How to Make Smart Choices With 3 Questions if Your Timeline Matters

How important is making a smart choice that will last the test of time?

What is the one advantage that every older person has over a younger person, generally speaking? We have a more completed lifeline or timeline filled with events from the past unto the present. We can see how these many events were based on choices made at one time along the way.

Some were good choices with satisfactory endings that generated good habits and results. Others were poor choices that accounted for regrets and problems stretched over time.

What if, there are three simple questions to act as a guidance system, especially for young people?

Good advice to young people is to be accountable for your actions today, now, because there will come a time when every timeline is open to recall and examination without re-calibration.

Because an older person's timeline shows the results of his or her actions, the understanding is visceral about how important choices are in the big picture.

Do you think you are free to make your choices?

Do you mirror your choice on what you see around you and what others think? You want to belong so you choose what others choose … buy this, preen this way, judge, idolize bright and shiny objects. You can’t help it; it’s how your brain works.

The problem here, of course, even a quick choice can turn into repetitive habit and like a well-used runway in the brain, it is the hardest chain to break. In other words, you become a carbon copy of the present culture with or without personal purpose.

Have you made bad choices you regret?

Wrong choices can easily expand into wrong habits. A poor choice can lead your tracks into unwanted territory with more negative events to overcome … the past gets contaminated, a bright future diminishes. It can take away the promise of your potential of a more safe and successful journey.

What if there are three questions that can help you avoid bad choices?

Do you have too many choices facing too many decisions?

Psychological studies have shown that humans can feel overwhelmed if faced with having to choose among more than than 7 items at a time. As a way to cope, they begin to rely on cognitive biases or cultural expectations to make decisions. Is there a simple exercise that can help navigate this field of indecision with some better long-term directions?

So how do you make smart choices?

Never about flipping a coin in the precious game of life!

Just think how it would feel if you could hold time in you hand? Then you can make a smart choice based on a simple respect for your incoming timeline.

First, respect the power of the moment of choice.

It can be instant, like a match flame. Ignite a wrong choice; it can lead to bad habits … even burn out your foundation of who you want to be. Or you can make the right choice that becomes a stepping stone towards better habits and future.

As brief as it might be, it has the power to change the direction of your life. Nothing is more powerful with more consequences; so it’s a good thing to make it as smart as possible.

Second, respect the potential of your timeline: past, present and future.

After all, your choice will impact events on your total timeline where every action can start a new habit that can replicate for better or worse. Remember a choice is rarely just about you; but will include others and three consequential phases of time.

Third, what are 3 questions to help make good choices?

Keep these questions handy on a index card or a message on your phone. Make them instantly available to control that critical moment of choice. Before you want to buy something or hang-out or post a Selfie or send a text ask yourself:

1. THE PAST: What I remember about similar actions … success … failure … would I repeat … never again

2. THE FUTURE: Will this action help me to be where I want to be … avoid pain + loss … attract hopes + dreams

3. TODAY: Who I am … is this the best fit between my past and future?

NOW MAKE A SMART CHOICE

What’s interesting is that this exercise will help you answer this impossible question more realistically:

What if, you had the power to see the future and how your actions today may affect it tomorrow?

Would you make the same choices as you did before?

The hope is that these three questions can help you make better decisions especially in trying to cope with our dramatically changing culture.

Sincerely,

Annemarie Berukoff

PS: I came upon these 3 question when researching a book for teen girls on social media. There was an instant revelation that these questions could be a tool to help teen girls in making smart choices at the beginning of their timelines.

Excerpt: “As brief as it might be, it is the matter of choice that makes it a superpower because it has the power to change the direction of your life. Nothing is more powerful with more consequences; so it’s a good thing to make it as smart as possible. I think we agree on making a strong, smart choice.” Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand … a Timely Tale of Social Media Struggles, Regrets and Survival with a Superpower Tool