Door Number One

Do you remember the game show “Let’s Make a Deal?” I used to watch that all the time when I was a kid. I’m not sure why, but I liked it.

Maybe it was the crazy costumes contestants wore. But I think it had to do more with watching the agony in which participants would go through in making a decision over whether to take what was behind door number one or door number two.

Why is it so hard for us to sometimes make choices?

I just finished a book by John Maxwell called The Choice is Yours. The following was written in his introduction:

Life is a matter of choices. What will you do for your career? Whom will you marry? Where will you live? How much education will you get? What do you want to do with today? But another choice is much more important than these: who will you become?

The only true freedom each of us has in life is the freedom to choose. But once we choose, we become the servant of our choices. Author and professor C.S. Lewis observed, “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part that chooses, into something a little different than what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.”

Nobody desires to take the path that leads downward. Each of us aspires to be something more, something bigger. The secret to the uphill path comes in the individual choices we make.

I heard it asked recently, “If someone spits on you does that make you mad?” Most would say YES, but that’s not true. What it makes you is wet. It is your choice to be mad.

So, will you choose the high road, the sometimes difficult road that climbs ever upward or will you choose the easy road? Choose wisely today!

Decision Making

Have you ever had a tough decision to make? Has it been easy to do? If you are like me the answer is "no." I sometimes struggle with little decisions.

One of my favorite speakers, Zig Ziglar shared some great advice on how he makes decisions:

If you find it difficult to make decisions, or you worry that your decisions are not good decisions, or you lack the confidence to make decisions in a timely manner . . . you're not alone! Many people express their concerns about their decision-making abilities. But if you ask them, "What's your routine for making decisions?" they often will tell you they don't have one. Truthfully they do, but they don't recognize it, or they don't like it. Their decisions are based on SOMETHING, and if they stop and think about it they'll discover what it is. However, it's much better to purposefully and thoughtfully develop your decision-making system, and then follow it whenever you need to make decisions.

If you ask Zig Ziglar how he makes decisions, he'll tell you that he follows some basic rules. Here they are, in his own words:

1. If I'm really tired, I don't make significant decisions (except in emergencies).

2. If someone is pressing me to decide something "right now," unless an immediate decision is critical, I say, "If I have to decide now, the answer is no. After I have had a chance to catch my breath and review the facts, there's the possibility it could be yes." Then I put the ball back in his or her court and ask, "Do you want my decision now, or should we wait?"

3. I like to determine the maximum benefit of a decision, assuming that everything goes my way. Then I ask, "Suppose nothing goes my way? Suppose this doesn't develop and materialize as I expect it to? What is my maximum exposure? What would I lose?"

4. For significant business-related decisions, I run them past my advisors. These people are successful in their businesses and professions and have a considerable amount of knowledge, experience, and wisdom, all of which are musts in the decision-making process. I get their advice and follow their recommendations, with good results in most cases. If the decision is too minor to involve my advisors but I still want input, I get my family together to look at the pros and cons.

5. I like to pray about my decisions. I ask God to help me see the truth of my motives and to lead me in the way I should go. If I'm about to make an unwise decision, I simply don't have peace about that decision, and I consequently act on that feeling of unease. I ask myself, "How will this decision affect all the areas of my life--personal, family, career, financial, physical, mental and spiritual?" Obviously, not all decisions affect all areas, but if the decision involves a financial reward but also carries considerable family sacrifice, for example, I think carefully as to whether what I give up is compensated for by what I gain. One final note: Prioritize your decisions. Some are more urgent than others!