In our early developmental stages we are exposed to the words, thoughts, and deeds of others which have a lasting effect on our lives. However, just because this influential process began at a young age it doesn't mean that the effects of that cannot be changed at a later stage. I often hear people make the statement " I am what I am and there's nothing I can do about it" (speaking in the context of something about themselves that they do not like).

If you continue to think that way, then yes, you will inevitably be stuck in a rut because you're not allowing yourself any room to become a "better you".I assure you that this is not the case. If there is something about yourself that you do wish to change you firstly need to take a close look at the thing that you want to change.

Once of the biggest things for me was losing weight. There were actually times when I believed that there was nothing I could do about my weight and that I was destined to be fat forever! It was only when I realised that I was choosing to be fat and that I could change that choice if I so desired. I firstly took at look at my reasoning and realised then that my weight was no longer my priority, my health was. I was starting to become incredibly ill and I knew that if I failed to act, I would be in an early grave. Either way, it was still a choice. I could either choose to act or choose not to.

In this particular case, I chose to act and do something about it.I consciously made the choice to become more healthy, my weight was no longer my concern because I knew that If I took care of my health then my weight would take care of itself. And so began the process. Initially I surrounded myself with books on eating healthy.

I then changed my diet completely through sheer will. If you fee like you don't have the will power to make a change then perhaps read my earlier article on Building your Will Power. I went cold turkey on all the junk food I used to eat.

I used to have somewhere in the region of 4 - 5 chocolate bars a day and about 5 bags of crips a day and I can't even fathom how much fizzy drink I used to have!.I got rid of as much of the junk food in the house that I possibly could and then got into the habit of buying as much organic fresh produce as I could. I got hold of a blender and a juicer as I found juicing to be incredibly rejuvinating and probably the best way to detox!.

I also began exercising more and more! One of my favorite sports is badminton and so I starting going to my club on a regular basis and encouraged my friends to come with me. Doing this was a huge factor in me being motivated and eventually we also kind of started our own club on a different day. That meant that I was playing badminton up to 3 times a week. In addition to that I started walking to work more often and adding other small exercises into my daily routine.

The combination of these things has led me to so far loose 3 and a half stone and i'm still going strong. This would never have happened if I didn't realise the value of the power of choice. We are all faced with plenty of dilemas and issues on a daily basis but what you need to do in order to come out on the other side and feel like you've achieved something is to realise that no matter what you face, you always do have a choice. It truly does not matter what you face learn to ask yourself one of the following questions or think one of the statements;.

1) What do I choose to achieve today?
2) What are my available choices in dealing with this situation?
3) What choice will be most beneficial to me? (be careful of this one and the context of it's use)
4) Replace the thoughts "I should" or "I have to" or "I want" with "I choose"
5) Not acting, is a choice not to act, therefore, choose to act!
6) I have the power of choice.Use the concept of choice in every aspect of your own life. Do not use choice as a weapon against other people and the situations they face. Choice is only applicable to the self!.

If you have some free time this evening, find some time to yourself and think about how using the power of choice can benefit you. Take a close look at your current thinking systems and then compare then to using choice and see if it makes a difference for you!.May the power of choice be with you! :P.

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By: Amit Sodha