We can contribute where we are today at this very moment to the cumulative choices we have made in our lives up until now. Some of those choices we might wish could be reversed, but never the less; we are here because of those choices – good and bad. But the good news is this: We can affect the tomorrows and next year and the next decade by making better choices today – right now.
But how do we go about making the best choices for ourselves consistently? I am so glad you asked! Here are my favorite guidelines to manage choice points:
- Choose Routine: If you are looking to adopt a new habit or break a new habit, do it consistently with lots of effort and determination in the beginning until it becomes an effortless habit. For example, if you decide you want to start exercising, set your alarm 30 minutes earlier than normal and commit (here is the effort & determination phase) to walking until you notice you feel so much better and you will then want (here is the effortless phase) to get up to walk.
- Ask the “Big” Question: If you are trying to make a decision on whether something matters or not or whether it is worth getting upset about, ask yourself one question. In the big picture, does this really matter? Will I even care about this in 30 days? If you can’t answer yes to either of these questions, then don’t spend your time or energy here.
- Schedule It: Sometimes our days get away from us before we even get started on our dreaded “To Do List.” We continually respond to those things in our face such as the phone ringing, people walking into our office or the e-mail chimes. Instead of living in a pure reaction mode (lack of choice mentality), choose instead to schedule your top priorities and move into a response mode (choices become abundant). It truly is okay to schedule time to work on your projects in your office or the local library. Record these work times in your calendar and honor those just as much as you would an appointment with a client.
- Work “On” Your Business: Most of us spend time working “in” our business daily. These include tasks such as sales proposals, client meetings, answering the phone, making sales calls, responding to e-mails, etc. But few business people spend time working “on” their business. When working with clients, I request them to schedule one or two days each months working “on” their business. These are days when you would look at things like how to market your business better, how is your cash flow, are you meeting your profit margin goals, are you paying too much overtime, how will I grow my business to the next level, what impression does my showroom make on clients, etc. By taking a step back and viewing your business from a bird’s eye view from 1000 feet instead of the view from the every-day operation trenches; you will gain much insight and perspective and make better overall daily choices.
- Program Your GPS: When choices come our way, sometimes we choose to the road of least resistance. Sometimes that choice proves to be the best. However, the path of least resistance is not always the best choice. But how do we have better odds of making the right choices? By taking the time to develop both our long and short term goals (determining the address to program our GPS to), we are more assured of reaching our goals (making it to our destination).
In this upcoming year, decide where you want your accumulated choices to take you. Each individual choice you make builds on the variety of choices that will come before you make in the future. By creating an environment that fosters choices coming from a place of response verses reaction, we will make wiser choices that will propel our lives and businesses to greater, more satisfying heights.
- Copyright 2010 Kay Kotan is a Coach, Author & Speaker serving the Promotional Products Industry. kay@kaykotan.com.
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