Ep 42 - Decisions Decisions Decisions

In this episode, we explore the profound impact of the 35,000 daily decisions we make and their role in shaping our destinies. With insights from research, such as the Cornell study on food-related decisions, we highlight how choices are inescapable and influential. We categorize decisions into wise and unwise, emphasizing that wise decisions move us towards our purpose and potential, while unwise decisions lead to regrets. I discuss three key principles to help us make wise decisions: understanding that decisions are God's gift to shape our future, recognizing their broader impact on those around us, and realizing their power to determine a rewarding or regretful future. Through personal anecdotes and biblical references, I encourage you to reflect on your choices and align them with your life's purpose.

00:00 The Power of Daily Decisions
00:46 The Impact of Food Choices
01:09 Decisions Shape Our Destiny
02:45 The Nature of Decisions
03:29 Classifying Decisions: Wise vs. Unwise
04:35 The Consequences of Wise Decisions
06:20 The Consequences of Unwise Decisions
09:04 Three Principles for Making Wise Decisions
10:00 Decisions: God's Gift to Shape Your Future
13:00 Decisions Impact More Than Just Ourselves
16:24 Decisions Determine a Regretful or Rewarding Future
18:05 The Power of Choice
21:28 Reflecting on Your Decisions

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Transcript

Dr Uche Okere: 0:00

Most of us would recognize the power and importance of the daily decisions we make. But have you ever wondered how many decisions you make in a single day. Various sources estimate that an average adult makes about 35, 000 remotely conscious decisions a day. Every single day. Think about that. 35, 000 decisions. So at whatever point of your day, you are right now as you're listening to this, just imagine if you make 35, 000 decisions in a day, then how many decisions would you have already made today? Now you may think, oh, 35, 000 decisions as an adult. That's actually outrageous. That's a lot. I cannot believe that I make that number of decisions. But consider this, just on food alone, the average adult makes over 220 decisions just on food alone per day, according to some research conducted at Cornell University. What's the point? Decisions are constant. They are unavoidable. We cannot get away from decisions. Every day, but perhaps more importantly, decisions are powerful. Decisions are life changing. Ultimately, our decisions determine our destinies. Ultimately, your decisions determine whether you thrive in life, whether you succeed in life. Your decisions determine whether you fulfill God's purpose for your life or not. Your decisions determine the extent of your productivity. It is your decisions that would be the primary factor that would determine the thoughts that would be in your mind when you come to the end. Because one of my driving forces is what am I going to be thinking? What is going to be the thoughts in my mind when I realized that I have come to the end of my life? I want to be that person who is able to look back and have no regrets at all. I want to be that person who is able to look back I realized that I used my potential as much as I could, that I gave as much as I could, and that I made the difference in the world that only I could make within the limits of the strength, the abilities, the wisdom, the knowledge, the experience, the skills, and everything that has given me. What's going to determine that is the decisions I make on a daily basis. And that's why today I want to talk to us about decisions, the power of decisions and three key principles or three key thoughts that we can consider in making great decisions that would ensure that we're people who thrive. But before I go into my three points, it's important to know that decisions are not neutral. There are no zero sum decisions. There are no decisions that have no impact. Every decision has an impact. And also sometimes we think that we can avoid making decisions. So we run away from intentionally picking or making a choice or picking a direction. We just let things be. Playout. But the truth is, even that in itself is a decision. So the choice to be indecisive, the choice to not pick a side, the choice to not be intentional and make a decision is a decision. Decision in itself. So decisions are not neutral. So I want to classify decisions into two in this episode. So every decision you and I make can be classified into two. Every decision can be classified firstly as a wise decision. Decisions are either wise or unwise. What are wise? wise decisions are those decisions that move you in the direction of your purpose. Now we've talked about wisdom in the past, in previous episodes, and we've said how wisdom is the application of knowledge because there are different levels of information, and knowledge. is one of them. So the acquisition of facts and knowing things, but that's not enough. It is people who actually use the knowledge that they've acquired, the knowledge that is available. Those are the people that are wise and those are the people that make a difference. So, wise decisions are decisions that are based on the right information. Decisions that are based on the relevant, truthful information on that subject matter. The way to know whether a decision is wise or not is the outcome of that decision because no decision is neutral. Every decision has an outcome, has a result. Wise decisions would move us in the direction of our better selves. Wise decisions will move us in the direction of becoming more of what we should be. Wise decisions would result in a positive reward. They would lead to a positive reward. When we make wise decisions, we look back at those decisions and we're glad that we made those decisions. Now, I know that sometimes the Immediate effects of some decisions that look like they are good decisions may not be so appealing because sometimes, in fact, wise decisions mean that we delay gratification. They are decisions that we, that mean that we put our bodies on the check and that we restrain ourselves. For example, we limit. How much money we're spending, it means that we control some of our more natural vices and some of our more natural inclinations, the things that we're more inclined to do. Wise decision will mean that we suffer and put those things on the check because of the future that we see. The immediate outcome of a wise decision may not be predictable. Pleasant. It may not be pleasurable. It may not be something that you enjoy there and then. But what matters is the ultimate outcome of that decision. So wise decisions are decisions that move us in the direction of our purpose. They move the needle towards us becoming our better selves, ensuring that we thrive. In life, unwise decisions are opposite of wise decisions. And so very simply, there are decisions that lead to regrets. When we make unwise decisions, ultimately we look back and we wish we never made those decisions. Again, some unwise decisions might look like they are resulting in pleasure. At that time, they could produce momentary pleasure, but ultimately the cost of it is regrets. Ultimately, the outcome of it is regret. is regret. When we make unwise decisions, we look back at ourselves and we ask, what was I thinking? Why did I do that? I wish I didn't go in that direction. I'm sure you can look at your life because I know I can. I can look at my life and I can do it. Point at specific decisions that I made at certain points in my life and, and I just wish I didn't make those decisions. While we do not want to be people who live in regret and who beat ourselves because of, Decisions that haven't gone so well. We should still be able to look back and reflect and learn lessons from those decisions. But what I'm saying is that where you are today, where I am today in my life is a culmination of all the decisions that I have made. I have got to where I am because of the decisions I have made. in my life. You have got to where you are today because of the decisions that you have made in your life. So the sum total of your wise and unwise decisions have brought you to where you are today. From those small seemingly insignificant choices to the big life altering ones. Every single decision contributes to whether or not we're moving in the direction of our purpose, to whether or not we're moving in the direction of people who are truly successful, so that we're fulfilling purpose, we're maximizing our potential, and we're being productive because we're touching people's lives positively. Every single decision that we make counts to us the direction that our lives would eventually go. So to thrive in life, you must progressively make wise decisions. To thrive in life, you must progressively make wise decisions. You must make decisions that move you in the direction of your purpose. You must make decisions. that move you in the direction of the thing that God has created you to be and to do because there is no success outside purpose. Until you do the thing that you were created to do, you cannot be said to be successful. So bearing all of that in mind, let me share with us three perspectives, or if you like, three thoughts that can help us make wise decisions. These thoughts will help us understand decisions better and they would help us to in the decisions that we make on a daily basis. And as regular listeners to Thriving People would know my thoughts and the principles I believe and that I teach are based on the Bible. I believe that there is no truth outside of God and that the Bible is a culmination of truth. Of the truth of God's word. So let's look at three principles for making wise decisions so that you'll be a person who thrives in life so that you be a person who becomes everything that you can be so that you become a person who maximizes your potential and makes a positive impact in your world. Number one point I want to make today is that decisions are God's gift to you. to shape your future. Decisions are God's gift to you to shape your future. There's a verse in Proverbs, the wise man in Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 9. This is what he says. He says, In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Now this is not an exegesis on that verse. But it tells me that I have a responsibility to plan my course. I have a responsibility to plan my course. I see that as I decide which direction I want to go. I decide the long term direction I want to go. And then the day to day steps that I take. establishes those day to day steps that I take. So you and I have a responsibility to choose the direction that our lives will go. That's the role and importance of the will that God has given us. In fact, this is what makes us humans. The fact that we have willpower, the fact that we have agency and we can decide, I can wake up in the morning and decide right today, I'm going to have a healthy breakfast or I'm going to have an unhealthy breakfast. The fact that I can wake up tomorrow and decide today, I'm going to be mean to my wife. I'm going to be an irresponsible father. To my children, or I can decide and say, I'm going to be the best that my kids could ever have. I'm going to be committed to my work. I'm going to be committed to my purpose. I'm going to do everything that I need to do to make my contribution to my world. That is the power that God has given you and I and understanding that means that we take responsibility for our lives. Those who make wise decisions recognize this power of decisions. They recognize this power Power of decisions. You recognize this ultimate power that God has put in our hands. It's like someone who is driving a very, very powerful car. a responsible person will drive it with a sense of responsibility. You wouldn't go speeding down a busy road. residential area because you understand that kids could at any time run into the road. You'll be responsible with that powerful engine that you have been given responsibility for. That is the power of decisions that you and I, we have power to shape our future. God has given us that power to shape our future. So decisions are God's gift to shape. Your future. Decisions are God's gift to shape your future. My second point to help us in making wise decisions is that decisions impact more than just ourselves. Yes, my decisions are God's gift to me to shape my future, but my decisions also impact more than just myself. My decisions don't happen in isolation. Every choice that I make, every decision that I make creates a ripple effect that impacts on the people around me. When you decide to live in a certain way, when you decide to be a certain kind of person, first of all, you're able to Immediate circle of influence. Your family, your friends, the people who love you, your colleagues are impacted by the choices that you make. And ultimately, the people who don't even know you, strangers, people who you come across, are impacted by the choices that you make. I never cease to be amazed at the negativity that is present in our world today. A case in point is social media. You run an ad on social media or you put something out on social media and you'll be amazed at the negativity that is out there. People who know nothing about you, who just come on the thing that you've posted and begin to Pass negative judgment on the things that you've said. I always wonder what are they trying to achieve? These are strangers. These are people who, who know absolutely nothing about this person, but they've gone out of their way to say something with intention. I believe because that's what it looks like to harm this person, to hurt this person, a total stranger. That's a negative. Part of it. That if you choose to be a mean person, if you choose to be a person who is not as thoughtful as you could be about the words you use who is not as thoughtful as you could be about whether you are a person who who brings encouragement or a person who brings discouragement, about whether you're an encourager, about whether you're a person who Honours people about whether you're a person who who shines the light and eliminates evil wherever you are Or whether you're a person who is cynical and critical about everything if you make that Choice. If you make that decision, not only would you impact on the people who are close to you, but you would also impact on strangers. That stranger who could have received a positive, encouraging word from you will not receive it. They are deprived of that positive word. Potential encouragement that you could have received from you because you chose, because you decided not to be a person who gives encouragement when they have the power to do it. Your decisions don't just impact you alone, they impact on people around you as well. Every one of us will be remembered. Every single one of us will be remembered for one thing or another. I wonder what you want to be remembered for. What would you be remembered for? In other words, what legacy are you going to leave? What determines the legacy you leave? Are the choices you make on a daily basis. That's the power of decisions. They don't just impact you, but they also impact on the people around you. And my third and final point today, in helping us make wise decisions, that move us in the direction of our purpose and in the direction of our thriving, is that Decisions are powerful enough to determine a regretful or rewarding future. Now, I've implied this all through this episode of Thriving People, but I thought it was important to just highlight it and present it as a standalone point. The fact that 10 years from today, you and I will look back and realize That's where we are is a consequence of the decisions that we've made. In fact, even today, as you're listening to this or you're watching this, you can look back at your life and see that you got to where you are today because of the choices. and the decisions that you made. Now I know that it's very easy to look around and say, no, no, no, that's not very true. Hang on. That's not very true in my case because you don't really know me. What I am experiencing today is a consequence of other people's decisions. In fact, this played out a few months ago. I was in Ghana and As part of what I was doing there, I was called to give a talk in the school, and I spoke to, to the students along those lines, and I encourage them to, realize that yes, life may not have given them the best opportunities in life to begin with, but they do have the. Power to choose. They can choose how their life goes. They can choose whether or not they will get into crime, for example, or not. And after that, someone challenged me and said, that's not really true, Uche. You cannot say to this, to these young people that they have the power of choice. Life has dealt them a bad hand and they don't have a choice. They don't have a choice. Some of them will inevitably go into crime because they need to eat, because they need to, Make a living because they need to fend for themselves. And the only way they can find to do all of this is to go into crime. I don't hold that view. I believe that every human being has a choice, irrespective of what life throws at you. You can decide which path to take. Yes. For some people, it's easier for some people. It may demand less use of their will and less use of their willpower. Every single one of us can choose what path that we would choose in life. And my evidence for that is the fact that those same environments that produce people who, who we would describe as people who are not contributing positively to society would also produce people who are Contributing positively to society from those same environments, from those same environments. In fact, I heard a story once about twin brothers who ended up very differently and they had a father who was, I think as I remember it, a drunk and one of them ended up as a drunk and the other ended up, I can't remember the profession now, but a very responsible person, very high placed. And when someone interviewed them, because they had the same genes, okay, they had the same upbringing, they had the same environment, because we also have this conversation, isn't it, of whether or not it is the environment or whether or not it is our genes that contribute to where we get to today. In life and both of them give the same answer. One of them said I became a drunk because my dad was a drunk and the other person said exactly the same thing. I did not become a drunk and I chose to study hard and get to where I am today because of what I saw my father do because of the kind of life I saw my father live. What's my point? You have A choice. It might be more difficult for you. It might be more challenging for you. But whatever hand life has dealt you, it hasn't taken away your power of choice. You can choose to make wise decisions. You can choose the path your life will go. Please realize that no matter what people do to you, Your response to them is a decision in itself. Someone once said, it is not what happens to us that matters. It is what happens in us that matters. And I want to add that it's not just what happens in us that matters, but it is what we do with what happens to us that truly determines where we end up in life. Going with the flow is a decision. You may have a natural instinct for anger. You may have a natural. Instinct for some proclivities or maybe naturally instinct for, for addiction. If there's anything like that, or you're drawn to certain kind of, things that are not helpful to you, but ultimately, whether you decide to stand against that and fight it is a decision. You could just choose to go with the flow. Yes. I know you didn't choose the life that you have today. I know that life has dealt you. a bad hand. I know that you were born into these difficulties, but I want to say to you in this episode that you still have a choice because your decisions are powerful enough and it is God's gift to you to have a hand in your future. You are not helpless. You're not powerless. You can contribute to where your life is going. So as I wrap up this episode, I want to ask you, what decisions do you need to reconsider? What decisions do you need to begin to make? What decisions do you need to stop making? Take some time to reflect because every single decision you make, Matters what you do with your time matters how you build your relationships matter how you treat the people around you Matter how you treat your clients If you're someone who offers services or products It matters the way you speak the way you think the way you relate to your family Everything you do matters you can choose to be that person who's going to make wise decisions and move in the direction of your life So that you can become everything that God has ordained for you to be. Thank you very much for listening. God bless you. Bye bye.