Empower Yourself: Be in Choice

When the chips are down, and you’re feeling uncertain about what to do, what is your default behaviour?

If you choose to put off the decision, hoping and waiting for a moment of clarity, you may find yourself waiting a long time. Or, someone else makes the choice for you.

If your default behaviour is to get into action so you can feel like you’re doing ‘something’ toward a solution, you may find yourself feeling tired, lost and at the behest of the universe.

You’re moving, but you haven’t actually made a conscious choice yet.

Choosing is something you do all day long. Some of your choices are easy to make. Others are more challenging. The point is to be aware of those moments when you tend to slip into a default pattern.

Why is this important?

This consciousness of your inherent freedom to act – and deliberately acting from this place – is what we call ‘being in choice’.

The brilliance of choice is found in its muscularity. The more you use it, the more you have it. When you choose consciously, especially when you feel powerless, you’ll become more goal-directed and self-confident.

It’s a way of being that capitalizes on your power to direct your actions.

Executives make choices all day long. But everyone lapses into feeling overwhelmed and fatalistic when demands are consistently high. There is a tendency to respond to this chaos by reflexively acting as if we have no choices at all!

Here’s how you can BE in choice – consistently:

Ask yourself:

What part of my life feels like it isn’t in my hands?
Take that situation and see where you can find choice. It may be in how you choose to view it, what strategy to use, or how you choose to surrender it to a higher power. Whatever you do, focus on your choice, not the powerlessness.

What keeps me awake at night?
Ask yourself, “What choices have I not been making in this situation? What may I be avoiding? What choice am I prepared to make?”

In what part of my life do I feel small or ineffective?
Ask yourself, “What am I believing about myself in this situation? How am I making myself feel small? What would I choose to do if I felt powerful?”

In what part of my life am I on automatic pilot?
Choose to wake up. Choose to be with whatever is in front of you. All of it. Choose to believe you can handle it. Because you can.

Remember:

You can strengthen your power to choose in any moment of your day. Simply pay attention to what you’re choosing.

Consciously choose to put milk in your coffee.
Consciously choose what you want to prioritize in your day.
Consciously choose to take a deep breath.

In this way, you’re cultivating a new way of being.

In Choice.

With love and gratitude,
Lynda