I’m at it again. I’m taking a quote from a movie that I’m watching. There are some great lines in movies! They often stimulate me to write something in order to hopefully help someone. Lately I’ve been re-watching the Harry Potter series so here goes.
In today’s world to get anything in life it’s who you know. The “what” you know, your skills, talents and abilities, tend to get overlooked these days.
However, Dumbledore said it best: “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.”
He’s ruling out the who and the what as in abilities. And he’s right. It’s what you DO with those talents, skills and abilities. How do you use them? By making a choice. A choice to use them or not. A choice of how, when and where to use them – or not.
We live in a world with many options so we can make many choices. We make choices all day long that we aren’t aware of because they are so small. Do I have coffee or tea this morning? Heck, today I got an Amazon email showing me all of the new colors in metal insulated drinking cups. Who knew there were so many? I didn’t because I don’t use them. The point is, to pick one or the other how do you do it? By making a choice.
Life is a Series of Choices
Life is a series of choices. It’s what you do with those choices that counts. That leaves your mark on the world – or not. That allows you to succeed or not. That determines your legacy.
Many people debate destiny and fate because we supposedly live on a free will planet. If we can make our own choices, then how does destiny factor in? This isn’t about debating that but rather to help you see that we get to make choices despite those two strong forces.
Many of you are probably aware that when a psychic predicts a future outcome for you, it is dependent on your actions, your choices. If they say you’re going to meet someone but you don’t go anywhere or get online to search, that lowers your chances. The psychic isn’t wrong, but you have to take action. You have to choose to get out or get on a dating site. You have to make the decision to do it or not, then act on it.
There’s a person that I know who is very talented. She has a graphic design degree but since graduating from college years ago she never did anything with it. She chose not to use her training. She could’ve had a stellar career in that field, but she chose not to. She had the outstanding ability, but declined to make the choice to use it. It wasn’t about her [lack of] abilities it was about her choice not to use them.
We all know people that are a mess. They’re great people but they drink, they drug etc. They make destructive choices instead of positive ones. They have great abilities, but are choosing not to use them. It’s their negative choices ruling their world, not the fact that they’re a great mom or a brilliant engineer.
What Do You Do with It?
At the end of the day, then, it’s not who or what you know, but what do you do with it? What choice are you making? If you’re good at networking, effectively checking off the “who you know” box, but you don’t network, you didn’t put your ability to good use. You chose not to.
When I was growing up, we had four TV channels. Yes, I know, that blows the minds of kids these days. We didn’t have a lot of choices. No Netflix, Hulu etc. Just four TV channels. We also didn’t have the career diversity that we have today. There was no school for lighting director or name a career that has emerged out of recent developments. My point is, our choices were very limited. Your remarkable abilities had to fit into a box that existed back then. Having more choices can make it hard to decide, or expand your horizon. More choices can be overwhelming or exciting. It all depends on what you’re looking for and how you look at it.
Next time that you’re tempted to rag on yourself for not doing well at something or not starting something ask yourself what choice have you made? How come you don’t have a super successful graphic design career? Oh yeah, you chose not to use your degree.
How come you’ve only advanced so far in your career? Re-trace your choices. Did you say something insulting to the wrong person? A choice. Do you decline to accept opportunities that could make you shine? A choice. Do you prop everyone else up but downplay yourself? A choice. Instead of blaming your boss or a sabotaging co-worker for not getting that promotion, look back on your choices. If someone was trying to sabotage you, did you stand up for yourself? Did you stop their efforts? More choices.
When You Don’t Get What You Want…
Most of the time when we don’t get something in life it’s because of the choices that we made. Did your low self-esteem hold you back? Did your big mouth get you into trouble? Did your aggressiveness offend someone? Or your meekness cause you to be overlooked? Did you pass on getting the degree or training that you really wanted? It’s all about the choice you made.
People tell me all the time that they got the intuitive nudge, but they didn’t do anything with it. They ignored it. A choice. Sometimes those intuitive nudges are the thing that can make or break your career, your life etc. Choose to listen to it. Life works smoother when we listen to our intuition. It truly does.
There are no bad choices. It’s what we do with the choice that matters. If you chose not to get that design degree that you truly desired, did you get another degree instead? Or are you sitting around wishing you did and complaining that you didn’t? Another choice. You can choose to have regret or not that you made the decision not to use your awesome abilities. It’s ok if you didn’t. Make it ok in your mind. No regrets.
In a way it lets you off the hook to know that it’s about your choices and not your abilities or lack thereof. Next time you get mad at yourself that you’re not a better artist, did you try to improve? Did you make that choice? Are you an outstanding programmer but chose not to apply for the job? Look at the choices that you made regarding your abilities, skills and talents. That will provide the answers.
Instead of bemoaning that you can’t meet a good person, look at what choices you are making. Do you get out of the house and around people? Do you get on dating sites? What are you doing to facilitate it? There are good people out there and good jobs, but what are you doing about finding them?
Make the choice. Then don’t regret it. Don’t beat yourself up over it. If you got the design degree but did nothing with it, then be content with that. The person that I know doesn’t vocalize her regrets but I hope she doesn’t silently beat herself up for it. Keep moving forward, keep making choices. If you make a “bad” choice you can always turn it around with a better one. That’s your best plan of action. Remember that.
Need help making decisions? Choosing what to do? Ask your best friend, your intuition. It will know. It will guide you. It will help you identify what to deal with now and what not to…if you ask it!
If you want to learn how to listen to it, how to talk to it and how to trust it by CLICKING
HERE. I developed this easy-to-follow online course because people like you asked me to.
Once you start listening to your intuition, you’ll be amazed how much your life clicks into place. Then you can truly start enjoying yourself. CLICK HERE to find out more!
