Everything we do in life has been directed by our own choice.

We make hundreds of choices every day. Some small, some large, some of great importance some of little significance…

Are we always aware of the choices we make?

Do we always stop and think? Weighing the situation up?…The pro’s and the cons, the positives and negatives…

Or do we allow other people or factors to govern our choices?

How many choices do YOU yourself, actually process with thought and decisiveness, without the influence of others…

People around you…friends…family…what you’ve heard in the past…what you heard on TV or the radio….

Do you make all of your own choices?

Whether consciously, or subconsciously.

Conscious choices are choices you’ve actively thought about, weighing up the situation before determining a course of action.

Subconscious choices are made with little thought or process, decisions you’ve made with little to no conscious thinking, as you would on “autopilot” mode.

I challenge you to think clearly and reflect….

For 90% of the population the choices people make on a day to day basis are automated, thoughtless impulse based processes.

When you go to the local supermarket on your lunch hour do you take the time to stop and think about what you’d enjoy eating for you lunch?

Do you circle the store thinking about what you’ve had on previous days or what foods would be smart choices to aid in achieving your fitness / nutrition goals….

Maybe you prepared your lunch the night before?

Knowing that nutrition plays a pivotal role in your health & wellbeing, deciding that if you just took the time to prep your lunch, sacrificing an hour of t.v entertainment…you’d have a tasty nutritious meal waiting for you when lunch time comes around…

Or….

Do you choose to stay slumped on the sofa, watching tv….

And stroll into the supermarket on your lunch hour, heading straight to the freshly prepared counter…

Picking up the same sandwich, bag of crisps and bottle of fizzy pop you always grab to qualify for the discounted meal deal?

For the vast majority….I’ll go with the latter.

See, the point I’m trying to make is that for most part of our daily lives, we’re absent, absent from real thought or calculated decision.

Generally speaking, on a day to day basis, we go about our lives making POOR (easy) subconscious decisions…

Our subconscious decisions are subject to the influence of others, our addictions, habit and impulse.

Most of the time….

We don’t think for ourselves….

It’s not as though making choices is a difficult task….

Choice is as simple as decision A or decision B

A) Walking to the shop 1 mile down the road to collect milk, burning 200kcals in the process, getting your daily intake of vitamin D and chatting to a friendly neighbour or two in the process

Or…

Decision B) jumping into your car to collect the milk, burning practically 0kcals in the process and communicating with no one.

Now this scenario doesn’t seem particularly important to even contemplate, but small choices like this add up to the greater consistency of actively making informed choices

Making decisions based on what’s best for YOU

What will benefit YOU the most

Decision A, or decision B

We need to wake up from our automated lives and start thinking for ourselves!

Start making decisions that benefit YOU the most

Not what you’ve heard others do, what Jane said down the road or what is easiest…

An easy life gets you nowhere

Nothing good in life comes easy

An easy life guarantees you’ll have health issues, be unhappy at work, have zero direction, debt and misery.

It’s easy to sit around in your pants doing sod all in your spare time

It’s easy to watch tv instead of researching that online course you found interesting, or learning how to cook like you’ve always said you wanted to…

It’s easy to listen to that voice in your head that tells you not to bother….that tells you to relax after convincing you you’ve had a hard day….

That tells you to do nothing…. That tells you to play on your computer for 5 hours…Tells you you’ve earned a chocolate bar for going to work….

Convinces you you’ve done enough activity for the week after playing one game of football with the kids….

That voice serves only one purpose…

To cheat you …

Cheat you from becoming your true self….

To cheat you from making the right choices…..

To cheat you into taking the easy road…

To cheat you from becoming more…

Don’t allow this voice or others to stop you from your path….

DECIDE for yourself.

Make your own conscious choices

Unfortunately, we humans are wired up to nearly always take the easy route in life, which more often than enough, means that without conscious effort, we always take the easy option.

YOU need to consciously STOP yourself from doing this!

Think about the right/ BEST choices to make and follow them through.

TAKE CONTROL…

Don’t allow your subconscious tendencies of impulse, addiction, easy life and the influence of others to make decisions for you…

YOU MUST contemplate the situation and instinctively choose the best course of action to take for YOU.

Choice is in the power of our own hands 

And as such, we must hold ourselves accountable for the choices we’ve ultimately decided to make for whatever reason.

Others may influence our decisions, more often than you might think….

So, for this reason, it’s SO important to only allow the very best and truest of people around you…

After all, as the saying goes…

“You are the product of the 5 closest people to you”

Despite this…REMEMBER

YOU are ultimately responsible for your decisions.

If people have influenced you, it’s because you have allowed them to do so, subconsciously or consciously.

If a guy you know smokes crack, and you decide to hang around at his place late on regular evenings, spending a lot of time together…

Eventually, this guy will convince you to try it…

NOW you’ve tried it and surprise surprise…you’re addicted too!

Great!

Ultimately…

YOU made the decision to hang around with this dead beat in the first place.

There’s an age old saying that goes….

“The hardest choices in life are often the most rewarding”

I can’t help but totally agree that on the most part, this is true!

Think about the many trivial choices we make on a daily basis…

Do I eat this second chocolate bar after dinner or not?

Choosing to eat it, provides you with a hit of short term pleasure and comfort from eating the chocolate…

Whereas…choosing not to eat it takes discipline, determination and strength to SAY NO…

But rewards you with positive long term benefits…saving 350kcals and teaching you to manage your weight more effectively.

Clearly option A is the easier path.

We humans tend to think more short term and are victim to our own impulse and addiction (sugar) so the majority of us would subconsciously opt to eat that second bar of chocolate if available.

YOU need to exercise control over yourself, think consciously, make an active decision, exercise common sense, discipline, inner strength and above all AWARENESS.

Awareness of oneself!

Awareness of one’s actions…

AWARENESS OF ONES CHOICES!! 

Stay Well,

TheLakesCoach