Did you choose this?​

We make choices all the time. Even when we don’t realise we are making them. How is that?

It’s easy to think of choices as decisions we’ve deliberated about, perhaps for a long time, and consciously chosen. But what happens when we take our eyes off the ball – maybe we postpone making a difficult decision, we procrastinate because we don’t have time right now, or because it feels easier to wait?

Ironically, time is good at settling these choices for us.

That conference you meant to book a ticket for. That friend you wanted to get back in touch with. Suddenly the deadline for registering has passed and you missed the opportunity, or your friend has moved far away.

We are constantly making deliberate – and not so deliberate – choices.

We make them when we are busy with life and we forget to remind ourselves to do something, or when we intentionally push it aside to be dealt with later.

“Later” – is the great dustbin of our lives.

That’s where all great ideas go to die. That’s where the cemetery of our unwitting choices reside.

Choice by inaction can be a cause for great regret. Mostly because it was, seemingly, all within our reach. We just – forgot. Or we were too afraid to act in time.

So, when you’re next faced with a choice that you have a sneaking suspicion might be quite important to you – make sure you set a deliberate action for how you want to handle it: now, or set a clear date for revisiting it.

We make choices all the time. So make sure they’re really yours.