Make Good Decisions

What Would Your Life Be Like…
…if you had no debt; if you possessed vibrant health; if you did what you wanted to do; if your relationships were amazing; if you were focused and driven; if you celebrated life everyday; if you made meaningful contribution; if you had authentic happiness; if you lived your life like you only get one?

Well class, it’s time for a review. My last four columns centered on money and a few of the problems associated with poor financial skills. I mentioned the problem of living beyond our means, the idea of viewing money from a new perspective, the effects of time and interest on debt and wealth, and the proposal of taking responsibility for our own financial futures. These are all great topics to discuss, and I hope you picked up a little food for thought. Sure money is an important topic, but as you know, life is much more than money. So let’s move on.

I always start my column with “What would your life be like if…” because I want you to THINK. It’s what all teachers want their students to do. It’s what your parents tried to teach you. So let’s think for a minute: how could we have no debt? How could we have vibrant health? How could we do whatever we want to do? How could we have amazing relationships? How could we __________________?

The answer to these questions is both simple and complicated. (Don’t you just hate that? Like when you ask someone a question and they say, “Well, yes and no.”) Anyway, so what do I mean by both simple and complicated? By simple, I mean just make better choices. Almost everything that happens to us is the result of our choices. Do it. By complicated, I mean, sometimes it’s not that easy.

I’ll try to give more detail in future columns, but for now let me give you a few ideas for making better choices and decisions. First take a good, hard look at your belief system. Do you believe that the world owes you something? Then consider your thoughts. Are they negative, as in, “I’ll never be able to do ________!”? Next review your knowledge base and skills, and get some training if necessary. How about your tool box? Do you have what you need for the job? Then, are you motivated to make great choices? Finally, have you associated bad choices with pain, and good choices with pleasure? For example, try associating debt with pain, and financial independence with pleasure. Human emotions are very powerful, and can easily drive us to success or failure.

For some people, making different (and better) choices isn’t difficult at all. One day they are doing X and the next day they are doing Y. But for others, breaking an established pattern of poor choices can be incredibly difficult. Many of us have bad habits; patterns we’ve established over many years; routines we’ve associated with emotions and feelings. However, I believe that most behavior is learned, and as such, it can be un-learned. We can establish new, favorable patterns of behavior, including making fantastic choices in our lives. THINK about it.

If you’d like to ask a question, I’d love to hear from you; email me: drh@justimagineseminars.com. Until next time, I’m Dr. H. K. Holevinsky for www.justimagineseminars.com.