Words of wisdom for this week.
“When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything.”
~ George Patton
Ever wondered why some people end up where they do in life? Ever wonder how or why you ended up where you are? And I’m not assuming you are a senior citizen. I really don’t care if your are 25, 30 or 75 – again I’ll ask, have you ever stopped to think about how the various decisions you have made over the years put you right where you are right now – in this job, business, career, relationship, at this address or in this current state of affairs? I have on numerous occasions. Maybe I’m just more of a deep thinker than a lot of other people but as I try and make sense out of my life and its outcomes and circumstances sometimes I feel compelled to re-live some of my earlier decisions and their rationales and consequences.
During my last bout of introspection I came up with a concept that I will call for the sake of discussion the “Decision Matrix”. I know, not very clear but you have to agree it’s quite clever. OK, back to the serious side. The decision Matrix is nothing more than an illustration of the connections, lack of connections, decision trends, decision patterns, decisions made and decisions not made and the various short and long term outcomes of them. Since I can’t give you the Decision Matrix diagram let me see if I can clearly explain it without it.
Each decision we make eliminates all other decisions. Decide on a college and a degree focus and once made all other colleges and disciplines are off the table. Doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t change your mind mid-stream but for now this decision has created a temporary life path. As a result of this decision certain people will cross your path and millions of others may not now or in the future. The people that cross your path due to this decision as well as all of the consequences of this decision have now altered your path. If you had selected a different college in a different state the path would have been completely different and unique.
Let’s take this decision one step further but as you will quickly realize all of the options and future decisions hinge on this one simple one. Because of the college you chose and the people you met as a result, this could determine your career and relationship choices and decisions as well as outcomes.
As you can surely see this decision process with all of its myriad of outcomes just because of one single decision could get very complicated. Let’s assume that half way through college you decided to drop out and pursue a career opportunity. Once again this choice eliminated all other career opportunities available to you at that unique time as well as the potential outcomes as a result of this singular choice.
Complicated? Yes and no. None of us can ever know the long-term outcomes of any decision or choice. We can never know what we missed because of a particular decision and we can never know the future decision options that lie ahead because of this choice. Still with me here – I’m trying to make this as simple as possible – not for you but for me. I don’t know the path you are on and have been on for years. I can never know all of the little decisions you made and their consequences and therefore future choices or bends in the road. All I can do is give you a simple example – my life. Not all of it, neither of us has that much time.
A brief history of some of my decisions and their outcomes. And these are just a few of the decisions along the way and how they impacted where I am now. Obviously there were many other ones – financial, relationship etc. Keep in mind that when you create this matrix all of the decisions interact with each other and therefore impact the consequences of each decision as well as all of the possible range of other future options, choices or decisions. In a nutshell here’s just a quick look at one life area and the major decisions I made.
Keep in mind that there were hundreds of other little decisions during these years as well as the impact on other decisions that these had.
Went to college in Ohio a year after high school.
Joined the service half way through college.
Back to college for a year after getting out of the Air Force.
Went into the insurance business after leaving college.
Bought a Franchise after leaving the Insurance business.
Used speaking as a method to grow this business.
Ended the franchise and started speaking full time.
Been speaking full time for over 35 years.
Was there a connection to all of these decisions? How would my future have changed if any decision had been different?
So what have been the minor as well as major decisions that have determined where you are now and why?
Why not create your own Decision Matrix, might be both fun and enlightening.