A father who was trying to teach his son the consequences of bad decisions had a ritual he did with his son. Each time the boy made a poor decision his father asked him to hammer a nail into a post. Each day that he made good choices he was asked to remove a nail. In time after much hammering and much pulling of nails there came a day when the wood was nail free, that’s when the boy noticed that the post was covered with holes.

Our choices will dictate the life we experience. The success or failure we come to know will largely be a result of the consequences of our choices. 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.” We can choose to take the high road or we can choose to take the easy road in life. The easy road is very crowded with average people, but the high road is open and free, for only the great travel there. When faced with a decision what road do you take? What path are you headed down?

Whatever path we choose to follow will determine the destination we end up at. If we choose bitterness we will become a bitter person. If we choose frustration, we will become a frustrated person. However, if we choose gratefulness, we will become a grateful person. And if we choose faithfulness, we will become a faithful person. The road we choose to take will lead us to the destination we get to. Over the years I have talked to many people who are confused about how their life ended up where it has. But many of those people fail to realize that their choices landed them where they ended up. We are not a product of our circumstances, we are a product of our choices.

So how do we make great 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 than others when it came to thinking through problems he was facing. 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!