Indecision becomes decision with time. ~Author Unknown
Last Saturday I was helping a group of women to create a compelling future for themselves. A comment one of the women made really had an impact on me. It shouldn’t have, but sometimes we have moments when we hear things that we’ve heard or experienced before, and it’s like hearing it for the first time!
I asked the women to think back to what their lives were like five years ago. Then I posed the following: Notice what decisions you made five years ago that contributed to where you are now. As some of them shared, one woman told the group that because of her ‘non-decisions’ five years ago, she was at the exact same spot in life she was back then.
I’ve thought about her statement a lot since then. I thought about the ‘non-decisions’ I’ve made in the past that kept me from moving forward. I loved the way she said ‘non-decisions’. When we don’t make a decision, we’re actually making one – and it’s not always positive!
When I think back to five years ago, I was in a huge transition in my life, and I made some good decisions. Two years later I was thoroughly enjoying my life when suddenly someone else made a huge decision that impacted my future tremendously. It was time to make more decisions. I struggled with the next step. I’d dreamed about owning my own business for years, and here was my opportunity, but was I ready to make a big decision like that? It would have been easy to just let life happen at that time, but a lesson I have learned is that it’s important to make decisions, even if they’re wrong ones.
We cannot change the past, but we can have an impact on our future. So I decided to take a course to become a Professional Life Coach and start following a dream I’ve had for a long time but never went anywhere because of ‘non-decisions’.
Don’t allow ‘non-decisions’ to happen in your life.
What was your life like five years ago? What decisions did you make then that contributed to where you are now?
Now, create an image of your life five years from now! What decisions are you going to make today that will contribute to where you’re going to be then?
The women at the retreat all created a compelling future, along with decisions, goals and action steps. Will they stay focused to make those changes happen? They might need some help along the way. They each went away with an accountability partner and the promise of a follow-up coaching session with me. Some of them will have changed lives because of decisions made. Others will let ‘non-decisions’ take over their lives and five years from now will be no different.
I am thankful for the woman who impacted me with her statement about ‘non-decisions’. I’m looking forward to our coaching session to see how she’s doing!
Carlissa, a grade 12 student who attended the retreat with her friend, wrote: “I am more determined after today to complete goals I set. I am more sure that I can accomplish anything I want.” What a great foundation for her future!
Please leave a comment and tell us about your decisions – what is your life going to be like five years from now?
3 comments:
From my life experiences, it's very easy to agree with your encouragement to make decisions. Just clicking onto this blog was a decision.
So many people say, "I could write a book!" But they never do. To write a book begins with writing one sentence and then completing that paragraph. Writing additional paragraphs completes a chapter. Adding more chapters completes the book.
Like everything, there has to be a starting point. Picking up a pen to write is an easy decision. You don't have to make all of the decisions connected with publishing a book.
The bottom line is that it's only necessary to make one decision at a time. The important thing is to make that first decision and the rest will follow easily.
Thanks for your comment about only making one small decision at a time. How true that is. It won't seem so overwhelming or impossible that way!
Hi, Betty. Great point there! I have been in transition myself the past year...turning 40 was not a pleasant time, but as I finished my Masters Degree, I realized that I could carry on with the stress and resulting health issues of the same job, or get over it and move on. Turning 41 led to taking actual steps to change, so that I was not struggling with the same things again in a few years.
I realized that I had 2 options: 1) to move into the university teaching area, so I asked if I could have a class or 2 at the university across the street to try it out, and will have a class from April there; and 2) challenge myself to get a Japanese teaching license. I thought because I was a foreigner that I could not get one, other than a temp. one that would be for conversation practice, but actually, after an interview with the prefectural board of ed, I found out that I could apply and get credits towards a Jps elementary teaching license. So, I am working on those 2 things and will see which direction I end up going into.
Denise
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