Who is making the significant decisions for your life?

Who is making the significant decisions for your life?

Article by Cynthia Chirinda

We all make a myriad of decisions every living day of our lives. Some of these are low level with low stakes results which speak more into our personal preferences and less about impact. This is not the case with powerful decisions. These are the ones that change the course of our lives, requiring us to go way beyond reason and logic, straight into our hearts, to find answers that are truthful, though not necessarily popular or easy. Powerful decisions never lead you down the conventional path. Instead, they provide you an opportunity to honour and advance your values. These decisions are real life enactments of what you stand for and who you are. Who is making this level of decisions for you in your life?

Defending our decisions

When we make powerful decisions we need to be well equipped with weapons to deal with the internal and external resistance that follows these paradigm shifts. We should expect resistance to show up just when we are making progressive strides, so it’s in our best interests to fully invest in our arsenal bank in advance. This calls for self-confidence, integrity and the ability to discern between inner voices that come from fear, and those that deliver messages from the heart. When you make a bold decision, you will undoubtedly find yourself in the uncomfortable place of not knowing what to do next. This should not be wasted because uncertainty in itself inspires brilliance, which helps you to get absolutely clear about what you want and why you want it. When you find yourself in this place, choices and actions appear, steps are taken and a fresh journey begins towards a significant life.

Conditions versus Decisions

Whilst some of the circumstances we find ourselves in are not entirely of our own making, the sum total of our lives is usually a reflection of the decisions we have made. Each time we make a powerful decision, we step more fully into our own unique, authentic expression. We have the power to change our lives with our decisions. Some would argue that our conditions are the larger part of determining our destiny. Whilst our conditions may be relevant, it is important to note that for any situation one person claims shaped their destiny for the worse, there are counter-examples of people who used their decisions and action to overcome those same circumstances. If you think your life and its conditions is holding you back, whatever seems to be preventing you from reaching your full potential is more likely your decisions (or lack thereof) than your circumstances. There are blind folks who are climbing mountains. Double lower leg amputees dancing, walking and running. Conditions can be overcome, with decisions, creativity, determination, and hard work.

Every decision and every choice shapes your future, from what you eat, to where you work and live and especially the people you spend your time with. Everything in your life, business and personal, exists because you first made a choice about it. Despite our parents making most of our decisions for our better and brighter future when we are very young, we start learning early how to choose between the options placed strategically in front of us and make decisions.

We cannot undo the past

The choices we make and the decisions we take have a long lasting impact on our lives. They make us special, put a bar of distinction between us and everyone else. Whether you feel it immediately or not, your life is being shaped by the choices you are making in the present. Sometimes, we make bad choices and often stoop low with misery and regret when we realize our mistake. That is all part of being human. We cannot undo the past, but we can always learn from it. Choices are the building blocks of our lives and despite all the mistakes one makes, a new day brings with itself new opportunities and a whole new world of choices. The present is a gift you need to make the best of, and the core of your future comprises each and every decision you have ever taken. Sometimes we don't allow our mind to think and we make choices too fast. Other times we just want to follow the crowd or to be a popular in the way we make our decisions. We should allow our minds to think through our decisions. Decisions affect and shape our character because our decisions become our habits and that becomes our character.

What is Your Excuse?

Is your comfort zone working for you? The decision not to do anything is the easiest decision to make. Sometimes we have a choice that could change our lives for the better, but we decide not to do it because we may feel it is safer to be in our comfort zone. If you want to get to the next level in your life and make changes, then the decision in yours. In his best-selling book Exit Your Excuses, Life Coach Tafadzwa Kenneth Mukoyi posits that “there is something hidden inside you that should and can counter, shatter, destroy and alienate your excuses.” So what are the things in your life, the conditions in which you live, that you claim are holding you back? Have you examined them closely to see if that is really true, or if it’s mostly a lack of decision on your part? Is there anyone who had it worse and is doing better than you? What’s your excuse? More importantly, when will you decide to stop hiding behind your excuses and face your destiny? Decisions, not your conditions, will shape your life moving forward. If your decision is to do nothing, that decision, not your conditions, will define your life.

Powerful decisions are not easy, but making them grants us access to what we most long for—to feel empowered, authentic, and capable of stepping beyond what we believe ourselves to be. What powerful decisions have you made? What did you learn in the process? How have these decisions changed your life? It is our decisions, not the conditions of our lives that determine our destiny.

Cynthia Chirinda is an Organisational and Personal Development Consultant, a Life Coach, Author, and Strategist. Her two new additions to the Connection Factor Collection “The Connection Factor for Leaders” and “The Connection Factor for Women” speak to matters that position organisational leaders and women respectively, to achieve greater levels of success through their strategic connections. Looking at improving your career, personal effectiveness, communication skills, relationships, focus, faith and happiness? Wholeness Incorporated Coaching offers you strategies you can implement today to review your progress and achieve your goals. E-mail: [email protected] LinkedIn: Cynthia Chirinda. Mobile: 263 717 013 206. Website: www.cynthiac.net.in