Almost everyone had been in situations where opportunities suddenly knocked at their doors. These opportunities may be monetary, like a business opportunity or a job promotion; or in a form of experience, like the opportunity to embark on an adventure of a lifetime or to just do fun things with your loved ones. However, people tend to ignore these opportunities or have second thoughts in embracing them. Some are just wired that way – being skeptical or afraid to take risks etc. – while some are just too caught up with their day-to-day activities to be even thinking about it. Pause and take a look at your age at this very second. Add 20 years to it. How old will you be? Once you have reached that age, would you want to look back and regret on the things that you DID NOT DO? Would you want to have regrets for not pursuing your passion and dreams or for not standing up for what you believed in?
“What if I made the wrong choice? What if I chose to stay in my job? What if I chose to leave my job? What if…?
There will always be “what ifs” in life. We humans will never know anything for certain. We can only assume if we have low level of confidence or lack information to support our decisions or opinions, and believe, if we are totally confident. Whichever side you are in (“The Assume Team” or “The Believe Team”) you will NEVER know for certain. That is just how life works.
So what should we do then? Should we just say NO to everything or just say YES or just be indifferent on all matters of our lives?
Hope is not all lost. Here are the 5 steps to guide us on our life’s decision-making:
Know your passion
Different people have different things that they are passionate about. Some are in relation to career, business, authority, and fame, whereas some are more subtle and intrinsic like financial freedom, happy relationships, inner peace, good health, physical strength etc. Simply put, know the things that make you truly happy inside out.
Weigh your options
As you live, various opportunities will manifest themselves to you. Weigh them. Apply simple risk management to them – you do not even need to use a risk management matrix for this, just analyze the options and list down the pros and cons of doing it and of not doing it. If it is nothing urgent then take your time in weighing your options, do not rush. Discuss with your loved ones or someone that you trust.
Just do it
As how the Nike quote goes, “Just do it!”. You may feel afraid and 1001 questions may rush to your head. But you have done your weighing of options, haven’t you? So what it is that is stopping you then? Just do it!
Be flexible
Life favors you at times but it also knocks you down hard. So be flexible in your decisions. Yes, you may have a good action plan to support your decision, but, always have a contigency plan – you might not know when you need them. Furthermore, despite having all those, be flexible still, as even your contingency plans might end up to your dislike.
Accepting and Adapting Rule of Thumb
Accept all the consequences of your decisions no matter positive or negative. Do not only be thankful when your decision turns out right and blame everything or everyone around you when it turns out wrong. Accept the challenges faced, the mistakes made, and the pain or losses incurred resulting from your decision, and adapt yourself to them. Treat problems as opportunities to learn something new. If you learn to adapt yourself to anything that life throws at you and embrace this life as a journey of continuous self-improvement, then you will have no regrets in life.
About the author:
Feroz Hayat Khan is a Life Coach and Director of Blankskript Consultants. You can follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook @ferozhayatkhan