Harvey, Jason - Achieve Anything In Just One Year - Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals

As a direct result of her actions (or inaction), Dawn was completely unhappy with the direction her life was headed. She had been in a string of mediocre relationships, never meeting anyone who was captivating enough to consider marrying. Her job was reliable but boring. At work her own clients told her she could do better, but their comments fell on deaf ears.

One day when Dawn returned from work to her small apartment, she sank to the floor like a wilted flower. “Will I ever know happiness?” she sighed to herself through tears of frustration.

Dawn held the secret of happiness within her all along, but she had to get up off the floor and be willing to choose life.

What do you do to choose life today? Are you happy? If the answer is no, you now have the secret of happiness. Choose life.

DAY

179

“In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.”

— Dr. Kathleen Hall

You have been considering your choices in life for several days now. If you’ve actively participated in the exercises of the last 178 days, you realize by now that this book will offer you no chance to pass the buck. You can’t blame anyone but yourself for your present circumstances. That can be a slightly depressing thought, but it is also liberating. It doesn’t mean that everything is your fault. It means that you have the power to change anything you want from here on out.

It is exhilarating to find out that life is a product of your choices. Think about the alternative. How disheartening would it be to find out life is the product of other people’s choices? You would be tempted to give up on the whole journey if you had no say in the direction. Lucky for you, that is not the case.

Your assignment is to look back on the last seven days of your life. Write down all the choices you made over the last week in your journal. That’s a pretty daunting task, isn’t it? You most likely made thousands of choices, but just come up with the highlights. Next to each choice write a few words about the direction you took as a result of that choice. Now sit back and examine the results of your week. How does it look as a whole? Did you make good choices for the most part? If your plotted your direction on a chart, would it be all over the place, would it be all downhill, or would you be steadily climbing toward success? Your life is a product of your choices. Take them seriously.

DAY

180

“I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.”

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

It is extremely liberating to know that you always get to choose the direction you take in life. You are in complete control. Unfortunately, that also comes with some responsibility. If you want to accept the glory when you achieve success, you also must be willing to accept the consequences when you screw up.

Do you believe there are consequences to every deed, word, and thought you have throughout your lifetime? Write in your journal for at least fifteen minutes to answer to that question. Are there always consequences, or do you feel like you probably get away with some things in life unscathed? Can there be consequences to your thoughts if you don’t follow through and act on them?

Consider this brain teaser: if you really can’t stand someone at work, but you never say anything mean to them or do anything harmful to that person, are there any consequences to your thoughts?

Do you think about consequences much? It can be debilitating to worry too much about consequences and never have the guts to move forward and take action. But it can also be damaging if you forge ahead without regard to the potential penalties. There must be a balance. Your choices can bring you success, but there will be good or bad consequences to all of your actions. You have to take responsibility for it all if you want to take credit for any of it.

DAY

181

“Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.”

— Henri Frederic Amiel

Uncertainty doesn’t have a very good connotation, especially when you think about it in relation to your life. It brings up thoughts of doubt, mistrust, and skepticism. You would probably rather have guarantees. If you use uncertainty to describe your situation, it sounds like you don’t believe in yourself.

Your assignment on Day 181 is to consider an alternate definition of uncertainty. What if uncertainty means that there are no limits to the possibilities before you? Your future is uncertain, because it hasn’t been decided yet whether it’s going to be really good, great, or over-the-top fantastic. The sky is the limit to what you can achieve if your future is uncertain. If it’s guaranteed, then you’re stuck with what you’ve got.

Write down in your journal all of the things that have not yet been determined in your life. What is uncertain? Make a list of everything you can think of that’s still up for grabs.

What you have just done is create a list of opportunities. You can do anything you want with that list. Go for it, because nothing is set in stone. You can be wildly successful in any of those areas if you choose to chase the opportunities.

What steps can you take to turn even one uncertainty on that list into a huge opportunity for success? You can use the ambiguity it represents to break all the rules and go for it. Uncertainty is the refuge of hope. The fact that the future is yet to be decided means that you still have an opportunity to shape your success.

DAY

182

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.”

— Voltaire

It is unpleasant to be doubtful, but doubt occupies some part of any thinking person’s life. The fact that you have doubts shows that you are considering situations from every angle. You realize that you might not have all the right answers, and you seek further confirmation. There is nothing wrong with that. Doubt often leads to striving for knowledge, and that can ultimately bring you success.

Certainty, on the other hand, is completely absurd. There is almost nothing that you can claim with absolute certainty. For example, you do not know what will happen in the future. You might have a pretty good hunch about things, but you cannot predict any of it without a doubt. If someone is certain about their future, be very wary of this individual. They are either delusional, or they’re pulling your leg.

A feeling of certainty about things can also bring with it a position of close-mindedness. Tina’s grandmother was certain that all people in the acting profession had loose morals, but that was not reality. It was what she guessed to be true, and she refused to think about whether or not she could be wrong. She wouldn’t let doubt concerning her convictions lead her to search for the truth. She wanted to be right, and she didn’t want to think about it too much, so she fabricated a certainty in her mind.

Pay attention to where and when you have doubts today. Let your doubts lead you to new knowledge, and don’t worry if they make you feel uncomfortable for a brief period.

DAY

183

“Without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty, the drama of human life would be destroyed.”

— Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was right. There would be no drama in life if we didn’t have uncertainty. We don’t know how this book ends, and that’s part of the fun. Can you imagine how boring your life would be if everything was certain? Not only would you miss the surprises in life, but you also wouldn’t have an opportunity to change your destiny.