Business

We Are the Choices We Make

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Every day, at all times, we’re making decisions; and these decisions affect all aspects of our lives.

Now, have you ever thought about what makes us take those specific decisions? How it is that two people can be faced with the same options and circumstances, and make different decisions?

We all approach our life choices differently because our decision-making system is based on the mental processes which define what motivates us and how we see the world.

When it comes to making progress in life, understanding this decision-making system is an invaluable tool. Once we understand the factors that play a part in our decision-making process, we can make our choices take us closer to our goals.

It’s not about what’s right or wrong, but what is it that we tend to do, and how we respond consistently.
Once we figure this out, we would know how to steer our way towards our desired destiny.

 

 

What of the following characteristics resonates more with you?

1.    Do you tend to move towards to, or Away from?

When a prospect comes your way, do you tend to consider all the benefits that would come with it, or do you tend to worry about what you may lose if you take that choice?

If you are generally motivated by desire, you are more of a “towards-to” person. You need to be motivated by goals and rewards, and make your choices based on the pursuit of pleasure.

If, on the other hand, you are mostly motivated by fear or pain, then you are an “away-from” type of person. You need to get motivated by pain and fear as the consequences of not doing something. It makes more sense to you to identify the risks and downsides involved in a situation.

 

2.  Internal or External?

Who do you turn to when you’re faced with a big decision?

Do you seek an internal point of reference, think about the issue and make a decision by yourself trusting on gut feelings or intuition? If so, then you’re an internal person who would rely on what’s important to you.

Conversely, if you seek out an external point of reference, then you reach out to people in your life looking for their feedback or advice. As an external person, you rely on other people’s testimonials and statistics and seek out validation from them in order to make the most well-informed choice possible.

 

3.  Possibility or Necessity?

What drives you in your life? Are you curious about the potential it has for growth? Does it excite you?

If you tend to see the many possibilities and you’re motivated by the growth you can pursue, then you’re a possibilities person.

If you are a necessity person, you like your life the way it is now, and you feel secure because you know how to handle things that are within your “box”.  You like to be told what new thing or improvement you need to do.

 

4.   Generality or Specificity?

For some people, knowing the big picture is enough to get motivated. They focus on the master plan and the overall goal and think of how each of their actions will affect the goal in the long run.

Others are more comfortable only when they have all the details. They would be doubtful with only a general sense of the situation. They don’t regularly think about the future and are able to hone in on the short term.

 

 

Once you understand the way you make decisions and identify these patterns in yourself, you can more effectively communicate your needs and understand your decision-making process.                        

 

 

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca

Clarity Really IS Power

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If you want to leverage the real power of clarity, you need to be specific about what you want and build your outcome around a significant way of measurement.

Let’s assume you want to make more money this year, and you ended up earning 10 extra dollars… technically, you’ve achieved your goal, I mean, you earned “more” money this year; but I doubt that was your idea when you set that goal, right? The difference was probably more in the area of the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.

You always want to set a clear goal for yourself, always.

If you are specific with your outcome and have a clear picture of what it is and why do you want it, your actions will be like a big, sharp telephoto lens that will achieve them.

Now, following the precepts we established in the previous articles, you know you need to be working toward your core values, and follow your personal rules in the process… so, how can you be sure?

Make a core values audit:

Keep a close track of your activities for two weeks, take note of which values your actions are connecting with, and evaluate yourself as you move closer to your goals.

Once you have several weeks of progress written down, take a thorough look at how you’ve spent your time; highlight any activity that you know is unconnected to your values and goals –like checking social media every other hour- and take it out from your schedule. Replace them with something else that can contribute to your ultimate plan.

After a while putting this procedure into practice, you’ll notice you don’t miss all those time-consuming tasks anymore.

Next week we’ll be talking about how to minimize distractions by, among other things, learning to say NO.

Until then, stay strong!

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca

Success through Time Management

There are many things in life that you can’t control, but the way you spend your time is not one of them.

As Gandalf said in The Lord of the Rings: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'”

The way you invest your time determines what you will achieve in life. If you work hard towards your most important goals and values, you will lead a successful and fulfilling life.

In order to make the most of your time and live the life of your dreams, you need to develop a good set of time management skills, and also change the way you think about it. You have to give up that old belief that states that time is a resource that’s out of your control. It’s true there are only 24 hours in a day, but you get to choose what to do with them, and fix your focus on what really matters.

 

What follows is the first of a series of weekly tips on how to effectively manage your time.

 

First and foremost: Align your actions with your core values

As silly as it might sound, we often need a friendly reminder that, in order to get to our destination, first we need to define where we are, and where we want to be.

If we decide to use our time to take a certain set of actions, it would really really help if such actions were in alignment with what truly matters to us –our core values- so in addition to accomplishing our goals, we get a sense of achievement and fulfillment by focusing on what would add the most value to our life.

When we focus on such an outcome, we get to develop the motivation and organization needed to meet those goals, and in the process, we become the kind of person who is worthy of that goal.

 

 

Next week we’ll talk about maximizing our results by using our time effectively.

Until then, stay strong!

 

 

 

 

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca