“The best way to predict the future is to make it happen.”

~ Alan Kay, Computer Scientist 

The future gets better when we take the rights steps to make it better. Every choice we make takes us down a path. We do not “end up somewhere” in life just because of chance, we end up there because of choice. Let me ask you a question…Is there something you could do today that would make your life worse tomorrow? You probably answered yes to that question. Why did you answer yes because you could simply choose to do something stupid and mess up your life easily. Then why can’t you do something today that would make your life better tomorrow? You can! You can choose to do things in the present that will make your future better. Every choice we make takes us down a path to a destination. There are consequences to our choices, good and bad. Coach John Wooden said, “There is a choice you have to make in everything you do, so keep in mind, that in the end, the choice you make makes you.” Life is about the choices. Choices take us somewhere. The better the choices we make the better the outcome is. So how do you make the right choices?

1. Consider The Outcome

I love to play tic-tac-toe with my daughters. I have to admit I sometimes throw the game like any good father, but sometimes I make sure I keep them humble and beat them. I love tic-tac-toe because I like to think about what the next logical move is that will best ensure the outcome I want. Maybe Chess would be a more appropriate illustration in that it is a game all about anticipating the next move. To make the right choices in life we have to consider what the ramifications of the choices we are making. Making right choices is the ability to see what will happen if you make that choice. Teenagers have a hard time making right choices because they do not consider the outcome, they only feel in the moment. When you consider the outcome you will begin to see the choices that can lead you to that outcome. Start with the end in mind and then work your way backwards to the choices you need to take to get there.

2. Cover The Options

Life without options would be terrible. Options open the door for greater things to take place. Too many people do not take time to cover the options they have in front of them. Do not always jump at the first option that comes your way. You can limit yourself if you don’t take time to cover ALL the options you may have. Looking at different options gives you different perspectives. Options begin to present themselves when you take the time to cover new ways of doing things. Never settle for this is how I have always done it type of mentality. You will limit your potential options if you don’t develop the habit of thinking through your options. Einstein was a brilliant scientist because he took time to think through every option. He once said, “It is not that I am so smart, I just stay with problems longer.” Einstein would spend double the amount of time that others thinking through problems he was facing in order to see greater options to overcome them. Are you spending enough time thinking through your options and creating new options?

3. Commit To The Choice

Once you have decided the choice you are going to make, make it! Don’t get stuck in indecision. Indecision will stall your life. William Arthur Ward said, “The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision.” The only thing worse than making a wrong choice is making a right choice and not acting on it! Nothing ever happens if you never step out and commit to the choices you believe are right. Don’t find yourself a year from now still thinking about a choice you have made long ago, DO IT! Better to have stepped out and failed than to have sat down and failed by never doing anything. At least when you fail, you can learn something from it. Sitting down and never acting on a choice gives you NOTHING! Nothing has ever been accomplished by someone who didn’t accomplish anything. Did you get that? Read it again! You will never travel down the right paths if you are not stepping out in the choices you have made. Don’t be afraid to step out and commit to the choices you have made!