Decide or Choose – Which do you use?

As I strive to become a better me – as in “Sanyika 3.0″ or maybe it should be 3.6 to reflect my age – I am looking for answers to the questions that seem to be recurring and solutions to the challenges that seem to keep coming back no matter how many times I think I’ve settled them.

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed as all the areas of my life and business seem to be demanding my attention – at the very same time. One of the areas that is particularly troublesome is figuring out the things that I absolutely must do daily to grow my business. Not the things that can be outsourced, but more specifically the things that only I can do.

As I grapple with this, logic says, “Sanyika, you have to decide on which things you’re going to focus on and take action – period.”

Nothing profound there…

In fact, I’d given myself that advice countless times before, so why didn’t it seem to stick?

Well, it could be because somewhere  hidden in the part of my brain that had forgotten about the Latin class I took as a Freshman in High School the true origin of the word was unsettling to me.

It turns out that the  “cide”  in decide means to cut off possibility, to kill, or to stifle. The etymology is Middle English, from Latin decidere, literally, to cut off, from de- + caedere to cut. As in homicide or suicide.

Ouch! No wonder the idea of deciding to do something never set particularly well with me.

Eban Pagan, one of my virtual mentors, has this to say about it, “Decisions often mean that we have a limited number of options and have to figure out which one will be the most palatable from a overall unpalatable selection.”

On the other hand, to choose means having multiple options and opportunities. Pagan says, “Choice often means unlimited options which equals freedom and possibility.”

So which would you rather be faced with – a decision or a choice?

It might seem like nothing more than “word play,” but there is  something empowering about the option to choose. When we feel as if we have a choice in the matter we can take action more freely.

Does one word seem to have a more lasting and positive outcome for you?

Eban suggests that “People who regularly are forced to decided feel as if they don’t have many options and they have very little power. But I’ve found that people who are choosing what to do with their lives and time are often more successful and powerful.”

It’s worth exploring for yourself and those around you. Take notice of which word you gravitate to and how often you use it. Are you more in favor of the freedom that comes with choice or does a decision cause you to feel limited in some way?

The next time you have to figure something out, step back and see which word you automatically use.

How does it make you feel when you make a choice over a decision?

Test the theory and you might find that the only thing holding you back, literally cutting you off from the possibilities and power that are available to you is the word you use.

The next time you have the option; choose – don’t decide.

http://www.Sanyika.com