The Power of Decision

We want to get over something personal—a bad relationship, a tough conversation with someone we care about, a failure—but we “give ourselves time”.

We want to start a new endeavor, but mustering the courage to take the first step takes us years.

We want to share what we create with the world, but we first need to perfect our craft or get approval from the powers that be.

Everything is a process that takes a long time.

There’s some debate about how long it takes to acquire a new habit. Opinions range from 21 days to eight months(!). Conversely, we hear of lifelong smokers who decided to quit cold turkey and never touched a cigarette again. They quit in a single moment of decision.

When we declare that we’ll never let anyone treat us a certain way or never go through some bad experience again, that often becomes our reality. Why? Because we become the person such things never happen to (or better things always happen to) and project that to the world. Why not apply the same process we use to avoid what we don’t want to get what we do want?

Sometimes we just need to decide. Not what we want to do, but who we want to be, how that person shows up, and what they tolerate—from others and from themselves. Maybe we don’t need to consider an idea for days, adjust mentally for months, or practice for years. We can decide that we’re becoming the kind of person who just does what we want to do, and in that moment of decision create a whole new reality for ourselves.

The friend who just… forgives.
The creator who just… creates.
The responsible adult who just… eats healthy.
The person who just… doesn’t compromise on a mediocre life.

What do you need to just… decide?

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