By far the most important and least expensive gift to yourself...

Today’s post will be the final installment on the series of characteristics common to successful people.  I covered nine characteristics, but in my opinion there is none bigger than the one I waited until the end to discuss.  This characteristic, surprisingly, is one characteristic that is largely overlooked by the general population, and is dramatically under-utilized, thereby resulting in so many people being so absolutely powerless and miserable, and feeling that life is either stagnant or unfulfilled.   The ones who are aware of this characteristic, and use it, view the world through an entirely different lens.

I want to share this with you today as my gift to you, so that you can harness and utilize this very powerful tool every day for the rest of your life.  The very characteristic that in my opinion is a life changer is one’s ability to simply realize that one has a choice.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing;
the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s
attitude in any given set of circumstances,
to choose one’s own way.” ~Viktor Frankl

Some choices are pretty easy, like choosing whether to get up in the morning or not, or choosing which way to drive to work when you have done it hundreds of times and you know the fastest way.  If it seems like these choices are automatic, you are right – they are automatic responses that are pre-programmed into our brains.

However, this programming that we all have sometimes makes it difficult for us to venture outside of what is comfortable and familiar.  We may dislike our workplace or our boss; we may know we are overweight; we may know smoking is bad for us; we know that what we are doing is wrong on a conscious level.  Yet, knowing all of this, we still don’t do anything!

The reason we don’t do anything is because our brain is programmed to do what is comfortable and familiar at all costs.  This is a protective mechanism that keeps us safe (in a primitive sense).

The only way to “crack” this “programming” is to start by making a simple choice – the choice to change one behavior.  Perhaps the change in behavior would be to stop eating a dessert before bed and replace it with a fifteen-minute walk instead.  By doing this, you are making small changes to your behavior.  Once you modify your behavior, it will take anywhere between five days and two weeks to “reprogram” your brain to accept this behavior.  After this takes place, it will be easier to make similar simple choices and changes, but the cumulative effect will be very large and very powerful.

In my recent blog post, I discussed how making a simple choice led to a dramatic change in my weight.

The choice is yours, and with the power to chose, you will empower yourself to pursue your dreams and achieve your greatest goals.  I believe the power to choose is the single most important and most significant gift you can give yourself, and it doesn’t cost you anything!

It’s time to choose.  It’s time to pursue your wildest dreams?  What’s holding you back?  The only limitations you face are those you place upon yourself!  Choose to move outside of your comfort zone!  Choose greatness!

Have a great day!

-Victor