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This article is aimed at young people, especially those who are studying or starting their working lives. I want to tell you that life is about choices…at least to a large extent. But to have a choice, we all need options to choose from.

The more options we have, the more opportunities to succeed in life. Why is this? Because when we have a choice, we have power.

How would you feel having the choice to study at any school you want? or work at any organization you wish? How do you feel when you can choose either climbing a mountain or running a marathon?

Sadly, some people will not have those options, simply because they are not there. Reasons exist: being unqualified, unskilled, unfit… etc. If so, we need to do something about it, right?

Now, to have options we need to be smart and not just do anything. We shouldn’t do something because we simply like doing it, or because our friends told us to, or because it is easy. Whatever we do, we must think whether that will bring us options later in life.

The problem is that when we are young, we don’t see it quite clearly. It may be because we are distracted, immature, not sure of what we want to do later in life, or just because we think we have all the time in the world. Yet, eventually, we may end up asking ourselves “why I cannot get into this university?”, “why I cannot opt for this job?”, “why I can’t get to climb this mountain?” … or worse, end up doing something because “we had no choice”.

In order to have a choice, let’s do today what is going to give us options later: obtain a good education; learn two or three languages; build a diversified social and professional network; exercise the body; contribute to a good cause; step out of the comfort zone; pick up new skills; go the extra mile when doing a job. There are many things we can do… really.

But to do all those things, we need resources and most of us have resources at hand. Identify those that you have today. I can refer now to the main resource we have when we are young: time; maybe health. I can’t say money because this resource is —generally speaking— lacking at that phase of our lives.

So, if time is our main resource right now, let’s commit to use it, but wisely. Don’t waste it; time is one resource —unlike money or health— that can never be recovered, no matter what. Evaluate on what and how you are using your time today and planning it for the future, and see if it will present you with a choice later in life.

Let’s aim to always have many options in front of us so we can have a choice. With many options, we can choose the best one according to our circumstances and plans. This will help us to reach our full potential, enjoy a fruitful career, and live a rewarding life.

Thanks!

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