When was the last time you made a bold, crazy, silly-hard choice?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because the older I get, the more and more I realize how important our habits are- from how you feel when you wake up in the morning to how you pick your nose (heheh)-these habits define your life. That being said, I’ve always known that the way you think- the “thought habits” that you create- are of utmost importance. I’ve realized recently that even your choice habits are of the utmost importance as well.

I’ve never really identified myself as being a bold decision maker. But when I look back on my life... I see that one of the tenants I have always been governed by is that I want growth in myself and that has required a lot of bold choices on my part.

I grew up in North Carolina, but chose to go to school in Providence, Rhode Island, this teeny town I had never heard of, because I really liked my campus tour and something in my gut just told me to go. Those first 6 months were some of the hardest months of my life. I didn’t know anyone and when you’re 18, not knowing anyone means you don’t know yourself because up until that time you defined yourself by the people around you way more than who you actually were (if you were a normal teenager). I can’t even explain the pain/frustration/awkwardness and disaster that I was for those first 6 months. Then... a small shift in my world started to happen... and 4 years later, I had had amazing roles in tons of plays, I was an orientation leader FOR the school, graduated with extremely high grades and had made friends for life.  One of the greatest things to come out of this painful experience was that I developed my life long attribute (one of my best i think:) to be able to talk to anyone about anything anywhere. In those first 6 awkward months I had to step out of my comfort zone and approach strangers and feel comfortable asking them who they were and what they did. So because of this initially painful experience, I created my means of communication that i think has served me brilliantly over the last years. i made a bold f*cking choice to go to college light years away from home, and it paid off.

If you make bold choices a lot, life gives you bold results. if you make bland, apathetic and boring choices, life gives you bland, apathetic and boring results. The second, the second, you start to settle for less than what you deserve, in your job, in health, in happiness, in anything... life follows. It gives you less. The second you make the choice, the bold choice to do something scary, life changing, crazy, awesome, silly, life follows. Whenever I have made choices in my life that seemed downright paralyzing, the world has appeared with the net. These bold choices define you as an individual. They speak to the world in ways that you can’t always see.

Where in your life can you make a bold, life changing decision?

Whats holding you back?

One of my favorite quotes in the entire world is this one by anais nin: and the day came when the risk to remain tight inside a bud, was more painful that the risk it took to bloom. Since I read this quote years ago, it has become my marker for success. Growth and choices are always, always, always going to be hard and are going to require strength that you didn’t think you possessed. But here’s the thing. We all want growth in our life right? We all want expansion on some level- of who we are and what we are capable of. And the thing is, in our naivety- we assume that growth will be fun. You think growth and you see TREES and BABIES and new jobs and EXCITEMENT! But not all growth is like that. But then, you come out the other side. And you realize, because of that choice you made- the far away I-dont-know-a-soul college, the totally random move to San Francisco or the new company you’re starting... the world literally and truly has EXPANDED for you.

What choice can you make today, that can help your world e x p a n d?