It Begins with a Decision
What makes the difference between a person who succeeds and one who doesn’t?
What makes the difference between a person who accomplishes great things and another who never does anything?
What makes the difference between a person who gets what they want and one that is left empty-handed?
Certainly, life can throw all kinds of curveballs at us.
We don’t get to choose our parents.
We don’t get to choose where we are born.
We don’t get to choose our race, color or creed.
That’s a lot that we are stuck with from the start!
But life is about taking what we start with and making something of it. It’s about taking stock of the raw materials and circumstances we are given and doing the best we can with it.
The annals of history are filled with people who overcame all odds to do great things.
The answer to what makes the difference in the lives of different people comes down to one thing…
A decision.
Life is all about decisions.
Do I study for my test or not?
Do I go out with this guy or this girl?
Do I get an education? If so, where? And what subject do I study?
Do I apply for this job or that?
Do I marry this man or woman?
Do I spend time with my kids?
Do I spend my time on selfish pursuits or do I give of myself freely to others?
Do I make my relationship with God a priority or am I my own god?
Decisions. Choices. Life is laced with them at every turn.
As I have been going through the process of losing weight and getting healthy, the power of the choice becomes more clear to me.
For many years, I decided that I would eat food that was bad for me. I decided that I would not take the time to work out. I decided that I would suffer with high blood pressure and take medication rather than choose to take better care of myself.
Free will is a beautiful thing. We get to choose whatever we want!
The flipside of that coin is that we also get to experience the consequences of our choices. Often those consequences can be painful.
We’ve always taught our children that good choices lead to good consequences and bad choices naturally lead to bad consequences.
Granted, there are some things in life that just happen, irrespective of our choices.
People get ill, accidents occur, other people do you harm… the list goes on. We may not have caused bad things like this to happen, but we still have a choice on how we respond to bad things.
When it comes to my weight, I decided that I was too heavy and too out of shape. My doctor was telling me that if I didn’t get it together I was a candidate for heart disease.
Ouch.
If you don’t make good choices along the way you may experience pleasure in your choices along the way. But only for a season. The end result of bad choices is always bad consequences. Pain.
And here is the turning point for most of us…
When the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change, we change. It’s that simple.
For me, the pain of staying heavy and potentially experiencing dramatic health consequences was enough of a wake up call. I was then willing to go through the pain of changing my eating habits and getting off my butt in order to avoid worse consequences.
This same philosophy applies to everything in our lives.
How’s your business? You can’t control everything, but you can control your choices.
How are your relationships? If you are choosing to be the center of the universe odds are they aren’t too healthy. You get to choose.
How is your financial situation? Again, some things are beyond our control, but are you making good money choices?
How is your spiritual life? Even God gives us free will! We get to choose whether we will pursue something unseen or not.
So what choices will you make today?
Will you be swayed by the voices of negativity or will you embrace a positive attitude and give it all you’ve got?
Will you take time for your loved ones or will you be too busy to say “I love you”?
Will you decide that it is time to kick that habit and take steps to make it happen or will you stay dependent on drugs, alcohol, television, food, relationships or cigarettes?
Will you be the center of the the universe or will you use your gifts and talents to make a difference in the life of someone else?
I’m not saying it is easy. That’s why we so desperately need each other. That is, if we aren’t too proud to reach out.
Even that is a choice.
It all starts with a decision, my friends. What will you choose today?
Excellent post Joel.
Another type of decision, or choice, is indecision. (Sometimes known as procrastination or self delusion.)
“I will start my diet Monday, but tonight I’ll treat myself to the waffle fries.”
“I should make that dentist appointment, but not today. Just too busy.”
And of course…. “I really will take action, and start that project – tomorrow.”
Even many behavioral beliefs are choices too: “My wife/husband was a grump this morning, and it has ruined my entire day”.
Yeah, we are fallible human beings, and many times not aware that we are making choices and decisions constantly.
Joel, these posts are getting heavier, as you are getting lighter. Should we start calling you Yoda??
Hi Joel
Thanks for the great post, as someone who always seems to make the wrong choice, even if at the time it seems to be the right choice (read the easy way out etc.) what you say here makes a lot of great sense.
Keep up the good work.
Simon
A very motivational and very true article Joel.
Hey Joel,
I think finalizing that decision deals with how important we feel we are, and how much our current decisions are affecting our importance.
This isn’t being the center of the world, but it is being a bit selfish – looking at your self and seeing how you are important, and making decisions for yourself that let your importance be of the most benefit to others.
Put into real-world terms; you know how important it is for you to be there for your kids. You know how important you are to your employees. You saw needing to get fit perhaps as the most important thing you could do to ensure your future importance in their lives – not out of vanity, but out of a nature of service.
When self-importance is done for the right reasons (as in your case Joel), it is what truly changes the world.
Thank-you for being an example and an important mentor to me.
Warmest,
Jonathan
Inspiring, Joel. And so true. Thank you for those words.
Thanks Joel, for your food for thought. Always enjoy your email messages. I want to apologize to you for the comment I made while trying to get your collar buttoned to attach your mic in Denver at the JVAlert gathering. I was taken by total surprise at [some] crowd reaction…and very embarrassed.
I want to get set up with Socrates. I came home and jumped right into preparation for a trip to Las Vegas and a 4-day seminar with my e-mini mentors. They always have me film their entire seminar and package it as a set of DVD’s…so I’ve got a major video editing job for the next couple of weeks. As soon as I’m finished, I’ll be getting Socrates and probably some staff help with a few final touches I want on my web sites.
Have a great day. We’ll talk soon.
Mel Hardman
VERY TRUE!
Ha! My intent is to get lighter. But not just physically. I think when we begin to see things from God’s perspective He equips us to get outside ourselves and discover that our troubles really are light and momentary. I don’t foresee becoming a Jedi Master. Nor do I wish to develop pointy ears! But press on, I must. Mmmmm…
Great post Joel.
Making a “DECISION” is sometimes the only thing standing between us and happiness…
YOU always hit home with these great articles and get the brain juices going …. thanks, man!
Mark Call 😀
What great inspiration for the start of the day! I am choosing to continue my pursuits until I succeed. I am choosing to inspire the people around me who are looking to me for leadership. And I am loving the new Joel Comm, so keep it coming.
Marcia
Thanks. It does help me make a decision regarding my procastination! I need to take the bold step and got to do it NOW!
Joel,
Great posts as usual! Yep, making those decisions, does have the consequences we either desire or not so desirable! Glad your doing great! We love the Joel Comm and his family! Thanks for sharing…God has made you well!
Your buddy!
Ramona
http://www.tissotweet.com
Joel,
So true! I especially liked this. “When the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change, we change. It’s that simple.” I recently started a fitness boot-camp. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I needed this today. I definately procastinate and it has caused me alot of stress. When something needs done, I need to just do it and get it done and thats what I am going to do. I am definately the person that says, “because my daughter was a grump today, it has ruined the rest of my day.” When I start to feel that way again, I am going to tell myself that I can choose to not let it ruin my day. This is a very inspirational article. Thank you for sharing it.
hello i dont really know who are you but i want to thank you for these advice.Am still new to many things in internet .hope u understand ,just trying to do it if it works..Test
I think that our greatest power in life is that of making decisions.
You choose to love.
You choose to work.
You choose to Live a Godly life
the list goes on and on…
How do you decide who you can help and why would you go out of your way to reach out and improve someone else’s chances in life, when the same opportunities don’t come your way to help YOU! The answer is compassion.
If you believe that you have lived your life to the fullest, given every part of yourself to help another person excel, and have positioned yourself where you could help many others, you just reach out by following your heart and your actions become twofold.
Psychologists and Psychiatrists may scrutinize your methods or reasons why you chose to do this but if you’re genuinely interested in watching someone grow and build a better lifestyle for themselves and their loved one’s, it doesn’t matter one iota what the critics think of your actions, just follow your heart and you will know that you made the right decision.
Hi Joel,
I realize you’re coming from the Christian perspective of pain, sin and fear; so it’s not surprising you use the phrase: “When the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change, we change. It’s that simple.”
My perspective is a little different. I think we change because we DESIRE to change; it simply feels better than where we are now. Obviously you didn’t gain weight overnight. What you were eating felt good while you were doing it, and you weren’t in ‘pain’ or you wouldn’t have done it! People don’t gravitate towards things that make them feel worse than they did five minutes ago. They’re always moving towards feeling just a little bit better. The same rule applies equally to the addict looking for his next fix (to feel a little better), or the millionaire planning his next vacation on St Barts. They’re always moving towards feeling just a little better than before.
So my weight loss tip for you would be to lose that ‘fear of having a heart attack’ mantra running through your head, and focus upon how good your body is feeling on a daily basis. Fear and pain might be a great motivator, but you’ll be miserable in the process, which will psychologically make it harder to stick with the plan…….It’s a lot harder to the “do good things” you suggest we do, when we’re wrapped up in pain and fear ourselves.
Oh wow this post hit home for me and on so many different levels – God, my business, finances, my weight loss journey, relationships (my son). I don’t always make the best choices and lately things have been a major struggle in all areas. Your post was a major reminder that it’s because of choices I’ve made that I’m in the place I’m in right now. So, today I’m making the choice to quit complaining, stop beating myself up over the bad choices and move forward. Life is too short to sit here replaying ‘what ifs’ over and over in my head. It’s time to start making the right decisions and continue on the path of right decisions!
I feel like I could just plug my name into this post. I was pulled in many directions this year. Least one of them will be expiring on December 31st. Thanks Joel.
Great inspiration, Joel.
Today I will use my lunch break to write an article instead of reading recipes…
Thanks
Hi Joel,
I only joined and started to receive your emails about 3 weeks ago, and I must say that the decision to sign up for your emails now proved to be the right thing to do.
I also posted my gratitude on your previous email about your move to un follow thousands of followers as that helped me to make the right decisions surrounding social media and not to worry about numbers but quality.
This email today will help me to make more important decisions and choices surrounding my personal life and online business.
Thank you very much and keep the good stuff coming!
Kind regards
Herman
Hi Joel. Great article. You are so right about making decisions. I have been doing better in making the right choices. After you announced that you were going on this weight loss journey I did the same. I haven’t been as dedicated as you, but I have managed to drop 3 pounds. I made the decision to join Weight Watchers for that extra support that I need. For some people being overweight means high blood pressure and diabetes, but right now for me it means that my knees hurt something awful, so I just made the decision to go to an orthopedic to check them out so that I can start to get some exercise in.
Thanks for being my inspiration!
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey
wise he is…wiggling those big Yoda ears LOL
deciding is very important. but even more important are the actions that back up the decisions!
it’s a cycle: decide, act, adjust. rinse and repeat.
where’s my hammock?
your neighbor near Drake,
Mtn Jim
Thank you, Joel. This piece really spoke to me…deeply. I realize I am letting fear, worry, etc. replace my faith in God. For the past few years I’ve been like a hamster on a wheel, trying to build a business, learn everything I can about business, etc. All to the point, that God was pushed out of the picture.. That stops today. Right now. In Quantum Leap, you get declarations for each course. Today I will be writing my Declaration to God which will precede any other declarations I recite.
Thanks again,
Paulette Salvia
love this post! you are great!
Great POST Joel!!!
Great job in the weight loss. I can see a big difference in your new updated photo in the header!!!
To choose or not to choose? However you do you will make a choise. Not to choose is also to choose. We can practice active decisionmaking or passive decisionmaking. How we do is usually down to our level of consciousness. We can only choose between the alternatives we are aware of.
Well, Joel. Your posts are always inspiring and always stir up my mood for response.I do agree with you that life is always a choice but somehow,we just always make poor choice. We can always say that God will always give us another chance although we failed. I totally accept it and believe it in faith.But sometimes, when we are in the storms of life, we would always struggle by all those negative emotion that will blame ourselves for making bad choice or keep on asking why all the times even if we already knew the answer. I think the test of our faith is really something. Something that it really hurts. I hope I can be more positive in everything. But when it comes to feeling and emotion,we need more compassion from the Lord and say a Jesus prayer just like many of our spiritual fathers did : ” Lord Jesus,I am a sinner.Have compassion on me.”I hope I can overcome all those negative feeling even when life is not smooth with our Christian faith and support from our brothers and sisters in Christ.And most important of all : we can experience God’s presence and His voice during the moment of trail.As long as we feel that we are not face the problem alone and God is with us,then we can really get through the storm and growth in faith. Everything for sure is a choice but sometimes that choice needs to go through the times of struggle before hand.God bless you.
Well put, Joel, but just making the decision is not enough.
It’s what we DO after making the decision that creates change. It’s the ACTION after the decision that makes the difference.
You not only decided to get in shape, you acted on the decision in multiple ways.
How many times have we heard someone say, “I’ve decided to quit smoking”, only to see no change in their future behavior?
Congrats on your progress! Give me a call if you’d like a running companion some morning. I live in Windsor and would love to go for a jog sometime.
Hey Joel,
Very good post. Coming from a business perspective, and especially an online one, I would like to add that another death trap for many people in something like starting an online business, is information OVERLOAD. This is another BIG culprit in getting people to be unsuccessful in this industry.
So what I want to add to this: After you decided to take action on a business venture for example, get focused, make your decision on what it is exactly you want to achieve and how you planning on doing it or which course you’re going to follow…AND STICK TO IT.
There are so many courses being bombarded daily into our inboxes about the next promised tool or technique that would get you cashing in and it’s VERY easy to become distracted from your original ideas and approaches.
So in terms of deciding to take action regarding starting an online business, this is one EXTREMELY helpful tip you should strongly keep in mind and obey if you want to be successful in this industry.
Just my two cents regarding this topic. 🙂
First thing I read this morning so now I’m feeling very inspired and may just hire that extra person I’ve been thinking about. I could definitely use an extra pair of hands.
“But, what if….not work out?” “What if …. no more money…?”
Hey where’d that monkey come from?
GET OFF MY BACK!
There now I’m better and onward I go.
Joel, I have long appreciated you for your technical expertise and skill at making difficult subjects/concepts more accessible to ordinary people. Lately, I find that I enjoy your humanity even more and especially like your sense of humor and thought provoking articles. Keep them coming – I look forward to whatever you come up with in the future!
I really liked this post Joel. It inspired me to read all of the comments to see what other people would say about this subject.
I have made some bad choice in my life, as most people do, and the outcome has been bad. In the past couple of years I have come to understand that I have made some bad choices and now have turned my life around.
I have turned against some of my bad habits and more importantly, have tried to bring God into my life. This has been a major step for me and it seems to be working out for the better.
Keep the good posts coming!
Thanks for another great post Joel. God has been giving me chances to make right choices. I’m tired of always ending up right where I was at before. A good mentor of mine always said, “If nothing changes, nothing changes.” With God’s help I can make new choices. Thanks again
Very awesome stuff Joel, making choices is a part of life. However, making the right choices in life is something that takes time and trial and error.
This was just great. i loved every bit of it cos it was informative and enlightening.
I agree that life is about making choices and with gods help we can make the correct choice, but it is often very diffcult to stick with the choice we made, even the right one.
Yet this is where Christ can help us also, if we will let him.
You are so right Joe I made a big decision to find my real mother It took me almost a lifetime, but I finally found her three weeks before her hundredth birthday. It changed my life big time.
I know that making a decision doesn’t always result in what you expected, but it certainly beats staying in a rut.
Miracles do happen and they can start with a decision.