DECISION POWER

Anthony Robbins talks a lot about decisions. One of his lines is
that the quality of your life lies within the quality of your
decisions. There is a lot of truth in what he talks about.
Think about it. Each time you are faced with a decision, you are
making a choice that will affect the events that shape your life.
I know that there have been many times I've made some bad
choices, and my life suffered as a result. And when I made
better choices, my life improved. I know you've also had similar
experiences.
So if the quality of our decisions determines the quality of our
life, how do we go about making better choices? Most of the time
it comes down to experience and education. Every time we are
faced with a choice, our mind reviews our past experiences to see
if we have any information that relates to the current situation.
If we do have previous knowledge, and that knowledge is
extensive, covering many different circumstances, then we have
plenty of information with which to make a quality decision. If
the information we have is scanty and limited, then the quality
of our decision based on that information will be more
questionable.
This sounds very good in theory, but let's see how it sounds in
actual practice. Let's say that you've just made a decision to
increase your income this year. How much information do you have
regarding increasing income? If you're like most people, you
learn a skill and get a job. If you perform that job well, then
you get rewarded by a raise in pay and possibly an increase in
responsibility. That increase in responsibility results in
having to learn new skills. What this means, if that if you are
like most people, the information you have regarding increasing
income leads you to believe that you have to get yourself
promoted to a more responsible position or perform better in your
current job to earn more money.
But is this the only route to increased income? Is the job you
have now, or the company you work for, the only way you can make
money? Obviously not, since there are many other people making
money who are not in your company. One of the best ideas that I
ever came across for gathering the best information on any
subject (in order to make the best decisions regarding that
subject) was to find out who are the people who excel in that
subject. If you want to learn about physics, the best people to
talk to are physicists. If you want to learn about making money,
the best people to talk to are those making the most money.
How do rich people make their money? How do those in wonderful
relationships develop those relationships? How do those who are
happy arrive at that happiness? In any subject that you have to
make a decision, your best source of information are those people
who are excelling in that subject.
But is the quantity of information we have available to us the
only controlling factor in regards to the quality of our
decisions? No. The strength of our conviction behind the
decision is also very important to the quality of that decision.
If we're not really committed to the decision that we have just
made, then we won't put forward our best efforts to follow
through with the actions required to implement it. On the other
hand, if we are willing to move heaven and earth and push through
any series of trials that present themselves on our way to
following through on our decision, then there is quality in that
decision.
I'm sure you've had experience with making a decision to change a
habit, but ended up giving in to the habit and giving up on your
decision. We've all done that. You already know that this is
not the way to handle the important decisions of your life. If
you really want something, you really have to stand behind your
decisions to do what it takes to get it. You know that. But do
you do it? Maybe all you need is practice in standing behind
your decisions.
Many people make little decisions that don't really involved
much, except that they involve doing something that they don't
really like doing. Like eating a kind of food that doesn't taste
good to them, or wearing clothes that don't fit the season
(heavy, warm clothes in the summer; or light, cool clothes in the
winter), or even stepping outside of their comfort zone in
inconsequential situations. This is very good discipline
training. In fact, this is exactly where the original
austerities used by many religions came from. Through this kind
of training, the mind becomes clear, the emotions become stable,
and the spirit becomes pure.
But don't stop with inconsequential decisions in your quest for
mental discipline. Start to apply this discipline and make
quality decisions that affect the long term conditions of your
life. Every day you have a choice between doing the same old
thing or doing something different. If you would like your life
to be different than it is now, you now know exactly what you
need to do. Learn as much as you can from those who have
demonstrated a mastery of the subject, then make decisions based
on that information and stand behind those decisions and make
them happen for you!