhaustion.
Based on what I shared yesterday about interrogating our beliefs in order to identify any toxic beliefs we may have about ourselves, others and the world; it may be that the first decision that you have to make is to fiercely believe in yourself no matter what others may think of you. What other decisions do you have to make based on yesterday's reflections?
Journal Reflections:
Which areas of my life am I confused about? What doubts do I have? How can I be more decisive in those areas?
In what areas of my life have I taken powerful and empowering decisions? What impact have those decisions had in my life? How can exercise the same decisiveness in other areas of my life where I am less decisive?
Go through the Seven Decisions (link below) by Andy Andrews and make the relevant ones part of your affirmations for this year.
Tools and resources:
Andy Andrews - The Seven Decisions (downloadable PDF)
How to be a better decision-maker (Short Article)
