Choices, Choices, And More Choices

By: D. A. Slinkard

What kind of attitude are you going to have today? Are you going to be productive? Are you going to be friendly? Are you going to be grumpy? How is your day going to go? In all walks of life we have people with positive attitudes, and we have people with negative attitudes; and I am oftentimes asked what makes the difference with me and my attitude. My reply is always the same, it is by choice. My answer is actually the same for everyone in that your life will go exactly how you choose it to be.

I understand that bad things will happen to everyone. There will be valleys and there will be mountaintops for everyone reading this article; but the real question is “What choices will you make when you are faced with a low and a high?” Your mindset and well-being is dependent upon the choices you make. Every day you must choose to be the person you want to be.

If you do not want to be negative, then simply choose not to be negative. If you want to have a good day, then simply choose to have a good day. If you want to be productive, then simply choose to be productive. Whatever it is you want to be in life, then simply choose to be that. It is not rocket science. It is not something that cannot be done. Your success simply comes down to making a decision.

Once you make that decision, then you must commit to your success. I have had a lot of negative things happen to me in 2018, but rest assured, my mindset has not wavered from the mentality I must maintain daily. Our human nature leads us to have a negative mindset, but we must choose to be positive. Our human nature is to be lazy and non-productive, but we must choose to work hard and become productive. Henry Ford is credited with saying, “If you think you can or if you think you can’t, either way you are right.”

We like to over-complicate things sometimes. We tend to overthink the situations that do not need to be overthought. We just simply need to make a choice and then do whatever it takes to achieve the desired outcome. Instead, we want to over-promise and under-commit to ourselves when we should actually make a choice to commit ourselves to obtaining success. Too often we know what we need to do, know what actions need to be taken, but instead of doing what we know should be done, we make the choice to skip all the necessary steps in a rush to reach the desired outcome.

Success in life takes hard work, yet we live in a society in which too many people want things just given to them without the blood, sweat, and tears that success cost the generations before us. We live in such an entitled society that we give out trophies to everyone who participates, but what are we teaching the young? No matter what choices you make in life, you can still be a winner, but the reality of life is going to come crashing down on many people who have been duped by the choices they have made.

Where is it in your life that you have been making wrong choices? Have you even thought about the areas you need improvement in, or are you comfortable with just getting by in life? Too many people want a millionaire’s paycheck with a minimum-wage work ethic. It just will not happen until you change your mindset, your approach to life, and start making better choices. The harder you work, the luckier you will get; and before you know it, there will be tons of opportunities for your success that were not previously there.

You must make the choice, though, of what steps and efforts you are going to make today to impact your life tomorrow. The people who have success in life are doing so because of the choices they make on a daily basis. You can, too, but you are going to have to decide to take the first step. If it is important to you, you will find a way to accomplish your goals and dreams. If it is not important, you will find an excuse for not achieving your goals. Just know the difference between having and not having all comes down to the choices you make every day.
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard is the manager of the Athens Staples store