The Power of Choice
The Power of Choice
The thin I walk when talking about choice
Welcome to 2024. The theme of our first monthly digest for 2024 is the power of choice.
Each month (when it works), we share insights, reflection questions, quotes, and book recommendations on a key theme and update you on new articles, podcasts, and events.
Share the love… Invite your friends, colleagues, and family to sign up and receive these digests. You could also share the content with your community (team, colleagues, friends and family) and even set up monthly conversations on the themes.
The thin line I walk when talking about choice.
I’m always careful when discussing the power of choice, central to my work and life. I’m careful because I recognise that there are significant aspects of our lives that we do or may not choose. Likely, we don’t choose the economic, social, and cultural context into which we are born – which significantly shapes the choices we at least initially have available to us. The child soldier does not choose to be drugged and forced to kill or die. Many human beings do not choose to live in war or poverty, yet they do. Our environment shapes us and the choices available to us, and yet most of us do have a choice in how we respond to it.
The people reading this digest will likely have more power over choice than most people alive today. Yet, they will likely not recognise or utilise this privilege as much as possible to unlock their potential and influence a more prosperous world for others. This digest is an encouragement towards greater realisation of the privilege and greater boldness and courage in response to it.
“Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility”
Oprah Winfrey.
Choosing the future – letting go of the past.
As you enter the New Year, like many, you may be consciously or unconsciously choosing what to leave behind and what to take with you.
The extent to which you can do this is influenced by the level of awareness you have that you can let go; you can metamorphose into a new, upgraded version of yourself. Often, this version is not something that has been lacking from you all along but rather more of your true self, which, till now, has been obscured by baggage you may have collected through your life.
This baggage is most often related to life challenges and traumas; however, baggage consists of much more than this. Your baggage may include your previous successes that you are afraid to grow beyond or an identity that you have become attached to. It most certainly includes your worldviews and your beliefs.
Our past growth most often impedes our future growth. Each victory we have fought hard for must be sacrificed for a further triumph. Each new way of thinking obscures a more expansive vision that lies beyond.
Growing up in any culture, it is inevitable that the world around you has shaped your worldviews, beliefs and assumptions. As you grow in wisdom and discernment, you can more intelligently critique these beliefs and assumptions and make conscious choices about those you might carry forward and those you might re-shape or leave behind.
The End of History Fallacy
Understanding that your potential for transformation is vast and that much of your growth and change (no matter your age and stage) may lie ahead is critical to co-creating a more expansive future.
As CS Lewis said, “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
However, a thinking fallacy called the end of history fallacy means that we tend to interpret most of our growth and change as belonging to the past rather than ahead of us in our future. This hinders our ability to consciously co-create our future, limiting our “growth mindset” and ability to perceive expansive opportunities for growth ahead of us.
Choosing Growth
So, how do you more consciously choose what growth we catalyse in 2024? I’ve developed the four R’s to help you with this. Reflect – Rituals – Respond – Remember.
Reflect
Take time to reflect on the past and consciously envision your future. Spend some time imagining who you would like to become next – without limits. You can download a New Year reflection here to help you with this.
Rituals
Once you have imagined who you would like to become next, design some daily rituals that will support you with this. For example, you can imagine weight training if you would like to become more physically strong. If the future “you” is more present in the moment, you might practice mindfulness or meditation. If you would like to develop better relationships, you might ritualise listening well or reaching out to form more connections.
Respond
Your mind is programmed to see what you are looking for. Once you are clear on the “you” you would like to become, your mind is likely to see more opportunities for this. Within reason – don’t let risk aversion stop you. When you see the opportunity – take it!
Remember – your power is in your choices.
Most of humanity’s choices are primarily influenced by factors out of their control. These include when and where we were born and into what circumstances, for example, socio-economic, cultural, and religious factors and societal structures. These factors are further compounded by the influence of the people surrounding us, their social impact, desires, and beliefs.
Over recent years, nudge theory (a concept in behavioural economics) has been used through technology and other means on a grand scale to influence the outcomes of elections, gain compliance and channel social and economic energy.
While there are many arguments for and against the use of behaviour nudges, understanding how behaviour nudging works is essential for an individual seeking to make more conscious choices; otherwise, we are an unconscious agent of action for others – who may or may not have ethical reasons for nudging us in a particular direction.
The first step to developing greater agency is building influence and objectivity about these factors.
Self-Authoring your choices and co-creating a better reality
The choices you make every day, even when seemingly insignificant, all have ramifications on who you are and how you evolve and contribute to the evolution of humanity.
Choice-making is how you enact personal agency in your world.
To make more conscious choices, seek to understand:
- How your choices are influenced
- The broader consequences of your choices
- Your ability to co-create the future with your choices in each moment.
You are welcome to join Self-Authoring, which will support you in all aspects of choice-making and personal growth in the year ahead. If you have questions, reach out to us.
Generative Questions for Reflection and Conversation
- What beliefs and assumptions are limiting your choices today?
- Who do you wish to become next?
- What beliefs and assumptions would help to unleash the future you?
- What rituals and actions would support your growth?
- How will you choose to use the privilege of choice available to you in 2024?
The Academy
The Academy provides you with all the tools you will ever need to Self-Author your experience of life. It is a place to transform your thinking and learn to live with courage from your heart. For more information you can explore here or set up a call to discuss here.
Events
New Millennium Leader is offering 1 hour experiences based on themes in these digests and requests from our community. Where possible, they are recorded for those who register and are unable to attend on the day.
For our Academy members, look out for an email with further details – your admission is complimentary as part of your membership.
If you are not yet an Academy member you can pay a small fee to attend. As a bonus – if you join the Academy in the month after the event your payment will be refunded to you.
Written Word Insights
Does the modern mindfulness approach put you off? Late 2023 an article was published interviewing me on mindfulness and meditation in the modern hype era.
Book Recommendations on our theme: Theme
The art of choosing Sheena Iyengar
Thinking fast and slow Daniel Kahneman
Man’s Search for meaning Viktor Frankl
Have you read Leadership for the New Millennium yet? It contains powerful insights on how your choices impact your life and the lives of those around you and how to step into greater empowerment and self-leadership.
The book is available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook (narrated by me).
Quotes on our Theme
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny”
Aristotle
“No matter what, we always have the power to choose hope over despair, engagement over apathy, kindness over indifference, love over hate”
Cory Booker
“I don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.”
Beyonce
As we close out this digest, I invite you to imagine that you are at the end of 2024. What choices have you made that have unleashed more of your beautiful potential and that of those around you?
Please send your thoughts or reflections to alison@alisoncameron.com.
With love,
Alison
