As everyone knows, today is the day of the presidential election in the United States Of America. Everyone that is 18 years old or older has the opportunity to go out and vote. By voting, each person can make their choice known. They have their voice in what they want and don’t want in the government and in the policies for the future. 
This ability vote is very powerful because it allows you to actively make a choice on what your future brings. By voting, you have to make a choice on what you do and don’t support. If you choose not to vote, you are making the choice that no matter the outcome, you accept the consequences by not taking a stance. When you vote, you make a choice beforehand on whether or not you are going to study the topics and become educated or just go with a guess based on a couple of advertisements you heard on the radio or saw on T.V.
Voting is a very important manifestation of your choice, however, there are many other aspects of your life where you make choices as well. As a matter of fact, everyday you have hundreds of choices. You must decide what you are going to wear, what you are going to eat, how fast you will drive to work, what route you will take, whether you will try for a new job or opportunity, etc. and the list goes on. Some of the choices you make each day are very inconsequential while others have major impacts on the direction you go for the future.
In life, you can either become educated and make choices for yourself, or you can remain ignorant and choose not to make your choices count.
So what are characteristics of those who don’t make their choices count?
I have heard many people say one of the following statements before.
- I have to go to school tonight.
- I have to go to work.
- I have to do a report.
- They made me go to the conference.
- They made me give this speech.
- Etc.
Those who make these statements don’t make their choices count. In many cases it is because they didn’t educate themselves. They do not understand that no one can make them do anything. There are times when you face one of two consequences with neither being “fun”. In those cases it is common to hear one of the statements above.
For example, “I have to go to school tonight.” You don’t have to go to school tonight, you will just get a bad grade, miss an exam, not get points for attendance, or have some other negative consequence that you don’t want if you don’t go, but you do have a choice in the matter. You probably chose to enroll in the class at the beginning of the semester. When you made that choice, you also committed to do your best to attend each class and learn and understand the material. No one is making you go to school tonight.
People who don’t make their choices count take the attitude that their life depends on everyone else. They feel like if they aren’t successful it is because someone else made them fail. These types of people are very quick to blame others and will never take responsibility for their actions. “They made me do it…” People that don’t make their choices count are generally less happy in life because they are also much more reactive instead of proactive.
So what are characteristics of those who own their choices?
Well, the person who makes their choices count is quite the opposite of the person mentioned above. They don’t even make statements like those mentioned above. They understand that their choices do count each day and they do everything they can do to make the right choices. When people own their choices, they don’t make excuses for their actions because they know they educated themselves before they made their choice and made the best choice they could based on the information they had available.
If you take the attitude that you own your choices, you will do what you can to make yourself succeed. You will not leave your success to chance. If you ever want to be a great leader, you must own your choices. You must understand that when you make a choice, it is your choice and you will live with it whether the outcome is good or bad.
As a leader, there is one thing that no one can take away from you: your power to choose. You can make a choice to be complacent and not choose or you can actively choose. Either way, it is your choice.
How has choice had an impact on your life? What choices have you made that you are proud of and what choices didn’t go as planned? What did you learn from each of those choices? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Leave a Reply