Tag: Philip Dodson

A bad choice

Posted on by philipdodson

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Is there such a thing?

We often hear people say ‘she made a bad choice’ or ‘that was a really bad decision’.

These statements are always made with hindsight and they are often made by others in a critical way. Although, we do say to ourselves ‘I made a bad choice’.

What purpose does it serve to point that out to others or to ourselves? No purpose at all, it will never make us feel good.

We are conditioned to catch others or ourselves doing something wrong. Parents, teachers, employers, the system, and ourselves, seemed to be focussed on wrong decisions. It is all about control, another thing that we seemed to be obsessed with.

Why do we not talk so much about good choices, ‘I made a great choice there’ and celebrate it?

The ‘bad choice’ wasn’t a bad one at the time we made it. No one sets out in the day to mess things up. Every choice that we make, at that moment in time, was the only choice we would have made. Even if we had time machines to go back, which we don’t, yet, we would still make the same choice. That’s because all the choices we make are based on our current mindset, our experience/knowledge up to that point in our lives.

So no point in even dwelling on bad outcomes of choices we made, or listening to the criticism from others. We could just focus instead on celebrating the good choices and realising that we have now and the future to learn from all our choices.

It is all a matter of choice, and once you know the outcome that suits you and your life, then we know the choice to make for our lives. As a ‘bad choice’ is a question of perspective and it’s the outcome we wanted that matters, not the thoughts of the critics.

You never know

Posted on by philipdodson

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When you first talk with someone, you never know at that point where that conversation may lead.

Yet all too often, we are pre-programmed to judge people and their potential worth to us.

We look at someone’s business card and title, then decide whether or not to talk with them. We ‘target’ people based on all sorts of judgements, and sure experience will give us a view on these things.

However, if we approach meetings and conversations with an open mind and a willingness to go with the flow, then it is amazing just what might come up. This is part of the magic of life, that too many are willing to forgo for a quick fix.

One of the biggest obstacles to this happening is the culture of instant gratification, where no one is prepared to wait for results to happen. Yet the most successful people, have a long-term thinking and know that small things, done regularly and well, build momentum and results come. They realise that a curious and open mind is more likely to unlock the best things in life.

Not only do things happen, but for the patient and committed, bigger results come, than for those who took the short cut, to instant and short-lived outcomes.

It takes hard work and time to create anything of substance and meaning, don’t be tempted by low hanging fruit.