Management

Growth Strategies
Choices and Consequences
Introduction

“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” (Anais Nin)

E verything you do involves a choice of some kind. And every choice that you make
has a resulting consequence. Once you have made a particular choice, you must
live with a particular consequence.

In a way, every choice you make is similar to coming to a crossroads and going in one
direction or the other. Some choices, like getting married or starting a business, can have
a major impact on your life, while other choices are not as important.

Everything that you are and everything that happens to you is largely determined by your
choices and the consequences of those choices. When you become better at making
informed and accurate choices, you begin almost immediately to improve the quality of
your life.

In this lesson you will learn:

■ The key attitude that predicts success or failure

■ The key to a positive mental attitude

■ How to determine the course of your life

■ How to make better choices and decisions

■ How to dramatically improve your effectiveness and your satisfaction in everything

you do

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What Do You Already Know?

Test your knowledge by attempting to answer the questions below.

1. What do you feel is the role that your choices play in your life?

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2. What is the key to achieving a sense of control in your life?

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3. What is the most important kind of choice you make with regard to success
or failure?

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4. What is the mark of the superior thinker?

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© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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5. What is the key attitude that determines success or failure in America?

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6. Why is it that some people enjoy excellent levels of health and fitness, and others
do not?

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7. How do you go about making a long-term plan for your life?

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___________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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Choices and Consequences

1. The quality and accuracy of your choices and decisions determine your
success or failure in life.

a) You are where you are and what you are because of the choices you’ve
made in the past;

b) You are always free to choose what you do or don’t do;

c) The starting point of success? Begin to make better choices and decisions in
the key areas of your life.

21 The key to a positive mental attitude is a “sense of control.”

a) Time management enables you to control the sequence of events in your life;

b) You can decide what to do first, what to do second and what not to
do at all;

c) In choosing the sequence of events, you take control of your entire life.

3. What is the key choice in life? It is the decision to have “dinner

before dessert!”

a) You must choose to do what is hard and necessary before you do what is fun
and easy;

b) You must choose pleasing results over pleasing methods;

c) You must engage in activities that are goal-achieving rather than just
tension relieving.

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4. Consideration of potential consequences is the mark of the
superior thinker.

a) Always ask, “What is likely to happen if I make this choice?”

b) The failure to accurately consider possible consequences is the reason for

all failure.

5. Success in America is largely attitudinal, based on a 50-year study at

Harvard by Dr. Edward Banfield.

a) Your attitude toward time is the key factor;

b) Long-term perspective is the hallmark of successful people;

c) Each social class in America has a different time horizon;

d) Your personal time horizon determines who you are;

e) The key word in time perspective is sacrifice;

f) The key requirement for success is delayed gratification;

g) The key quality required is self-discipline.

6. The difference in people is the difference between Monday vs.

Tuesday thinking.

a) Monday thinking – aims at immediate, emotional, pleasurable results;

b) Tuesday thinking – takes the likely consequences into consideration;

c) Consideration of secondary consequences is a key thinking skill.

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7. Look at the difference between weight control and weight loss.

a) A 30-year study of thin people discovered why they stayed thin;

b) The key concern: How they would feel tomorrow;

c) Thin people don’t like to feel full or fat;

d) Thin people have a longer time perspective at meals than overweight people.

8. Your choices and decisions determine the entire course of your life.

a) Where do you want to be in 5 to 10 years?

b) Financial: Earnings? Savings? Lifestyle?

c) Career: Competencies? Status? Recognition? Awards?

d) Family: Home? Time? Quality of life?

e) Health: Fitness? Weight? Activities?

f) Community: Service? Contribution? Involvement?

g) Self-improvement: Inner development? Outer development? Skills? Abilities?

9. Make a long-term plan for your life.

a) Write it down in as much detail as possible;

b) Break your major goals down into daily activities;

c) Discipline yourself to take action every day on your major goals.

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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10 . Forming new habit patterns requires long-term thinking.

a) You need three weeks to three months to develop a new habit;

b) New habit development is not easy, but it is essential to success;

c) Visualize yourself as you would be with your new habit;

d) Affirm continually that you are already the person you wish to be;

e) Act as if you already had the new habit – assume the new role;

f) Be patient with yourself. Remember that Rome was not built in a day.

Building a great character and becoming a great person are not easy. It requires many
months and even years of hard work on your part. It requires tremendous discipline and
willpower. It requires that you make choices that have positive and beneficial long-term
consequences for your life.

Building a great character is like climbing a high mountain, one step at a time. Progress
seems slow, sometimes nonexistent. But if you keep on keeping on, you will eventually
reach the peak.

You will eventually become the person that you want most to become, and your
future success will be unlimited!

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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Action Exercises

1. What are the three best choices or decisions that you have made in your career or
work life?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

2. If you could wave a magic wand and have anything you wanted in life, what three
wishes would you make?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

3. What three changes could you make in your life right now to increase the likelihood
that you would achieve your goals?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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4. What are the three most important choices you make in your personal, career and
financial life?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

5. What are the three best decisions you ever made in terms of their long term
consequences for your life?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

6. What are the three worst decisions you ever made?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

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7. What are your long term goals for your life? Write them down as if you had no
limitations on what you could accomplish?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

What one thing are you going to do differently as the result of what you have learned in
this lesson?

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© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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