TODAY’S INCREASING CHALLENGE OF CHOICE
If you’re like most people, it’s pretty easy in this day and age to get “derailed” by unexpected events, some that come from out of nowhere, (like Covid 19) or things that emerge more slowly “beneath the radar” (health issues) while you’re not paying attention. Often you can see problems coming, but with everything else on your plate, it’s just easier, especially under stress, for you to divert your attention to other, less “painful” dimensions of life. The concept of CHOICE and “good choosing” is no longer as simple as decision making. The factors that disrupt the safety and predictability of our daily lifestyle patterns are much different now, escalating more rapidly. Change and disruption will continue to rapidly accelerate in the future as life’s levels of complexity increase, making the challenge of choice one of today’s most critical issues.
In today’s uncertain environment, just how do you learn to become more CHOICE-FULL, and in charge of dealing with events such as:
- Unforeseen physical Illness and health problems
- Mental health issues and depression
- Unexpected epidemics and pandemics
- Internet attacks and abuse
- Unexpected toxic communication from friends
- Immersion and addiction to negative and harmful media
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Business downturns and declining relevance business brands
- Economic upheavals, financial change, bankruptcy
- Family issues such as separation, abuse, and divorce
- Catastrophic environmental events, floods, fires, climate change
- Family tragedies, illnesses, and the death of a loved one
- Employment layoffs
- Unforeseen accidents
- Unpredictable housing and living expense changes
- Difficult employment potential even with proper educational preparation
CHOICE-FULL change is a different and more expanded view of choice. It is the process of preparing more effectively for unexpected and potentially harmful negative future events. The CHOICE-FULL approach involves learning to re-align, and adjust quickly during events that cause disequilibrium and stress, and to employ the needed set of skills to continue moving forward toward maximizing well being, even under externally taxing and limiting conditions.
Preparation and training in CHOICE-FULL change is based on the latest research in brain science. This includes the development of executive function skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking, time management, self control, creativity and more. Developing these skills involves three CHOICE-FULL learning layers… Awareness, Ability and Control. This new paradigm for choice takes both time and commitment, but the journey is well worth the effort. While some people, functioning at the highest developmental levels of humanity have already figured the CHOICE-FULL skills out, others languish in the illusion that life will continue to quietly move along without too many major disruptions, and that if things do go wrong, they’ll figure it out at the time the negative events occur. But, if you’ve noticed, it doesn’t work that way. Without adequate preparation, people are caught off guard and extremely vulnerable when the uncertainty of todays world blindsides them. Other people that are prepared, operate differently. They continuously manage to turn “lemons into lemonade”, because they’re “toolbox” for uncertainty and change is different. It’s the critical CHOICE-FULL skills, especially now, that make all the difference, as to whether a person can and will create a happy, successful and fulfilled future, or one that is doomed to repeated failure and limited levels of well being.