Making the Most of Life’s Micro Decisions
Every day we each encounter thousands of life’s micro decisions. Every day we have the opportunity to ‘do it right’. Most of our decisions are made without much thought of consequence. We tend to think it’s when the stakes appear greatest, our decisions become weighty and require our attention. However, our daily, small decisions matter. They too have consequence, maybe just not right then.
When I wake up, my first actions (my habits) might be to grab either a sticky bun or an apple. Neither are going to make me sick in the moment. But eating the apple day in and day out will keep me healthier – in the long-run. It’s a micro-decision, for sure. But these decisions have a way of compounding one, on on top of the other.
Day in and day out, I strive to ‘eat the apple’, not the pastry. My brother-in-law likes to kid me by saying ‘we’re all going to die’. My response is ‘absolutely, but I want to feel way better while I’m alive’. When my days of making the healthier decisions start adding up to weeks of making the better choice, I feel full, clear, and alive. I’m energized.
Back in 2007 when felt my worst, I started to give up sugar. It was really hard to do. At the time, it felt impossible. What kept me going was the feedback my own body offered. Without refined sugar I slept better and ached less. If I had something with sugar, I felt it. Within 5 minutes, I’d have a screaming headache. Or, I didn’t sleep that night. Over the course of 3 years of selecting healthier foods, my health greatly improved. One decision at a time and 1 day at a time I became whole and healthy. By taking rein of my micro decisions, my life improved greatly.
Become Aware of Your Micro Decisions
How can one become more aware of your constant micro decisions? I advise meditation. When you strive to silence your mind for a limited time period, you start to become more present the balance of the time. You start to live more fully in the present. Living in the now allows you more awareness of these micro decisions. Your awareness allows you to change your habits, one decision at a time, one day at a time.
If you’re new to meditation, know that it is pretty easy to get going. Start by sitting still for just one minute, with your eyes closed. Set a timer. Before you know it, that minute will be up. Challenge yourself next time to double the time. Then increase it a minute or 2 a day, or whatever you can become comfortable with to extend your current length of sitting time. When you can get up to 10 minutes you’re doing awesome. Some say 10 minutes a day of meditation is really all you need. I sit daily (if I can without stressing myself) for 20-30 minutes. By this time, you’ll be getting some of meditation’s benefits and will just know the proper length to sit for you.
Living in Today
“Part of getting a second chance is taking responsibility for what you did wrong in the first place.”
—Jack Bauer
Even if today you had that extra piece of chocolate, soda, cigarette, or whatever, the next time you reach, try to improve your choice. Decision-by-decision, day-by-day you can change. It’s up to you to make that decision. Only you. And it all comes from starting to be aware of your micro decisions.