The Crossroads in Life

Have you ever been in a crossroad situation? I mean, you come to a point where you have to decide which path to choose. And each path has its glory and also its dangers. It looks as if either is just as good or as bad.

Sometimes the crossroad situation is a lot simpler, as in whether to go to a play or not. But the fact remains that, whichever path you choose can lead you to very different results.

Some people you speak to, they might even say, well, what can I do, I have no choice. Or they may even say that under current circumstances they have no choice but to do this, or do that.

In actuality, sometimes it is because they choose not to choose. Or in other words, because they allow the environment to act on them (the boss, spouse, colleagues, clients, friends, family) and decide for them what they should do, and in turn, they choose not to make a different choice.

As a result, they claim that they have no choice. Yeah, you may say its semantics or its a matter of perspective. Truth is, never had there been a better time that the availability of choices is larger than ever.

There are actually 4 quadrant of choices, its either you leave it (walk away), live with it (putting up with it), change it (try to control others or the situation), or change self (deal with it). My sense is in this new economy, where the consumer are better informed, they have the mobility, they may even have the skills, and information is readily available; the ability to 'change self' is becoming more important than ever before.

Changing self is not just about re-inventing yourself. Changing self is also about taking full responsibility for your actions. Changing self also requires certain skills set such as the ability to anticipate the impact that current (or even future) trends have on your circumstances.

The ability to change self is an idea whose time has come. And increasingly so in today's environment where new rules are being made, paradigms are shifting, and the world is getting (or already) flat.

But one may ask, what are the necessary skills for changing self? I believe it goes beyond just skills set, but it also involves the mind set.

The mind set will involve individuals seeing themselves to be able to make better choices, but to ensure that those choices are the appropriate ones; they need to be able to take personal responsibility and lead themselves. This is a fundamental shift from the previous paradigm where only people with formal authority are considered leaders. Now, everyone has the ability to become a leader, but first and foremost they must have self-leadership.

With that fundamental shift in paradigm now they can look at the skills set that are needed. 4 fundamental skills set include, the ability to anticipate; the ability to translate information into use; the ability to win with people; and the ability to find purpose in what they do.

So, how do you now choose?