Embrace the Power to Shape Your Life

I don’t want to choose where we eat. I don’t care. Some people don’t like making decisions.

You often defer to “experts.” Up to 75%* of us, for example, let doctors make important decisions for us.

Others shape your life when they make decisions for you. Sometimes it’s destructive.

Others shape your life when you let them make decisions for you. Image of a potter forming a bowl.

10 Forces Shape Your Life

  1. Choices and habits.
  2. Genes.
  3. Environment.
  4. Relationships.
  5. Experiences.
  6. Beliefs and values.
  7. Education and knowledge.
  8. Opportunities and good fortune.
  9. Purpose.
  10. Mindset and attitude.

Power to Shape Life

Responsibility gives you power. You shape life when you own your decisions.

Build your preferred future by saying no to blame and yes to actions that matter.

There are two sides to responsibility. The first is responsibility to. This includes relationships, roles, commitments, and yourself. The second is responsibility for. This centers on actions, responses, results, and consequences.

Responsibility turns imagination into reality. But what should you imagine for yourself? Imagine becoming a person of value. Einstein said, “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. … a man of value will give more than he receives.”

When you can’t choose what happens, choose who you become. Refuse to be a victim: be an architect.

7 Ways to Shape Your Life Today

Don’t wait for the perfect situation. Start now.

  1. Build a strengthening relationship.
  2. Put an end to all excuses.
  3. Notice when you add value to others. Do more of that.
  4. Narrow your focus to things within your control.
  5. Plan responses to recurring frustrations.
  6. Set a small goal that reflects who you want to become.
  7. Do one thing you’ve been putting off.

What’s one way a person could shape their life today?

How do you shape your life in small ways?

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Our book The Vagrant: The Inner Journey of Leadership is about a leader who lost control of his life. A painful journey teaches him how to shape his life differently. Use the practical exercises in the back of the book to begin shaping your own life.