You Must Choose
In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takanobu said, "If discrimination is long, it will spoil. " Lord Naoshige said, "When matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten will turn out badly. A warrior is a person who does things quickly." When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh and undelaying spirit, one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side. - Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure
The Choice
We talk quite a bit here about what you should do, what you can do, and where it can take you. In the end, however, it comes down to you. You must choose. You must weigh your options, and you must choose. We can talk all day about the how and the why, but the when needs to be sooner rather than later.
This isn’t about planning, researching, or anything else. As those of you who follow me on social media are no doubt aware, I am strongly in favor of the “good” plan that you execute now rather than the “perfect” plan that you never get to or can’t(won’t!) stick to.
So once you have the information, and the conviction to proceed, you need to choose. This doesn’t mean you are 100% certain. In fact, it is likely that you won’t be. If you wait around for absolute certainty, you are in danger of falling into perfect plan syndrome. You know yourself, you know your life, and you know what you need to do. Make the choice.
What Choice?
While it is safe to assume that most people are in the process of deciding something in their lives, everyone needs a bit of a push now and then. That is part of what we are here for, after all. No one always knows what to do. So ask yourself some of these questions:
Am I as fit as I want to be?
Is my career where I want it be?
Am I happy, safe, and fulfilled in my personal relationships?
Am I pursuing my personal goals?
Answering these questions may in and of itself present you with some rather difficult choices that could change the course of your life. Do not fear or avoid this. Embrace it. If you come upon a difficult choice through introspection, you have not created that issue. You have only discovered it. Breath, evaluate, decide, and get forward towards the next decision. Life is a series of choices. It is better to choose and stumble forward than to remain still for fear of stumbling.
The ability to quickly and decisively make hard choices is a skill that you must develop and continue to practice in order to grow in strength and become your best self. Never forget that, each and every day, strength is a choice.