The Element of Making Choices in Accordance with the Laws of Nature, the Laws of Money and the Laws of Human Nature and its Hope for Prospering

Life is full of choices.

We have to choose where to live.

We have to choose where to send our kids to school.

We have to choose which church, temple, or mosque to go to.

Or whether to go to a church, temple, or mosque at all!

We have to choose what to believe and whom to believe.

We have to sometimes choose sides – who to join forces with.

Our choices eventually end up choosing us.

So it’s important we make our choices carefully.

Should we just choose with the majority?

Should we just shut up and do what our parents tell us to do?

But what if times have changed and majority-thinking is wrong?

What if our parents are missing the signs of the times and are leading us astray?

How should we decide?

What choices should we make?

Many times we know what choices we should make and how to go about making the right choices, but our greedy self, our lazy self, our scared self and our weak self get in the way.

We know we should choose the salad over the entrée, but our greedy self gets in the way.

We know we should go for a walk instead of turning on the tv, but our lazy self gets in the way.

We know we should buy the economy Korean model car instead of the luxury German model, but our weak self gets in the way.

We know we should say something or do something in a bad situation, but our scared self gets in the way.

If we continuously give in to our greedy self, our lazy self, our scared self, or our weak self, our actions soon become that of a greedy person, a lazy person, a scared person or a weak person, and we get stuck and trapped in the same behaviors again and again.

Breaking out of these self-made behavior traps is the most important thing we can do for ourselves.

It starts by making the right choices.

We have to take one small step at a time.

Don’t say you don’t know what the right choice is.

I can prove that you and I both know what the right choices are.

Let’s for a moment imagine you are on a game show and you get 100 points for every right answer.

There’s a big payoff for reaching 1000 points.

What is your answer to these questions?

“Which is healthier for you?  Salad or french fries?”

“Who will have $1000 more to save every month, the person who pays $1000 more on her mortgage, or the person who pays $1000 less?”

“Who is likely to make more money over a lifetime – the person with a college education or the person without a college education?”

“Of two families in debt, who will bring down their debt faster – the family that moves their children from private school to public school, or the family that doesn’t?”

“Which family is likely to have less problems – the family where there are drinkers and smokers, or the family where there are no drinkers and smokers?”

“Who will spend more on maintenance -the person who owns a German-engineered luxury car, or the person who owns a Japanese economy car?”

“Who is likely to have more friends – the person who likes to get the last word, or the person who doesn’t?

“Who is likely to lose more weight? The person who chooses to use their spare time to walk every day, or the person who uses their spare time to watch tv or sit at the computer or play video games every day?”

“Which marriage is likely to be stronger? A marriage in which the husband takes the time to tell his wife how much he loves her every day, or a marriage in which the husband doesn’t? ”

“Which manager is likely to have a more loyal following – the manager who is relenting and flexible, or the manager who is unrelenting and inflexible?”

See, didn’t you know the answer to all 10 questions?

“But Minoo, it’s not all black and white like that.  Making the right choice is hard when you have a spouse like mine.”

Yes, the spouse is always the one to blame isn’t it?

Or the manager. 

Or your child.

Making the right choice is hard.

It is not going to be a cake walk.

You will have obstacles.

You will have excuses.

Excuses are lovely.

They are our best friends to help us keep doing what we have always been doing.

They enable us to say yes when those expensive or unhealthy or risky or mean or unethical desires bubble in our minds and start tempting us.

 “Oh, what the hell,” we say, “that looks so nice. To hell with my budget or my health or my marriage or my conscience - I want it. I need it.”

Yes, there’s a high price to pay for being able to say no to all those tempting things.

Everyone else will be having fun and enjoying the good life, while you will feel on the outside looking in. “Poor deprived me.”

But stick with it – make the right choices and you will have the last laugh.

You will enjoy the payoff of better health, more assets, and more peace of mind.

Above all, making the right choices will give you freedom of choice in the future.

People who make the right choices end up having more freedom of choice.

Make thrifty choices now and you will have the resources to strike when the iron is hot, and to seize opportunities in the future.

When people say, “all those foreclosures are being bought up by people with cash’, how do you think those people with cash have the cash? It simply is cash they did not spend.

Make the choice to make healthy choices now and you will have the freedom to participate in a variety of physical activities later on – whether exercising or dancing or traveling.

We don’t want anyone to tell us what choices we should make.

We want to be a law unto ourselves.

But if we are a law unto ourselves, we will be fighting a losing battle, if the choices we make go against the laws of nature, the laws of money, or the laws of human nature.

We can choose to ignore these laws, or live life in accordance with these laws.

Nobody is going to look at us if we are able-bodied, but we don’t look after ourselves.

Nobody is going to listen to us if we don’t speak in a language people can understand.

Nobody is going to help us if we are not willing to help ourselves.

Nobody is going to notice our talents if we keep them hidden in the dark.

Your arteries are not going to say, “oh bring on all that cholesterol.  We are a match for them.”

Dennis Waitley says, “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”

We wake up to that choice every day.

To accept conditions as they exist……or to accept responsibility for changing them.

When we accept responsibility for changing the conditions in our lives, we will have to make a whole new set of choices to go with it.

When I chose to become a Commissions Consultant, I had to make a whole new set of choices.

I had to learn to manage my money so I could pay my bills during the months when I didn't have work.

I had to find my own health insurance.

I had to get used to paying advance taxes.

I had to learn to look after my health because I had a high-deductible health insurance plan.

I had to approach a lot of different things differently.

I had to face up to the facts of my new situation.

And I had to make a whole new set of choices.

Whatever situation we are in, requires us to face up to the fact that our past choices have put us in our current situation.

And we also have to face up to the fact that we have to make a whole new set of choices to deal effectively with our current situation.

Steven Covey said, “Until a person can say deeply and honestly, “I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,” that person cannot say, “I choose otherwise.”

A huge burden is lifted off of us when we accept responsibility for where we are today.

Once we do that, we understand that it’s up to us to deal with where we are today and change where we are today if we don’t like it.

We can swap the entree for the salad in any area of our lives.

We can give up a job that gives us security, comfort, or prestige, for a job that gives us meaning or peace of mind.

We can replace unhealthy behaviors with healthy behaviors.

We can adopt a more active lifestyle, in which we don't sit all day.

We can make better choices when it comes to spending.

We can become less bossy, less whiny, or less difficult.

The areas are limitless.  Go back and read the questions in the game show for inspiration.

Yes, we can choose to make choices in accordance with the laws of nature, the laws of money, and the laws of human nature, so we prosper in every area of our lives.

And I hope that both you and me will.

As always, thanks for reading and have a great day and week….M….a Pearl-Seeker like you.  Thanks Ajay for saying my moving to America was a loss to Indian advertising, and thanks Ananda for saying I might have won an Effie for the Fiesta campaign....you both made my day.  Thanks to all the rest of you for your votes and pins.  Much appreciated.