The Power to Choose

When we fail to recognize our ability to take control of your life, we fall into a pattern of "life sucks", "why them and not me?", "I will never get this done" or "I will never be able to achieve [fill in blank]". Do you realize how much these thoughts weigh you down and turn you into a helpless/hopeless victim lacking the ability to take responsibility for your present and your future?

It's not easy taking yourself out of victim-mode, especially if you have lived a significant amount of your life this way. But. if you don't make the decision to act now, all you are doing is fueling the continued cycle of helplessness. When you phrase your actions/decisions in this manner, you remove self-imposed pressures and stresses that you associate with the task.

Making a point to incorporate choice into my daily life has shown me strength, courage and discipline that I used to think never existed nor was it possible to manifest. As you will recognize below, life can be a series of trade-offs and your choices serve as a catalyst for positive or negative results in the near or distant future. Remove words like "I can't", "I have to" and "I should (or shouldn't)" from your vocabulary. They hold you back more than you may think. Instead, replace them with affirming statements such as the ones below that I use for myself:

• I choose happy thoughts.
• I choose to make time for exercise in order to live a more healthy lifestyle and reduce my risk of illness/injury in the future.
• I choose to not let other's opinions of me or my work affect my self-worth.
• I choose to focus on my work (or I choose to surf the web instead).
• I choose to forgive others. In forgiving others, I release the unnecessary burden of pain that I previously chose to cling to.
• I choose to pay that bill (or I choose to not pay the bill and accept the priviledge of paying late while incurring late fees). 
• Given the choice of chocolate or vanilla, I pick vanilla. Why? Not just because of the taste, but because that is what I choose to pick.

Phrasing your actions/decisions in this manner help you to remove self-imposed pressures and stresses that you associate with the task. Life then becomes a more empowering experience with endless possibilities.

If you are not sure where to begin to take control of your life, I figured I would give you a little jump-start. There is a book I am recently read (and am re-reading!) called The Now Habit that speaks in depth on the topic as it relates to procrastination. It helped me realize a lot of things I am speaking of in this blog today. There's also a powerful story on this topic that popped up on the Tiny Buddha yesterday. There is a plethora of other resources you can turn to for help on taking charge of your life...books, magazines, blogs, seminars...if its something you really want, you just have to make the choice to get up and look for them ;).