Choice consists of the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and just selecting one of them. There is not an hour that goes by where we do not have to choose;  red or blue, black or cream … lets face it every aspect of our lives today is made up of choices.  As it happens, our brains are fairly binary (10101000110). They can react very quickly when presented with two options, especially when one’s clearly better.  What is terrifying is that 99% of the choices you make everyday are done automatic and without giving it a second thought!

But our subconscious, however, is much better at juggling and working through complex problems. People who “go with their gut” are actually trusting the work their subconscious mind has already done, rather than second-guessing it and relying on their conscious mind’s much more limited ability to deal with complex situations.

For example, a route for a journey is chosen based on the preference of arriving at a given destination as soon as possible, using the shortest, fastest possible route with the choice of highway or alternative . The preferred (and therefore chosen) route is then derived from information about how long each of the possible choices will take… man do I love my GPS.

But there are still times in our lives where we need to make a conscious decision. Think of it for a while … quite a cliché, for this is a decision you make using you conscious mind, and they are usually the most difficult decisions to make in life. The reason why they are so difficult to make is because of the enormous weight the correct or incorrect decision carries. There are times in our lives when we know what the right decision is, but it is a hard one to make, various contributing factors cloud our judgement and our state of mind is the greatest factor.

Whatever process you use to arrive at your decision, your satisfaction with your decision will depend largely on whether you claim responsibility for your choices. If you feel pressured into a choice or not in control of the conditions, you’ll find that even a positive outcomes glows negatively. On the other hand, taking full responsibility for your choices can make even failure feel like a great success – you’ll know you did your best and you’ll have gained valuable experience for next time.

Therefore your choice is just that, your choice, make it positive and stand by your conviction and you will be able to turn any negative train of thought into a positive direction, just because it is your choice!

Martin T. Brown