Many people struggle with making decisions. Some people worry about making the wrong decision or have a difficult time making big decisions. Sometime this can leave people paralyzed which ends with them choosing to not make a decision at all. They may instead stay exactly where they are. Today I want to share one of my favorite quotes that can aid in making choices in life. “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears” Nelson Mandela.

This quote resonates with my approach to decision making. I have found that when people make choices out of fear, they end up creating the situation they are fearing. For example, someone who is afraid they won’t get elected to a position, chooses to not run for that position. This results in the outcome they were afraid of (not getting elected). Another example, someone is afraid they will be lonely if they leave their current relationship. This likely results in them staying in the relationship and feeling lonely because they are not satisfied (again the outcome they initially feared).

How do you change the way you make choices? You start by asking yourself what are you afraid of and what do you hope to happen in your life? After you have identified these two aspects, decide what you can put into action to create or come closer to creating your hopes. This is not a guaranteed way to always make the best choice, but it certainly feels much better when you have made a decision because it is something you truly want instead of it being something you are scared of.

I challenge you to look around your current life and see what decisions you have made based on fear versus those you have made based on hopes. How did those choices work out for you? Is there a current decision in your life you have been avoiding? Try to focus on what you hope to happen and see what choice that presents for you.