It’s episode 28 of the Unlock Your Life podcast. Today we’re talking about the power of decision. Exercising your power of decision will change your life. Let’s get going.

Welcome to the Unlock Your Life podcast, a podcast for highly successful visionary women who want more out of life. If you feel that ache of unfulfillment in your soul, you’re in the right place sis. Join life mastery consultant Lori A. Harris as she teaches you how to stop living for others and finally put yourself first. Let’s dive into today’s show.

You know, Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as saying that at any given moment of decision, the best thing to do is the right thing. The next best thing is the wrong thing. The very worst thing you can do is nothing. Having the ability and the willingness to make decisions in your life will change your life tremendously. It is important to exercise the power of decision and to recognize in each moment when the opportunity to decide has arrived.

I am coming to you live and in charge from San Jose, Costa Rica. Exactly 12 hours ago, I was in Los Angeles, California, and I had no plans to be here in  San Jose, Costa Rica. But an opportunity can my way and I seized it. I took charge and I made a decision.

How does one train yourself to make decisions? Well, first of all it’s important to answer two questions. One must know who you are and what do you want? Another way to say that is who are you and what are your core values? You can tell what your core values are by the out picturing of your life.

Where does the out picturing of your life show up? Well, it’s in your calendar. Where are you spending your time? It’s in your checkbook or your bank account. Where are you investing your money? This reveals what is important to you. How you spend your time, how you spend your money, and how you expend the mental capacity to think and decide.

So I want to talk to you about the power of decisions because it will change everything. In fact, our lives being an out picturing of our decisions is a reflection on how brave we are training ourselves to be. If you carry or wallow around in indecision, it will keep you from living your very best life.

So think about it. When you make a decision, how do you make a decision? It can show up as simply as when you go to a restaurant. You open the menu.

When you look at the menu, are you looking at the menu from the point of view of the description of the items being offered? The title of the item being offered? What the photographs look like? Are you checking in with yourself and saying, “Today I would love to eat X, Y, or Z. That’s what I’m going to have.” Or are you the kind of person that opens the menu and first checks the price. Then based on the price will then scan the menu for what you’re willing to allow yourself to have?

It’s your choice. Are you going to eat from a menu based on what you would love to consume, what’s going to nourish you and give you energy and fulfillment? Or are you a person who’s looking at the menu from the right? First looking at the price then deciding if you may have it.

There’s another way to approach going out to dinner. I’ve seen it many a time. Picture it. You’re with a group of people. Everyone’s chatting back and forth. It’s a little gumbo ya-ya. Oh I’m going to have this. I’ll have that. This sounds good. That sounds good.

Then there’s that person, “Hm, what are you going to have?” They’re asking not because they’re truly curious about what their dining companion is going to have, but their dining companion’s choice will inform the inquisitor’s choice about what they’re going to have. “Hm, I’ll have that to. What do you think I should have? I don’t know what to have.” In that, it reveals a lot about that person and the ability to make decisions. It’s our ability to make decisions that is a driving force for the life that we will allow ourselves to have.

So I want to talk to you and invite you to consider how are you making decisions? Are you recognizing each opportunity to decide and making an affirmative choice? Are you just letting life wash over you? Taking it as it comes. Taking what’s given to you. The ability to decide what you want and how you want it will absolutely change your life.

There’s no one way to be a decider, to make decisions. You can decide how you want to live your life. One way to be a decider is to operate from a place of curiosity. Hm, what do I think the result might be if I go down this path? Would I love that? Will I grow? Will I learn something more about myself, the world, or my partner? Doing things from a legitimate and invigorating sense of curiosity will change the way your life looks? It will operate opening new and exciting opportunities for you.

So perhaps you can be a decider who decides to act from an opportunity for growth and expansion, from a place of curiosity. That’s one way to decide. Another way to decide is to check in with yourself and say, “Hm, what would love do here? If I were operating from the most loving place I can be, being the most loving that I want to be, what would love do here?” That’s an excellent way to make decisions.

I’ve spoken to you earlier in this episode about core values. Being in integrity with one’s own core values is a driving force for your life and the out picturing of your results, but it also can inform making decisions. Sometimes knowing who you are and what your core values are can help you to make a decision and make it quickly. The ability to decide and to decide quickly is an important element for making one’s dreams a reality. To make your dreams come true, learn to decide and decide quickly.

When one hesitates in making decisions, one procrastinates, inquires of others, needs a lot of advice, it’s an indication of intellectual and emotional immaturity. It comes from childhood where perhaps you live in a family that didn’t support your decision making or didn’t even given one opportunities to make decisions on your won.

The ability to decide is kind of concretized or hardened at around age six. So if you were parented in a way that your parents discouraged you or didn’t allow you to make your own decisions, told you, “We’re doing this. We’re doing it this way. You will do it this way too.” Then it doesn’t tend to foster a sense of confidence in one’s own ability to make decisions. All of this can be changed, and that’s the beauty of being in life right here, right now.

So remember when I told you that I happened to be in San Jose, Costa Rica right now? I’m here because I’m supporting a family member that had a medium sized medical crisis. This young family member found herself in isolation and in a remote part of Costa Rica around the holidays were very few if none of the normal places one might get supplies were open. They just weren’t open. They weren’t available to her.

So you know what it’s like when you don’t feel good. When you don’t feel good, it’s really hard to make decisions. It’s hard to drag your body around from place to place. Also you are trying to be a good citizen of the world and not create opportunities for infecting other people. So when you don’t feel good and you need some support, you need medical attention or you need medical supplies, you need food and water.

Imagine being in a foreign land far, far, far from home, and the normal things that one might do aren’t available to you. Because one, you’re not familiar with the location. The neighborhood isn’t well supplied with vendors to meet your needs. Meanwhile you don’t feel good.

So in keeping with who I am and who I want to be, I saw an opportunity to answer a call. I said well, I would be willing to go to Costa Rica and support you in getting the supplies that you need given that you’re in a foreign place, you’re far from home, and you don’t have any support there. I did check in with the place where you’re staying. The innkeepers were unwilling to provide additional support. There was no Uber Eats or any other delivery services available at that moment.

So yeah. Could I have waited maybe 48 to 72 hours and perhaps the situation might have changed? Or I could support this young person by going to Costa Rica armed with my own care package with all the supplies that this young person needed in order to feel better and to attend to her medical needs.

Now for me, this is an alignment who with I am and who I want to be. I want to be a person who does what I can to eliminate suffering in the world. I want to be a person who does what I can to support the people that I love. So this fundamental question is one that I use frequently in order to move the needle forward in being the woman that I want to be. That’s just do what I can where I am with what I have, and believing that I always have more than is apparent. I always have more than I think.

So here I am in Costa Rica supporting this young person. I’m happy to do it and I feel good about it. Now the adventure continues because I have responsibilities and tasks that I need to do throughout the week. So I did what I could in bringing supplies with me to continue my consulting business while I’m away. So I packed a portable Wi-Fi or hotspot. I packed that with me just in case I didn’t have access to the internet. So far the access to the internet has been good. So one, I did that to support myself in doing what I can where I am with what I have.

Now the other interesting thing that happened is what about your microphone? When I’m in Los Angeles recording my podcast, I’m supported with all that I need. I have a beautiful microphone. I have a boom sort of armed microphone stand that comes right over to me, and I speak directly into my high quality microphone. In my vacation home, I have a backup mic which is not the best. My engineer really hates it, but I have this backup microphone just in case I have to record from that secondary location.

So here I am, and I find myself about to get on the road. Would I prefer to leave my professional mic in its stand in my home office? Yes, I would. Then the choice is am I going to be consistent with getting the podcast out and on time or am I going to bring my microphone with me? So I decided to bring my professional mic. I packed it in its original packaging, and I brought it with me on the trip.

Now I don’t really have the same kind of stand situation that I would love. My portable mic stand is at the other location. I wasn’t gonna bring a boom armed microphone stand with me because I didn’t really know where I might be able to connect it to. So here I can basically with my microphone, my headphones, my laptop, and the box that the mic comes in. So I’ve kind of jury-rigged a mic stand situation doing what I can where I am with what I have.

So first I took it and put it inside a toilet paper roll. It’s kind of ridiculous. It stood up but it wasn’t very stable, and it kind of fell over immediately. So I’ve worked out another system for keeping the microphone stable. Do what you can where you are with what I have. Is it perfect? No. Will it get the job done? I believe it is getting the job done. I’m happy I was able to MacGyver, jury-rig, and figure out an alternative to this situation.

We will move our lives forward when we build upon and develop our ability to make decisions. I encourage you learn to make decisions and make them quickly. Make your decisions based on what is in integrity with being the person you want to be? Make decisions based on what would be the most loving thing to do? What would reduce suffering in the world? What would provide the biggest opportunity for growth and self-expression, expansion, and self-exploration?

These are the things that these components come together and create a life. When you know who you are and what you want, you can make decisions from a place of integrity. Not sure who you are? Not sure what to do? Do the thing that gives you life. Do the thing that allows you to grow. As Hattie McDaniel said she did her best. She allowed God to do the best. “I did my best. God did the rest.” So take the steps you know to take and allow spirit to move forward and to support you in the direction of your dreams.

This has been episode 28 of the Unlock Your Life podcast. I’m your host Lori Harris. I’m so happy that you decided to join me. You uhave lots of opportunities and choices for a podcast, and I’m glad that you were with me on this journey on this particular date. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. You can go to loriaharris.com/28. That will bring you to the show notes, the episode recording, and other ways to connect with me.

If you’ve ever been curious about how do people get to work with Lori, go to my website and all will be revealed. Not sure how to get there? The quickest way and the easiest way is gratitudetrain.com. You may not know how to spell my name, but you can spell gratitude. Gratitudetrain.com. It’s been my pleasure to speak with you today.

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Thanks for listening to this episode of the Unlock Your Life podcast. If you want more information on how you can transform your life and do it quickly, visit loriaharris.com. See it on the next episode of the Unlock Your Life podcast.