Misery or good things, almost every thing that happens to you, other than some exceptions, has happened due to your own decision at one point in time.
You made a decision and that sent a chain of events in progress until what you are currently dealing with happened. Likewise, your innocent or assumed irrelevant decisions today will deliver certain results in your future. Even if you decide to turn left or right on a path, which route to take to your destination if you have a choice will determine the arrival time, early or late, alters who you may meet on the way. Let me tell you three personal stories.
When I was a real estate broker, I went to a building to find out if a store was for rent. By chance I walked into the owner of the building as he was just heading to the toilet. Normally this very busy and rich man has a team of people who filter the many brokers who want to see him, but the fraction of a second timing worked out for me to bump into him, and he agreed to talk to me. I would have never made it past his secretary. Turned out through my very hopeful and open attitude that I also mentioned a large building for sale and having gone in to rent a $6,000 shop for a client (which did not happen) I sold him a $22 million building. The commission and reputation I gained on the sale was enough for me to open my first One Hour Photo store. That store provided me with over $1.5 million in profits until I sold the store 8 years later. That store was the first of 3 stores, all because I decided on the right moment to go to his building instead of having lunch, a hamburger that could have cost me over $2.5 million dollars!
On the other hand, I invested a large sum of money in an investment fund. The fund was growing very well for many years but then one day I got some news and had a feeling it was time to get out. I decided that waiting another 2 months for the next dividend would not hurt. The fund went bankrupt in a month and a half. I lost $400,000 because I decided to wait and not follow my intuition out of greed.
And the third story is one I think many people can relate to. I owned shares in a public company. One day the stock shot up from 6 cents to $2.35 but I decided to hold, hoping it will go to $5.00 a share so I could make my ultimate financial goal. I held, it fell. Today it is worth 3 cents a share. Unfortunately I did not learn and have had this huge gain and missed opportunity on 3 other occasions on different stocks. I think I have learnt my lesson now.
Think about everything that happened in your life, and see how you ultimately could have made a decision that would have altered the current situation.
Take the time to think about it and write down all events, listing also your original decision at the point that you had to make a choice, you will see how you could have made a different decision which would have totally changed the outcome. This should help you think differently now before you make any more decisions. There is a good old saying, “Consider the outcome before you make your decision.”
Think of any problems in your life right now and you may even say to yourself that you knew at the time that you are making a mistake or are uncomfortable with your decision, yet you went ahead anyway.
You denied your intuition so of course your intuition never developed. If you want to develop better intuition, then look back to see where you have ignored it before. Intuition is like any person. If someone often advises you and you ignore them repeatedly, they will eventually stop talking to you.
Everyone wants to have better intuition, yet so few are willing to listen to it when it speaks. There is no great surprise that a strong intuition is a rare quality. Often your intuition is telling you something different than your ego or selfish desires want to hear. So of course you will ignore it, but then you have no one to blame but yourself.
This ties in to taking full responsibility for all your actions and your life situation. You have no one to blame but yourself, and if you made the decision, then you must have wanted the outcome. Certainly there may be events which you could not have avoided, but if you think about it, you may not remember it clearly, but you knew better, or at least you had options and you did not choose the right one.
Jane was home alone and about to leave her house when she heard a voice, loud and clear which said STOP, just as she opened the front door. She froze due to the surprise of hearing this voice and just then one of the roof tiles fell and would have hit her on the head, possibly killing her.
A bit shaken but not deterred, Jane left the house and got in the car. She drove away and just as she was about to go forward as the traffic light turned green, the same voice yelled out STOP! Again she did, just as a speeding car ran the red light crossing the intersection.
This was too much for her and so she called out with her heart pumping, “Who are you?” And the voice replied; “I am your guardian angel speaking to you through your intuition. I am here to protect you.” And Jane replied; “So where were you 10 years ago when I agreed to marry that idiot!!!”
We want many things, but when we get what we want, we do not listen, so we no longer get. If you want guidance, then first take responsibility for your actions and decisions, know that every situation in your life is your own doing, and then start to listen to intuition as it attempts to revive as you begin to listen and take its advice.
With this attitude of acceptance of full responsibility, you will find that all negative situations become far easier to bear, and to correct, as you have taken your rightful place as their creator and therefor, master. My grandfather always told me, “God created all creatures equal except humans. To humans He gave freedom of choice.” The problem is that so few humans know how to use this great gift.
One of my students did not think he needed car insurance, so he did not purchase any. When he did have an accident, his car was so badly damaged it was not worth repairing and he had to pay for the repairs of the other persons car, a total of several thousand dollars.
Another student in now purchasing a very nice expensive car using up all of her savings, but she too does not feel she needs insurance. Despite my advice and the advice based on his experience of the other student, this one still thinks she is safe without insurance since she never had an accident yet, at her young age of 24 without considering her relatively few years on the road. If heaven forbid she has an accident with perhaps a mercedes which is her fault, her entire savings could be lost along with her car and then she will be working for many years to come to pay off the other persons repairs. And that is if no one is hurt. So she is setting herself up to potentially be poor for decades to come by trying to save a few hundred dollars a year. Who’s fault will her future be?
This example shows us two qualities, we must have humility and destroy greed. Humility to know that anything can happen and we are not immune to the realities of life, and being cheap to save a few dollars today could cost you a relatively astronomical amount in the future setting you back to step one on your worldly goals after years of building.
This article is to say three things.
Take full responsibility for EVERYTHING in your life.
Have humility that you are not immune to the laws of nature and,
Being cheap with money does not always pay. It could be the most expensive in the end.
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Thank you David. I needed to hear this…again. I always like the examples you use in your articles. After reading it all, i have re considered, and i will defiantly get insurance now! My greed for money, saving those pennies from insurance could indeed possibly be the most expensive decision i have ever made in the future. Heaven forbid i shall ever crash of cause.
Very good article.