“Choosing Your Next Choice: 4 Criterion for Personal Decision Making”

By: Carl Pantejo


Think about your next choice. It can help you become your own hero!

(The following is an e-mail reply to my sister. She is always busy doing good things. She is a computer expert, successful business woman, loving wife, attentive friend, and the best sister anyone could ever have!)

A note to my sister: “Being a busy, busy bee...”

Dear Sis,

In your last e-mail message you wrote that you were very busy; but wanted me to know that a longer note (reply) was coming soon. I sensed an urgent, hurried tone in your note, so thanks for taking the time to give me a heads-up. Your e-mail messages, however brief, always make me smile. And I am so grateful to have you as my sister and friend. I love you, Sis.

Some thoughts about your business and your “busy-ness”…

...I hope you choose to do the things you want to do today. Notice I said want not have to or need. Remember this simple fact of life: You don’t have to do anything! You always have choice.

Acknowledging this ability to choose, the inherent free will given to all, is a profoundly empowering thought. It is a great gift from The Big One Upstairs (God, Gaya, The Original Substance, the Universe, etc.) and a wonderful part of the experience of Life.

Of course, you must also accept the consequences of any choice you make. For example, if I don’t feel like going to work and choose to stay in bed on a workday, I must accept whatever happens next. But if I care about my job, I choose to get up and go to work.

The big question is why do I care? Like Dr. Robert Anthony, the renowned proponent of the Law of Attraction and author of multiple best-selling books, says “This little three-letter word “WHY” is the magic word for creating your ultimate life.”

I could answer my own “WHY” question with the everyday, common answers (i.e., keeping my job, getting paid, looking and playing the part of a good English teacher, etc.). But that would be a copout and would not make the choice any more palatable. This way of thinking is based on fear, negativity and external pressures; the underlying thought being: I don’t want to get fired; I need the money; and I wonder what my students and fellow teachers will think if I am habitually late or absent? Would they think I was a slacker or that my life was too undisciplined to simply get up on time in the morning? The list of negative “What would others think?” is endless.

For me, if that were the case, I’d just stay in bed! Fortunately, I am (and have always been) less concerned than most about what other people think of me. It’s the weak and shallow people who spend their whole lives trying to impress people they don’t even know; or worse, trying to impress people they don’t even like.

No, if I choose to do anything, it’s always based on positive thoughts and feelings.

Let me make it clear that I don’t go to work for the money. In every case, this motive is counterproductive and should be the last on your list of decision making factors. In his best-selling book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” author Robert Kyosaki explains why this is so. He makes it clear why Rich People Don’t Work For Money – They Work For Experience. And the new experiences always provide vast opportunities for riches. The trick is to keep your eyes and mind open to them.

I also like Warren Buffet’s comical take on this money motive issue. I’ll try and paraphrase as best I can. He says that “It’s stupid to do anything just for the money. …it’s foolish to marry for money – especially when you’re already rich!”

But, how do you choose what to do (or not to do) next? The answer lies in your ultimate life goal. Napoleon Hill called it “your Definite Major Purpose.” Anthony Robbins, the highly successful personal development coach, calls it your “Magnificent Obsession.” Do you have one? I hope so. It's vital to vitality!

A wise man once said, “A person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder." It seems to me that this ship's captain is clueless too!

As David Cameron Gikandi, a Law of Attraction expert and the author of one of my most favorite books “A Happy Pocket Full of Money,” says, “We are all rich. And we can easily get richer. Some of us just don’t choose (by ignorance or disbelief) to see it.”

I recommend reading any of his writing about Life and the Universe.

Using the “stay in bed or go to work scenario,” let’s say I still choose to go to work, but also choose to think about it in a different way.

I choose to go to work because it contributes to my ultimate Life Goal (my Definite Major Purpose, my personal Magnificent Obsession) of being a successful author; a happy, healthy, and wealthy man who makes his living through the sale of his written word. How does going to work contribute to this goal? Simple. I choose to go to work for the new personal experiences. In turn, these experiences become “the writing food, the stuff and substance” for my next book, story, or article.

This practice of staying ultra-aware of life’s events to “fuel the fire” and enhance an author’s writing is echoed by Andrea (Ande) Rains Waggener - a prolific author, webmaster of a site dedicated to writing; and although she doesn’t know it, a wise mentor to me and many other writers.

Really, just by being aware of my surroundings, its people, and their activities can give me a dozen things to write about at the end of each workday!

I also choose to go to work at the Thai Elementary School because I’m happy to be around my students and fellow teachers. The students’ bright smiles, playful giggles; and sometimes - against formal school policy, but impossible to avoid - affectionate hugs give me multiple warm fuzzies throughout the school day. I feel like I’m contributing to their life learning in a positive way. I am ever so grateful for this important opportunity to expose my students, friends, and co-workers to my unique thoughts, speech, and actions.

I feel special at my job. It’s great to be well respected, known as an excellent mentor, and capable subject matter expert.

The gamut of positive thoughts and feelings from simply choosing to get up and go to work is truly inspiring. It prompts me to positive action. It makes me feel like I’m becoming “My Own Hero.” When others see my happiness and enthusiasm, they are prompted to do the same. They become more pleasant to be around and work feels less like “real work”. This is a positive, endless cycle of good things.

Clearly, then, using the second set of reasons to choose to get out of bed and teach English is based on positive (not negative) thoughts and feelings; desire, not fear; and personal, not external motivation.

Do you see the difference? Yes, the choice was the same, but the motives were vastly different. The first set of reasons to go to work is based on negativity (i.e., fear, pain, and external pressures). The second rationale for choosing to get up and go to work is based on positive, good things (e.g., contribution to personal goals, enjoyment, and pleasure). In the second instance, I made the choice to choose positivity.

Okay, back to your situation and your next choice.

The truly right personal choice always fills the following criteria: 1) It moves you a little closer to your ultimate life goal, 2) It’s totally positive and makes you feel good, also known as getting “warm fuzzies,” (i.e., happiness, inspiration, love, pride of achievement, etc.), 3) It keeps you stoked and spurs you on to more exciting thoughts and actions, and lastly 4) It’s inspiring to those whom you have daily contact with.

So Sis, slow down a little. As Dr. Steven Covey said, “First Things First.”

Make choices that resonate with your soul.

The time spent pondering your choices in life is always time well spent. Taking the time to really “know” that you are making the right choice will give you a supreme feeling of well being. It will make you feel more in control of your life. It will make you remember how wonderfully powerful and independent you really are. It will make you realize that you don’t have to bend to other peoples’ expectations.

Taking the time to make the right choices will banish fear and the feeling of being hurried. You realize that you’re not a victim to the tyranny of life’s supposedly urgent matters – usually matters that are important only to other people. And it will keep you and the people around you more excited about life!

Important Note: Beware the Beasts - Analysis Paralysis, Indecision, and Procrastination.

Thinking too much (i.e., vainly trying to get ALL the information before making any decision, ultimately leading to a non-decision) is called Analysis Paralysis. Its brother beasts are indecisiveness and procrastination. They cripple any chance of personal success and happiness. They do not serve you in any positive way. Inviting any one of these beasts to live in your mind is simply a miserable waste of time and energy. They need your attention, your precious life energy and time to survive; thriving in any mind filled with fear and a victim mentality. Remember, they are only preying on your weaknesses. Don’t feed them. Kill them with neglect and starvation. Be strong. Don’t attend to them. Replace all thoughts of fear with desire; all thoughts of scarcity with abundance; and all thoughts of hopelessness with love and serenity.

Yes, think hard about your next choices. And yes, make sure they are congruent with your life mission. But please, don’t just think about it. Choose. Go ahead. Choose. Choose now. If you don’t, you automatically have to settle for what’s leftover in life after everyone else has chosen!

Your next choice can guarantee success and happiness for your next exciting moment in life. Now is your Power Point for Future Influence. Now is all you have. The past and future are only constructs in your mind.

Whatever choices you make now, in this moment, determines your next you. Make choices now that enable you to become your own hero, your next ideal you. Make choices now that put you a little further on your way to your ultimate life goal and your ideal lifestyle.

You will be delightfully surprised to discover all the abundance of wonderfully good things along the way!

Thanks for taking the time to read my musings.

It’s my sincere hope that you always make the next right choices, the choices specifically prepared for you. They are yours alone to make, created by you and only you.

That’s your choice challenge. Go ahead – choose. I double dare you…

With admiration and love,

Your Brother Carl

By Carl Pantejo
Pantejo@ynvurcepublishing.com
Author of “My Friend Yu – The Prosperity Mentor”
Y.N. Vurce Publishing. http://www.ynvurcepublishing.com


About the Author: He is a retired U.S. Military veteran. Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an A.A., B.S., and MBA in less then 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic. In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he free-fall parachuted out of airplanes and performed diving ops in very deep, open ocean water. He went to Thailand 1 year ago for a week’s vacation, fell into a teaching job, and has never left! Carl Pantejo, Pantejo@ynvurcepublishing.com Author, "My Friend Yu - The Prosperity Mentor” Founder, Y.N. Vurce Publishing www.ynvurcepublishing.com