More than anything else, I believe it’s our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny. – Tony Robbins and here
Your condition? Flat on your back in the mud. How did you get there? Poor decision, perhaps? Will you just stay there and blame your condition, or will you decide to get up?
What does that mean?
To me, this quote is saying that we have the power to change our lives with our decisions. We can chose to do something stupid. We can chose to do something brilliant and inspirational. It doesn’t matter where we are, or where our lives are at. It is in the power of our decisions that we generate our futures and shape our destiny.
Some would argue that our conditions are the larger part of determining our destiny. I won’t dismiss our conditions as irrelevant. However, 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 it’s 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 guys climbing mountains. Double lower leg amputees dancing and walking the runway (as well as running). Conditions can be overcome, with decisions, creativity, determination, and hard work.
Why are making decisions important?
“Like, I don’t know, man. I’d make one if I knew how!” In choosing not to decide, one still has made a decision, right? We all know how to make them, as well as how to avoid them. The question is do you know why it is important to make decisions?
I’m not talking about wishy-washy, maybe, sorta, kinda type decisions, but real decisions. The word has the same root as scissors and incision, and is all about cutting yourself off from other possibilities. Decide what you are going to do and do it. There is no try, for that is a non-decision, right?
This isn’t to say you have to leap off every cliff you see. You can also have a PlanB, perhaps a parachute or a hang glider at hand, right? Decide to do something, great. But periodic review of progress should give you some hints as to how well you are actually doing, and if it’s time to reassess your plan.
You can decide to do something, and change the plan, the approach, or the timetable. That’s fine, as long as you are sticking with your decision. Just don’t decide to walk westward looking for a sunrise, OK? That would be an example of times when a mistake was made and a new decision reached.
Where can I apply this in my life?
As an example, I’m not comfortable in large groups, and I don’t like speaking before even small groups. But I also like to contribute, and to try to help other people. That left me with the slow, one on one interactions. Nothing wrong with that, but I wasn’t helping as many people as I had hoped.
A year and a half ago, I started this blog. That first month, it didn’t even reach 200 people (and half of those were probably friends and relatives). Now this blog reaches over a thousand people each day, and just three short months ago, it was only reaching half that number. A year ago, it only reached fifteen people a day. That’s amazing!
I’m not claiming that I will single-handedly change the world. However, through my decisions and my actions, I have been able to overcome the condition of my life, the dislike of social situations. Yet I still have managed to contribute to more people in the last year than I ever thought I would in my lifetime.
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? There is no doubt that conditions in your life will have an impact on your destiny, but the quote posits that your decisions (or lack thereof) has a much larger impact.
Grab some paper and write about a half dozen conditions in your life that are holding you back. “If I were rich” – but most rich people were born with significantly less wealth, what did they do to overcome their conditions? “If I was more skilled” – you probably weren’t born with most of the skills you have, so you know how to learn, get busy!
Just like the two excuses I used, try to eliminate your excuses. Is there anyone who had it worse and is doing better than you? Can you find out how they did it, and make the decision to do the same? In the opening section I mentioned a blind mountain climber. He didn’t let his condition stop him!
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.
Choose wisely, and then act. A decision without action isn’t really a decision, is it? What will you do right now to step forward and claim your destiny?
From: Twitter, @tonyrobbins
confirmed at : https://twitter.com/tonyrobbins/status/248531338204958720
Photo by abidavis
