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In my previous article, “A Life of Choices”, we read that having choices can give us power, confidence, control over a situation… and overall satisfaction. However, we all know that not all options are equally good. One of them will be the best, one will be the right choice.

It sounds straightforward, but choosing wrongly is very easy if we are moved by emotions, like anger or joy… or we are impatient, ignorant, or simply careless.

We can evaluate the pros and cons that each option has, put those in a balance, and just choose the one with more pros. But again, many times we cannot see it.

Imagine this: you are quietly traveling in a bus, until someone gets on talking very loud in his cell phone. Your peace is gone. You are now disturbed… start getting annoyed. What choices do you have? Well, you can approach this passenger and ask him to lower his voice; or you can just get off the bus at the next stop; or you may approach the bus captain for him to do something; or you just do nothing and endure the time. There may be other options… but, what will be your choice, the one that you consider “right”?

Picking the right choice will give us full satisfaction… and no regrets.

I think the right choice has to have, at least, the following criteria:

• It is under our control
• It will not disrespect other people and their rights, or contravene any law
• It has been taken calmy and been fully analysed
• It is fully aligned with our values

Those criteria seem pretty clear, but it is the last criterium that causes many people to doubt and gamble… simply because they are no clear on their values and / or on their order of importance… or just not fully committed to keep them.

We need to be crystal clear what our fundamental values are. Faith, family, education, health, wealth, friendship, joy, fun, stability, loyalty, democracy… which other? And which ones are the most important ones?

I will give you a few personal examples:

• First thing on a Sunday morning, I can go to church or to the beach. I choose the church, because faith if one of my top values.
• On a Saturday, I can have lunch with my wife and son or I can do some shopping. I choose having lunch with them, because family is one of my top values.
• To celebrate my birthday, I could invite one or two couples for a quiet dinner or invite a bunch of people and have a big party. I choose spending the evening with a few friends, because friendship is one of my top values.
• I could have started working after finishing university, but I chose to continue studying because education is one of my top values
• I will have a coffee at this local coffee shop and not at that international coffee chain because that chain supports organizations or purposes that I don’t want to support. For a similar reason, I would choose buying whisky and not vodka.

Those above are my right choices. That doesn’t mean that I don’t value enjoying nature, or entertainment, fun, or the nice ambience that the international coffee shop offers. But they came second in those situations and circumstances.

Be prepared because there are always choices to make throughout your life… much tougher than those I put as examples above.

For no regrets, you better pick the right choice when you have to decide whom to marry, what friendship to develop, which diploma or career to pursue, what company to join, which organization to support, how to handle an insult, how to solve a financial problem, and so on.

But don’t let us get disappointed if we don’t pick always the right choice. We will make mistakes but we will also learn.

Thanks!

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